Online and transparent self-adaptation of stream parallel patterns

Several real-world parallel applications are becoming more dynamic and long-running, demanding online (at run-time) adaptations. Stream processing is a representative scenario that computes data items arriving in real-time and where parallel executions are necessary. However, it is challenging for humans to monitor and manually self-optimize complex and long-running parallel executions continuously. Moreover, although high-level and structured parallel programming aims to facilitate parallelism, several issues still need to be addressed for improving the existing abstractions. In this paper, we extend self-adaptiveness for supporting autonomous and online changes of the parallel pattern compositions. Online self-adaptation is achieved with an online profiler that characterizes the applications, which is combined with a new self-adaptive strategy and a model for smooth transitions on reconfigurations. The solution provides a new abstraction layer that enables application programmers to define non-functional requirements instead of hand-tuning complex configurations. Hence, we contribute with additional abstractions and flexible self-adaptation for responsiveness at run-time. The proposed solution is evaluated with applications having different processing characteristics, workloads, and configurations. The results show that it is possible to provide additional abstractions, flexibility, and responsiveness while achieving performance comparable to the best static configuration executions.

Rapid construct superhydrophobic microcracks on the open-surface platform for droplet manipulations

Droplet-based transport driven by surface tension has been explored as an automated pumping source for several biomedical applications. This paper presented a simple and fast superhydrophobic modify and patterning approach to fabricate various open-surface platforms to manipulate droplets to achieve transport, mixing, concentration, and rebounding control. Several commercial reagents were tested in our approach, and the Glaco reagent was selected to create a superhydrophobic layer; laser cutters are utilized to scan on these superhydrophobic surface to create gradient hydrophilic micro-patterns. Implementing back-and-forth vibrations on the predetermined parallel patterns, droplets can be transported and mixed successfully. Colorimetry of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) mixing with substrates also reduced the reaction time by more than 5-times with the help of superhydrophobic patterned chips. Besides, patterned superhydrophobic chips can significantly improve the sensitivity of colorimetric glucose-sensing by more than 10 times. Moreover, all bioassays were distributed homogeneously within the region of hydrophilic micropatterns without the coffee-ring effect. In addition, to discuss further applications of the surface wettability, the way of controlling the droplet impacting and rebounding phenomenon was also demonstrated. This work reports a rapid approach to modify and patterning superhydrophobic films to perform droplet-based manipulations with a lower technical barrier, higher efficiency, and easier operation. It holds the potential to broaden the applications of open microfluidics in the future.

Morphometric Characteristics of the Aziana Valley Basin

The present study aims at examining quantitatively the morphometric characteristics of Iziana Valley basin that is located in the northern part of Iraq; particularly in south of Erbil Governorate. This basin is considered one of the small sub-basins where its valleys run on formations of the Triple and Quadrant Ages, which are represented by the Bay Hassan formations, and the sediments and mixed sediments of the cliffs, respectively. The area of ​​the Iziana basin amounts to (36.39 km2) whereas the percentage of its rotation reaches (0.17); a low percentage, which indicates that the basin diverges from the circular to the rectangular shape. The value of the elongation ratio of the basin reaches (0.38) while the terrain ratio of the basin is (0.03), a low percentage that entails the weakness of its erosion processes and the small volume of the carried and transported sediments. As for the relative topography of the basin, it was (1.08), which is also a low value. It indicates a relatively large area of ​​the basin and the impressive strides that it has made in its erosion cycle. The total river levels of the basin reach (5) ranks, and their numbers vary from one rank to another. Moreover, the total length of the drainage networks in the basin reached (187.4 km), and the prevailing drainage patterns in the basin are the tree and parallel patterns. The researcher has adopted spatial, formal, topographical, and river net-work properties for the purpose of first determining the shape of the basin, the stage of its erosion, its secondary basins, and its terrestrial features that have been developed as a result of the contrast between the erosion and sedimentation processes.

Restoration of Legacy Parallelism: Transforming Pthreads into Farm and Pipeline Patterns

Parallel patterns are a high-level programming paradigm that enables non-experts in parallelism to develop structured parallel programs that are maintainable, adaptive, and portable whilst achieving good performance on a variety of parallel systems. However, there still exists a large base of legacy-parallel code developed using ad-hoc methods and incorporating low-level parallel/concurrency libraries such as pthreads without any parallel patterns in the fundamental design. This code would benefit from being restructured and rewritten into pattern-based code. However, the process of rewriting the code is laborious and error-prone, due to typical concurrency and pthreading code being closely intertwined throughout the business logic of the program. In this paper, we present a new software restoration methodology, to transform legacy-parallel programs implemented using pthreads into structured farm and pipeline patterned equivalents. We demonstrate our restoration technique on a number of benchmarks, allowing the introduction of patterned farm and pipeline parallelism in the resulting code; we record improvements in cyclomatic complexity and speedups on a number of representative benchmarks.

Rapid construct superhydrophobic microcracks on the open-surface platform for droplet manipulations

Droplet-based transport driven by surface tension has been explored as an automated pumping source for several biomedical applications. This paper presented a simple and fast superhydrophobic modify and patterning approach to fabricate various open-surface platforms to manipulate droplets to achieve transport, mixing, concentration, and rebounding control. Several commercial reagents were tested in our approach, and the Glaco reagent was selected to create a superhydrophobic layer; laser cutters are utilized to scan on these superhydrophobic surface to create gradient hydrophilic micro-patterns. Implementing back-and-forth vibrations on the predetermined parallel patterns, droplets can be transported and mixed successfully. Colorimetry of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) mixing with substrates also reduced the reaction time by more than 5-times with the help of superhydrophobic patterned chips. Besides, patterned superhydrophobic chips can significantly improve the sensitivity of colorimetric glucose-sensing by more than 10 times. Moreover, all bioassays were distributed homogeneously within the region of hydrophilic micropatterns without the coffee-ring effect. In addition, to discuss further applications of the surface wettability, the way of controlling the droplet impacting and rebounding phenomenon was also demonstrated. This work reports a rapid approach to modify and pattering superhydrophobic films to perform droplet-based manipulations with a lower technical barrier, higher efficiency, and easier operation. It holds the potential to broaden the applications of open microfluidics in the future.

Obviously undergoing change: Adverbs of evidentiality across time and space

Increasingly globalized communication networks in the modern world may influence traditional patterns of linguistic change: in contrast to an orderly sequential pathway of change, more recently a number of “mega trends” have been identified, which accelerate simultaneously in time and space. The rise of obviously within the cohort of adverbs of evidentiality—naturally, evidently, clearly, and of course—may be one such trend. To examine this possibility, we conduct a large-scale sociolinguistic analysis of c12,000 adverbs of evidentiality across over thirty communities in the UK and Canada. The results reveal parallel development across time and space: obviously advances rapidly among individuals born in the 1960s in both countries. The rise of obviously illustrates key attributes that are beginning to emerge from other rapidly innovating features: “off the shelf” changes that (1) are easily borrowed, (2) receptive to global trends, but (3) exhibit parallel patterns as the change progresses.

Common Parallel Patterns

When we are at our best as programmers, we recognize patterns in our work and apply techniques that are time proven to be the best solution. Parallel programming is no different, and it would be a serious mistake not to study the patterns that have proven to be useful in this space. Consider the MapReduce frameworks adopted for Big Data applications; their success stems largely from being based on two simple yet effective parallel patterns—map and reduce.

Better Secure than Submissive

In this chapter, the securitarian hypothesis is tested against the standard authoritarian hypothesis. At the personality level, the results show that Trump venerators actually are less likely to have the key authoritarian personality trait of submissiveness and are no more likely to value conventionalism and aggression. They are, however, more likely to display securitarian personality traits (e.g., to believe that “being prepared” is the best life motto). Parallel patterns appear on the issues believed to be “most important” where Trump venerators are more likely than non-Trump-venerating conservatives to mention a security issue such as gun rights, immigration reduction, or defense spending. Finally, at the societal level, Trump venerators are not more likely than non-Trump-venerating conservatives to value authoritarian leaders and conventionalism but they are significantly more likely to say that the worst thing possible for a country is to be perceived as weak.