Ahead of the Curve: Insights for the International NGO of the Future

International NGOs have a unique and important role to play in addressing today's complex global challenges. But few of them are living up to their full potential. With support from the Hewlett Foundation, FSG researched how the most innovative INGOs are adapting to the disruptions in the global development sector and embracing four approaches to create greater impact

Coded Computing for Fault-Tolerant Parallel QR Decomposition

QR decomposition is an essential operation for solving linear equations and obtaining least-squares solutions. In high-performance computing systems, large-scale parallel QR decomposition often faces node faults. We address this issue by proposing a fault-tolerant algorithm that incorporates `coded computing' into the parallel Gram-Schmidt method, commonly used for QR decomposition. Coded computing introduces error-correcting codes into computational processes to enhance resilience against intermediate failures. While traditional coding strategies cannot preserve the orthogonality of $Q$, recent work has proven a post-orthogonalization condition that allows low-cost restoration of the degraded orthogonality. In this paper, we construct a checksum-generator matrix for multiple-node failures that satisfies the post-orthogonalization condition and prove that our code satisfies the maximum-distance separable (MDS) property with high probability. Furthermore, we consider in-node checksum storage setting where checksums are stored in original nodes. We obtain the minimal number of checksums required to be resilient to any $f$ failures under the in-node checksum storage, and also propose an in-node systematic MDS coding strategy that achieves the lower bound. Extensive experiments validate our theories and showcase the negligible overhead of our coded computing framework for fault-tolerant QR decomposition

Enhancing Innovation Through Biologically Inspired Design

Mixing upper level undergraduates majoring in engineering with those majoring in biology, we have devised a course on biologically-inspired design (BID) that provides practical training in methods and techniques that facilitate the identification and translation of biological principles into solutions for human challenges. The challenges of interdisciplinary courses generally, and the specific challenges of fostering exchange among biologists and engineers lead us to define these learning goals: (1) basic knowledge of successful examples of BID, (2) interdisciplinary communication skills, (3) knowledge about domains outside of their core training, (4) a uniquely interdisciplinary design process, and (5) how to apply existing technical knowledge to a new discipline. We developed the following course components to meet the key learning objectives: BID Lectures; Design Lectures; Found object exercises; Quantitative assessments; Analogy exercises; Research assignments; Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Mentorship; Idea Journals and Reflections. We will provide an extensive description of these elements, which we have chosen to incorporate based on our own experience with interdisciplinary communication, as well as findings from cognitive science regarding how students actually learn. This 15 week course is organized using assignments of increasing complexity that allow students to learn and apply essential skills of BID methodology and practice. Early exercises, which combine lectures, group discussions and individual assignments, have these objectives: 1) allow students to develop the necessary inter-disciplinary communication and research skills to facilitate their design project work; 2) expose students to ideation and design skills that will encourage them to work outside of their comfort zone; 3) practice the analogical reasoning skills that facilitate the successful search for and application of relevant biological concepts. This initial portion of the course stresses that BID occurs at the early phase of a design process and that identifying solutions from the biological domain requires that students have a sufficient breakdown of their problem combined with sufficient biological knowledge to suggest appropriate mappings between problem and solution. Two primary barriers are a lack of appreciation for how the evolutionary “design” process differs from human design, and the use of different terminology for describing similar processes in biology vs. engineering. We describe some teaching practices and activities that allow students to overcome these difficulties. The course culminates in a group project, which is a detailed conceptual design including a preliminary analysis of expected performance, value, and feasibility. A unique feature of the course is that it represents the efforts of not only biologists and engineers, but also contributions from cognitive scientists engaged in understanding human cognition and creativity. Our course strategy has been deeply influenced by findings in that field. We have studied the activity of classroom participants for the last three years, examining the processes they use, and intermediate and final design representations. Analysis of this has yielded a number of observations about the cognitive process of biologically inspired design that may provide insights regarding how to enhance BID education, as well as provide useful insight for professionals in the design field. Key words: biologically-inspired design (BID); interdisciplinary communicatio

Acquisition of a research and teaching salt water flume at Priest Landing, GA.

Issued as final reportNational Science Foundation (U.S.

Peer J Consumption Data

These data were used for a study that will be reported on in a forthcoming Peer J article. The data files were updated on September 25, 2015.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.The data file contains the results of predation experiments on oyster spat by mud crabs in the presence of chemical cues produced by blue crabs fed differing amounts of mud crabs and placed different distances away. The treatment variables and levels consist of: Distance (0.25m, 0.5m, 1m, 1.5m, or 2m); Diet (High [H], Low [L], or Control [C]); and, Time (24, 48 hours). Date of experiment also is included. The measurement variables consist of Total Number Eaten, and Proportion Eaten Outside Refuge

Impacts of Global Warming and Elevated CO2 on Sensory Behavior in Predator-Prey Interactions: A Review and Synthesis

Ecosystems are shaped by complex interactions between species and their environment. However, humans are rapidly changing the environment through increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, creating global warming and elevated CO2 levels that affect ecological communities through multiple processes. Understanding community responses to climate change requires examining the consequences of changing behavioral interactions between species, such as those affecting predator and prey. Understanding the underlying sensory process that govern these interactions and how they may be affected by climate change provides a predictive framework, but many studies examine behavioral outcomes only. This review summarizes the current knowledge of global warming and elevated CO2 impacts on predator-prey interactions with respect to the relevant aspects of sensory ecology, and we discuss the potential consequences of these effects. Our specific questions concern how climate change affects the ability of predators and prey to collect information and how this affects predator-prey interactions. We develop a framework for understanding how warming and elevated CO2 can alter behavioral interactions by examining how the processes (steps) of sensory cue (or signal) production, transmission and reception may change. This includes both direct effects on cue production and reception resulting from changes in organismal physiology, but also effects on cue transmission resulting from modulation of the physical environment via physical and biotic changes. We suggest that some modalities may be particularly prone to disruption, and that aquatic environments may suffer more serious disruptions as a result of elevated CO2 and warming that collectively affect all steps of the signaling process. Temperature by itself may primarily operate on aspects of cue generation and transmission, implying that sensory-mediated disruptions in terrestrial environments may be less severe. However, significant biases in the literature in terms of modalities (chemosensation), taxa (fish), and stressors (elevated CO2) examined currently prevents accurate generalizations. Significant issues such as multimodal compensation and altered transmission or other environmental effects remain largely unaddressed. Future studies should strive to fill these knowledge gaps in order to better understand and predict shifts in predator-prey interactions in a changing climate

Green Crab (Carcinus maenas) Foraging Efficiency Reduced by Fast Flows

Predators can strongly influence prey populations and the structure and function of ecosystems, but these effects can be modified by environmental stress. For example, fluid velocity and turbulence can alter the impact of predators by limiting their environmental range and altering their foraging ability. We investigated how hydrodynamics affected the foraging behavior of the green crab (Carcinus maenas), which is invading marine habitats throughout the world. High flow velocities are known to reduce green crab predation rates and our study sought to identify the mechanisms by which flow affects green crabs. We performed a series of experiments with green crabs to determine: 1) if their ability to find prey was altered by flow in the field, 2) how flow velocity influenced their foraging efficiency, and 3) how flow velocity affected their handling time of prey. In a field study, we caught significantly fewer crabs in baited traps at sites with fast versus slow flows even though crabs were more abundant in high flow areas. This finding suggests that higher velocity flows impair the ability of green crabs to locate prey. In laboratory flume assays, green crabs foraged less efficiently when flow velocity was increased. Moreover, green crabs required significantly more time to consume prey in high velocity flows. Our data indicate that flow can impose significant chemosensory and physical constraints on green crabs. Hence, hydrodynamics may strongly influence the role that green crabs and other predators play in rocky intertidal communities

What is a weapon?

Animals utilize an incredible array of traits for offence and defence during conflict. These traits range from exaggerated morphological structures such as the antlers of stags and the horns of beetles, to an arsenal of noxious chemicals emitted, secreted, and injected. However, the breadth of these traits appears to be underappreciated in our current thinking about aggression in animals. Use of the term "weapon" in the current literature is largely restricted to studies of conspicuous morphological structures used by males during contests over access to females, and as a result, our understanding of other types of weapons is limited. In this article, I explore the diversity of traits utilized by animals to manipulate and control the behavior of other individuals in a number of agonistic contexts, with the aim to encourage a reappraisal of the way in which behavioral and evolutionary biologists view animal weapons. I discuss the advantages of including this broader range of traits in studies of animal weaponry and explore the unifying features that distinguish animal weapons from other traits