Impact of Admission and Cache Replacement Policies on Response Times of Jobs on Data Grids

Caching techniques have been used widely to improve the performance gaps of storage hierarchies in computing systems. Little is known about the impact of policies on the response times of jobs that access and process very large files in data grids, particularly when data and computations on the data have to be co-located on the same host. In data intensive applications that access large data files over wide area network environment, such as data-grids, the combination of policies for job servicing (or scheduling), caching and cache replacement can significantly impact the performance of grid jobs. We present preliminary results of a simulation study that combines an admission policy with a cache replacement policy when servicing jobs submitted to a storage resource manager.The results show that, in comparison to a first come first serve policy, the response times of jobs are significantly improved, for practical limits of disk cache sizes, when the jobs that are back-logged to access the same files are taken into consideration in scheduling the next file to be retrieved into the disk cache. Not only are the response times of jobs improved, but also the metric measures for caching policies, such as the hit ratio and the average cost per retrieval, are improved irrespective of the cache replacement policy used. Ekow Otoo is research staff scientist with the scientific data management group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley. He received his B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and a post graduate diploma in Computer Science from the University of Ghana, Legon. In 1977, he received his M.Sc. degree in Computer Science from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in Britain and his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from McGill University, Montreal, Canada in 1983. He joined the faculty of the School of Computer Science, Carleton University, in 1983 and from 1987 to 1999, he was a tenured faculty member of the School of Computer Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He has served as research consultant to Bell Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada, and as a research project consultant to the GIS Division, Geomatics Canada, Natural Resources Canada, from 1990 to 1998. Ekow Otoo is a member of the ACM and IEEE. His research interests include database management systems, data structures and algorithms, parallel I/O for high performance computing, parallel and distributed computing. Doron Rotem is currently a senior staff scientist and a member of the Data Management group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. His research interests include Grid Computing, Workflow, Scientific Data Management and Paralled and Distributed Computing and Algorithms. He has published over 80 papers in international journals and conferences in these areas. Prior to that, Dr Rotem co-founded and served as a CTO of a startup company, called CommerceRoute, that made software products in the area of workflow and data integration and before that, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, Canada. Dr. Rotem holds a B.Sc degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Arie Shoshani is a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He joined LBNL in 1976. He heads the Scientific Data Management Group. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1969. From 1969 to 1976, he was a researcher at System Development Corporation, where he worked on the Network Control Program for the ARPAnet, distributed databases, database conversion, and natural language interfaces to data management systems. His current areas of work include data models, query languages, temporal data, statistical and scientific database management, storage management on tertiary storage, and grid storage middleware. Arie is also the director of a Scientific Data Management (SDM) Integrated Software Infrastructure Center (ISIC), one of seven centers selected by the SciDAC program at DOE in 2001. In this capacity, he is coordinating the work of collaborators from 4 DOE laboratories and 4 universities (see: http://sdmcenter.lbl.gov). Dr. Shoshani has published over 65 technical papers in refereed journals and conferences, chaired several workshops, conferences, and panels in database management; and served on numerous program committees for various database conferences. He also served as an associate editor for the ACM Transactions on Database Systems. He was elected a member of the VLDB Endowment Board, served as the Publication Board Chairperson for the VLDB Journal, and as the Vice-President of the VLDB Endowment. His home page is http://www.lbl.gov/arie.     

雌激素替代治疗去卵巢大鼠血清一氧化氮含量的变化

目的建立雌激素替代治疗动物模型,观察其血清中一氧化氮(NO)含量的变化.方法取40只雌性大鼠切除双侧卵巢,随机分成四组A组假手术组;B组单纯去卵巢组;C组去卵巢+雌激素治疗组(隔日肌注苯甲酸雌二醇5μg);D组去卵巢+雌孕激素治疗组(隔日肌注苯甲酸雌二醇5μg,黄体酮1mg),两月后检测血清中雌二醇(E2)、孕酮(P)及NO2-/NO3-的含量.结果(1)卵巢切除后血清E2、P和NO2-/NO3-浓度显著降低;(2)雌激素治疗组和雌孕激素治疗组血清E2和NO2-/NO3-的含量及雌孕激素治疗组血清P的含量,略低于A组而显著高于去卵巢组.结论所建立的动物模型可以模拟绝经及绝经后的小剂量雌激素替代治疗,动物模型体内雌激素浓度与具有抗衰老作用的NO浓度呈相互平行的变化关系,雌激素可能通过NO达到延缓衰老作用.     

人类活动对海南岛大型兽类资源的影响及保护对策研究

岛屿内物种的抗干扰程度低,人类活动会对岛内物种的保护产生很大的影响.海南岛是我国靠近热带的最大岛屿,曾经有着丰富的大型兽类资源.本文综合相关文献和历史资料,研究了海南岛古代和近代海南大型动物的资源情况,分析了人类活动对大型兽类资源影响的主要原因:狩猎工具和技术的发展、人口剧增、野生动物资源的过度利用、原始森林的减少、热带作物的种植等导致大型动物数量和分布区急剧减少,提出了通过加强自然保护区的建设与管理、合理种植经济作物、控制外来物种的引进、合理开发利用旅游资源、加大动物及其栖息地的保护和宣传力度等方式保护岛内物种的建议.     

人工股骨头置换与动力髋螺钉内固定用于老年股骨头转子间骨折治疗的疗效比较

目的：比较人工股骨头置换术与动力髋螺钉内固定治疗老年股骨头转子间骨折的临床疗效。方法：选择我院74例老年股骨头转子间骨折患者作为观察对象,随机分为A组（人工股骨头置换术）和B组（动力髋螺钉内固定术）,每组37例。比较两组患者的手术时间、术中出血量、术后卧床时间、术后Harris评分及术后并发症和死亡率。结果：手术时间和术后卧床时间A组明显短于B组（P〈0．05）,A组术中出血量较B组明显减少,差异显著（P〈0．05）。术后1、3个月Harris评分A组均高于B组（P〈0．05）;术后6个月Harris评分两组无明显差异（P〉0．05）。结论：与动力髋螺钉内固定术相比,人工股骨头置换术术后可更早负重、恢复好,而且并发症少,是较为理想的治疗老年股骨头转子间骨折的治疗方法。     

Exploring the Impact of Short- and Long-Term Hydrocortisone Replacement on Cognitive Function,Quality of Life and Catecholamine Secretion: A Pilot Study

Hydrocortisone (HC) substitution is essential in the treatment for patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI). Current replacement regimens however only incompletely mimic the physiological circadian rhythm of cortisol secretion, thereby resulting in subclinical temporary hypo- and hypercortisolism. Several studies point toward impairment of cognitive functions under these conditions, in part due to affected catecholamine secretion. Aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of long-term versus short-term HC replacement therapy on the adrenomedullary system and cognitive functions. Fourteen patients with primary or secondary AI were divided into two groups, depending on the duration of disease and HC replacement therapy (<15 years). All subjects underwent standardized neurocognitive testing; in addition, cortisol and catecholamine levels as well as physiological parameters and quality of life (QoL) were assessed. Patients with HC replacement therapy ≥15 years (n = 7) received significantly higher equivalent glucocorticoid doses than those with a shorter lasting therapy (n = 7; p = 0.048). Neuropsychological tests, QoL, physiological parameters, and cortisol levels did not differ significantly between both groups. Of note, norepinephrine levels were significantly lower in patients on short-term HC replacement therapy (p = 0.025). However, there were no significant differences in catecholamines with respect to the underlying pathophysiology, gender, or age. Irrespective of the duration of use, male patients scored significantly better for single aspects of QoL, whereas females performed significantly better in the attention test. Overall, we showed that duration of cortisol replacement therapy may have an impact on catecholamine release, but does not seem to affect cognitive functions and QoL.     

视频暴力与攻击行为的神经成像研究进展

认知神经科学促进了心理学领域有关视频暴力与攻击行为的神经生理机制研究.近几年,国外研究者使用功能性磁共振成像研究了视频暴力与攻击行为的神经生理机制,并提出了新的攻击行为模型:神经发展模型.研究发现:长时间暴露在视频暴力下人类对暴力的威胁的脑反应是真实的并且可以察觉到的;能导致前额皮层、杏仁核、前扣带皮层、海马和海马回的激活;能增加潜在的攻击行为.文章介绍了认知神经科学领域中视频暴力和攻击行为神经成像研究的发展现状并展望了其前景.     

Video game play and lucid dreams: Implications for the development of consciousness.

The improvement of various cognitive skills associated with video game play has been well documented; however, the development of consciousness implications have not been considered. In the present study several potential indicators of consciousness development, including and especially lucid dreaming frequency, were examined as a function of video game play. In the first study, high video game players were more likely to report lucid dreams, observer dreams, and dream control when dream recall frequency and motion disorientation during play were controlled. There were no similar differences in other consciousness development indices. In the second study, a slightly different pattern of results occurred because of respondents all being frequent players. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

重组人骨保护素对聚乙烯颗粒刺激的人工关节置换术患者外周血IL-6和TNF-α表达的影响

目的：探讨重组人骨保护素（rhOPG）对聚乙烯颗粒刺激的人工关节置换术患者外周血IL一6和TNF一0l表达的影响,分析rhOPG防止关节置换术后假体无菌性松动的应用价值。方法：收集2009年1月-2011年3月我院收治的人工关节置换术患者的外周血清60份,采用梯度离心法分离出单个核细胞,并将其随机分成5组,每组12份。对照组：单个核细胞,模型组：单个核细胞＋1X109／mL聚乙烯颗粒,低剂量组：单个核细胞＋1×109／mLL聚乙烯颗粒＋10ng／mLrhOPG,中剂量组：单个核细胞＋1X109／mL聚乙烯颗粒＋100ng／mLrhOPG,高剂量组：单个核细胞＋l×109／mL聚乙烯颗粒＋1000ng／mLrhOPG。通过酶联免疫酶联免疫法（ELISA）＇~4定各组细胞上清液中白介素-6（IL-6）和肿瘤坏死因子（TNF-α）的含量,并进行组间比较。结果i（1）模型组、低剂量组、中剂量组、高剂量组的IL-6、TNF-α．含量均显著高于对照组（P〈0．05）。（2）低剂量组、中剂量组、高剂量纽的IL-6、TNF—α浓度均较模型组低（P〈0．os）。（3）随着rhOPG浓度的增加,IL-6和TNF．仪含量逐渐降低,组间比较差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。结论irhOPG可抑制聚乙烯颗粒刺激的人工关节置换术患者外周血1L-6和TNF—α．的表达,可有助于防治人工关节置换术后的无菌性关节松动。关键词：人工关节置换术;重组人骨保护素;假体松动;白细胞介素-6;肿瘤坏死N子     

大肠杆菌基因无痕敲除技术及策略

基因敲除技术是大肠杆菌基因组减小和代谢途径改造的有效手段,其中基于同源重组原理的基因无痕敲除技术显现出其他技术所不具备的应用优势和发展潜力。该技术可以快速敲除大肠杆菌基因组中的目标基因,并且在基因组中不残留任何外源片段,所以不会干扰后续的基因操作。我们分类介绍了无痕敲除技术中所涉及载体的结构、功能及其相应的敲除策略,着重介绍了无痕敲除技术的原理及载体构建方法。     

快捷小切口与常规切口人工髋关节置换治疗老年股骨颈骨折的对比观察

目的：通过观察我院老年股骨颈骨折患者临床治疗资料,对比分析采用快捷小切口与常规切口人工髋关节置换术该疾病的临床效果。方法：将我院2010年1月2013年1月期间收治的100例老年股骨颈骨折患者按照不同的切口方法随机分为A与B两组,分别进行快捷小切口与常规切口人工髋关节置换术治疗,对比分析使用两种方法下地活动用时间、术后引流量、切口长度、出血量情况以及治疗效果等。结果：两组患者经各自手术治疗后,临床症状均有改善,A组患者在下地活动用时间、术后引流量、切口长度、出血量情况等方面均优于B组,差异具有显著性（P〈0．05）,而在术后髋关节功能对比方面差异不显著。结论：采用快捷小切口人工髋关节置换手术治疗高龄股骨颈骨折患者,具有手术时间短、恢复快、创伤小、瘢痕不明显等多种优点,值得临床上推广与进一步研究。     

Effect of Serum Replacement with Plysate on Cell Growth and Metabolismin Primary Cultures of Human Skeletal Muscle

Cell- and tissue culture methodology form an important base for biological, biochemical and biomedical research. Most cell culture techniques require the use of animal sera for the successful propagation of cells. However, the varying composition between batches has fuelled the need for alternatives. In the case of serum derived from animal foetuses, ethical concerns have also been raised. Here we compare the use of a platelet derived lysate (Plysate), which is currently under development as a serum substitute, in the culturing of primary human muscle cells to foetal bovine serum (FBS). In cells cultured with Plysate, differentiation into myotubes, glucose-uptake, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activity and expression and phosphorylation of ERK1/2 MAPK and PKB/Akt was impaired. Thus for primary human skeletal muscle Plysate is a sub-optimal substitute for FBS.     

Impact of Male Takeovers on Infant Deaths,Births and Conceptions in Cebus capucinus at Santa Rosa,Costa Rica

Male takeovers are associated with infant wounding and death in 3 of 4 capuchin species. In this paper, I analyze the effects of male takeovers on infant mortality and the subsequent conceptions and interbirth intervals of their mothers over an 18-yr period and test predictions of the sexual selection model of infanticide for white-faced capuchins, (Cebus capucinus). Major findings are that infants are significantly more likely to die in the 3- and 12-mo periods following a takeover than in times of peace and that a female whose infant dies experiences a significantly shorter interbirth interval before her next infant is born than she would have had the former infant survived. In the vast majority of cases, the invading males become resident in the group and are present during the subsequent conceptions of the females in the group. However, overall conception rates do not rise significantly in the year after a takeover, there is no relationship between the age of the infant at death and the length of the mother's subsequent interbirth interval, and it is not yet clear if male infants are preferentially targeted by invading males. Most takeovers occur during the 6-mo dry season and most conceptions occur in the wet season, 3–6 mo later. My findings support the major predictions of the sexual selection model of infanticide in primates and demonstrate that male takeovers of social groups have substantial effects on infant survival and maternal parturition patterns in Cebus capucinus.     

鸡胚ESC和SSCs特定基因表达差异的研究

目的:探讨鸡胚胎干细胞(ESC)和精原干细胞(SSCs)在基因表达水平上的差异.方法:传至二代的ESC和SSCs,采用免疫荧光和碱性磷酸酶检测法联合鉴定其干细胞特性,RT-PCR方法检测两者相关基因的表达差异.结果:两种处于未分化状态时的干细胞基因表达存在差异:未分化的ESC表达基因GDF3基因和Nanog基因;SSCs表达特定基因c-kit、Cvh和Stra8基因.结论:两种干细胞在基因表达水平上有差异,为ESC与SSCs在基因水平上的鉴定提供参考依据.     

化学药物导致的与Friedreich共济失调相关的GAA重复序列不稳定性的研究

Friedreich共济失调是由位于FRDA基因上的GAA重复序列动态突变扩增所引起的,目前其不稳定性机制还不清楚。为了探索化学药物对GAA重复序列的作用,本实验构建了含有(GAA)42的重组质粒,转入大肠杆菌中,分别经过丝裂霉素C和甲基磺酸乙酯连续多次处理后,检测其长度变化发现,两种化学药物在不同程度上都可以促使(GAA)42发生删除,且删除后长度多数处于体内的正常范围。试验结果表明,化学药物可以促进与Friedreich共济失调相关的GAA重复序列发生删除。本工作为研究Friedreich共济失调的致病机理及治疗方案奠定了一定的基础。     

组织工程用真皮成纤维细胞渗透特性的初步研究

在优化组织工程化真皮低温保存程序时,需要了解体外培养的真皮成纤维细胞的渗透特性。利用细胞计数与尺寸分析仪初步研究了组织工程用真皮成纤维细胞对水的渗透特性,其中包括细胞的等渗体积、细胞在低渗或高渗溶液(渗透压范围：130～1250mOsm)中细胞的平衡体积及细胞的不可渗体积。结果表明,在等渗条件下(280．67mOsm),真皮成纤维细胞的平均体积为5105．51μm^3(直径d=21．40μm);细胞体积随溶液渗透压的变化规律符合Boyle van't Hoff关系式,据此得到真皮成纤维细胞的不可渗体积Vb=0．3631Vi,为1853．81μm^3。     

Effects of food value, predation risk, and pilferage on the caching decisions of Dipodomys merriami

Animals that scatter cache their food face a trade-off betweenthe benefits of protecting caches from pilferers and the costsassociated with caching. Placing food into a large number ofwidely spaced caches helps to protect it from pilferage butalso involves costs such as greater exposure to predators. Ipredicted that animals would disperse food into a larger numberof more widely spaced caches when caching (1) a preferred foodversus a less preferred food and (2) under conditions of lowpredation risk versus high predation risk. To test these predictions,I examined the scatter-caching decisions of Merriam's kangaroorats (Dipodomys merriami). D. merriami distributed caches inclumped patterns, regardless of food preference, but they showeda tendency to invest more in a preferred food by distributingcaches more widely. Under the relative safety of the new moon,they did not disperse caches more widely, rather they partitionedthe same amount of food into a larger number of caches thanthey did under the full moon, when predation risk is higher.To examine whether their cache spacing decisions had a significantimpact on the success of cache pilferers, I measured discoveryby pilferers of artificial caches of two food types at differentcaching distances. Results indicate that the cache spacing behaviorof D. merriami functions to protect caches from pilferers, becauseincreased spacing of artificial caches decreased the probabilityof pilferage for both types of food.     

Cost-Effectiveness Comparison of Response Strategies to a Large-Scale Anthrax Attack on the Chicago Metropolitan Area: Impact of Timing and Surge Capacity

Rapid public health response to a large-scale anthrax attack would reduce overall morbidity and mortality. However, there is uncertainty about the optimal cost-effective response strategy based on timing of intervention, public health resources, and critical care facilities. We conducted a decision analytic study to compare response strategies to a theoretical large-scale anthrax attack on the Chicago metropolitan area beginning either Day 2 or Day 5 after the attack. These strategies correspond to the policy options set forth by the Anthrax Modeling Working Group for population-wide responses to a large-scale anthrax attack: (1) postattack antibiotic prophylaxis, (2) postattack antibiotic prophylaxis and vaccination, (3) preattack vaccination with postattack antibiotic prophylaxis, and (4) preattack vaccination with postattack antibiotic prophylaxis and vaccination. Outcomes were measured in costs, lives saved, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). We estimated that postattack antibiotic prophylaxis of all 1,390,000 anthrax-exposed people beginning on Day 2 after attack would result in 205,835 infected victims, 35,049 fulminant victims, and 28,612 deaths. Only 6,437 (18.5%) of the fulminant victims could be saved with the existing critical care facilities in the Chicago metropolitan area. Mortality would increase to 69,136 if the response strategy began on Day 5. Including postattack vaccination with antibiotic prophylaxis of all exposed people reduces mortality and is cost-effective for both Day 2 (ICER=$182/QALY) and Day 5 (ICER=$1,088/QALY) response strategies. Increasing ICU bed availability significantly reduces mortality for all response strategies. We conclude that postattack antibiotic prophylaxis and vaccination of all exposed people is the optimal cost-effective response strategy for a large-scale anthrax attack. Our findings support the US government's plan to provide antibiotic prophylaxis and vaccination for all exposed people within 48 hours of the recognition of a large-scale anthrax attack. Future policies should consider expanding critical care capacity to allow for the rescue of more victims.     

Influence of gene-linkage and recombination of evolutionary algorithms on the rate of evolution, genetic diversity and the response of evolving populations to disturbance

Both biological populations and fault tolerant evolvable hardware systems need to respond rapidly to changes in their dynamic environmental niche. Such changes can be caused by a disturbance event or fault occurring. Here I examine evolutionary algorithms, based on eukaryote sexual selection, which allow different levels of recombination of ‘genes’. The differences in recombination are based on ‘genes’ related to the optimisation process being either linked on a single ‘chromosome’ or being present on separate ‘chromosomes’. When genes are present on separate chromosomes the initial rate of evolution of a randomly generated population is faster than if the genes are linked on the same chromosome. However, when the optimisation problem is changed during the optimisation period, indicating a disturbance or fault occurring, the initial fitness of the linked population is higher and the rate of optimisation immediately after the disturbance is more rapid than for the non-linked populations. The genotypic and phenotypic diversity of the linked populations are also significantly higher immediately prior to the disturbance event. I propose this diversity provides the necessary variation to allow more rapid evolution following a disturbance. The results demonstrate the importance of population diversity in response to change, supporting theory from conservation biology.     

Dry-season Mosquito Breeding Associated with Irrigation in the Northeast Kimberley Region of Western Australia: Potential Impact on Mosquito-borne Disease Transmission

Recent Ross River virus activity prior to the onset of the wet season in the Kimberley region of Western Australia points to an increased dry season mosquito-borne disease risk at Kununurra, compared to other Kimberley towns. This study describes a preliminary investigation into the role of the Ord River Irrigation Area at Kununurra in mosquito production during the dry season. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether the irrigation area has provided the opportunity for year-round breeding of arbovirus vector mosquitoes. A 10-day adult and larval mosquito sampling survey, in August 2003, revealed that mosquito breeding was occurring during the driest month of the year at Kununurra, supporting the hypothesis that mosquitoes can breed year-round. Importantly, significantly larger numbers and percentage of adult Culex annulirostris, an important disease vector in Australia, were collected within the irrigation area (44.6% of total catch) compared to nearby reference (nonirrigated) breeding sites (9.8%) (mean difference 76.2 per trap per night; 95% CI 38.6, 113.7; P <0.001). Larval Cx. annulirostris were also collected at several sites within the irrigation area, whereas none were collected at reference sites. These results indicate that mosquito breeding associated with anthropogenic environmental changes may be responsible for an increased health risk at the end of the dry season. Mosquito management needs to be given a high priority to ensure this potential health risk is not further exacerbated. Several control strategies to reduce breeding of disease vector mosquitoes are identified, primarily focusing on modification of breeding habitats and alteration of irrigation protocols.     

度量误差对模型参数估计值的影响及参数估计方法的比较研究

基于模型V=aDb,首先在Matlab下用模拟实验的方法,研究了度量误差对模型参数估计的影响,结果表明:当V的误差固定而D的误差不断增大时,用通常最小二乘法对模型进行参数估计,参数a的估计值不断增大,参数b的估计值不断减小,参数估计值随着 D的度量误差的增大越来越远离参数真实值;然后对消除度量误差影响的参数估计方法进行研究,分别用回归校准法、模拟外推法和度量误差模型方法对V和D都有度量误差的数据进行参数估计,结果表明:回归校准法、模拟外推法和度量误差模型方法都能得到参数的无偏估计,克服了用通常最小二乘法进行估计造成的参数估计的系统偏差,结果进一步表明度量误差模型方法优于回归校准法和模拟外推法．