Towards a lightweight generic computational grid framework for biological research

Background: An increasing number of scientific research projects require access to large-scale computational resources. This is particularly true in the biological field, whether to facilitate the analysis of large high-throughput data sets, or to perform large numbers of complex simulations – a characteristic of the emerging field of systems biology. Results: In this paper we present a lightweight generic framework for combining disparate computational resources at multiple sites (ranging from local computers and clusters to established national Grid services). A detailed guide describing how to set up the framework is available from the following URL: http://igrid-ext.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/portal_guide/. Conclusion: This approach is particularly (but not exclusively) appropriate for large-scale biology projects with multiple collaborators working at different national or international sites. The framework is relatively easy to set up, hides the complexity of Grid middleware from the user, and provides access to resources through a single, uniform interface. It has been developed as part of the European ImmunoGrid project

Martian north polar cap summer water cycle

A key outstanding question in Martian science is 'are the polar caps gaining or losing mass and what are the implications for past, current and future climate?' To address this question, we use observations from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) of the north polar cap during late summer for multiple Martian years, to monitor the summertime water cycle in order to place quantitative limits on the amount of water ice deposited and sublimed in late summer. We establish here for the first time the summer cycle of water ice absorption band signatures on the north polar cap. We show that in a key region in the interior of the north polar cap, the absorption band depths grow until Ls=120, when they begin to shrink, until they are obscured at the end of summer by the north polar hood. This behavior is transferable over the entire north polar cap, where in late summer regions 'flip' from being net sublimating into net condensation mode. This transition or 'mode flip' happens earlier for regions closer to the pole, and later for regions close to the periphery of the cap. The observations and calculations presented herein estimate that on average a water ice layer ~70 microns thick is deposited during the Ls=135-164 period. This is far larger than the results of deposition on the south pole during summer, where an average layer 0.6-6 microns deep has been estimated by Brown et al. (2014).Comment: This article is closely related and draws from arXiv:1501.0204

Nonlinearity without Superluminality

Quantum theory is compatible with special relativity. In particular, though measurements on entangled systems are correlated in a way that cannot be reproduced by local hidden variables, they cannot be used for superluminal signalling. As Czachor, Gisin and Polchinski pointed out, this is not true for general nonlinear modifications of the Schroedinger equation. Excluding superluminal signalling has thus been taken to rule out most nonlinear versions of quantum theory. The no superluminal signalling constraint has also been used for alternative derivations of the optimal fidelities attainable for imperfect quantum cloning and other operations. These results apply to theories satisfying the rule that their predictions for widely separated and slowly moving entangled systems can be approximated by non-relativistic equations of motion with respect to a preferred time coordinate. This paper describes a natural way in which this rule might fail to hold. In particular, it is shown that quantum readout devices which display the values of localised pure states need not allow superluminal signalling, provided that the devices display the values of the states of entangled subsystems as defined in a non-standard, but natural, way. It follows that any locally defined nonlinear evolution of pure states can be made consistent with Minkowski causality.Comment: References update