Extending OmpSs for OpenCL kernel co-execution in heterogeneous systems

© 2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Heterogeneous systems have a very high potential performance but present difficulties in their programming. OmpSs is a well known framework for task based parallel applications, which is an interesting tool to simplify the programming of these systems. However, it does not support the co-execution of a single OpenCL kernel instance on several compute devices. To overcome this limitation, this paper presents an extension of the OmpSs framework that solves two main objectives: the automatic division of datasets among several devices and the management of their memory address spaces. To adapt to different kinds of applications, the data division can be performed by the novel HGuided load balancing algorithm or by the well known Static and Dynamic. All this is accomplished with negligible impact on the programming. Experimental results reveal that there is always one load balancing algorithm that improves the performance and energy consumption of the system.This work has been supported by the University of Cantabria with grant CVE-2014-18166, the Generalitat de Catalunya under grant 2014-SGR-1051, the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness under contracts TIN2016- 76635-C2-2-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) and TIN2015-65316-P. The Spanish Government through the Programa Severo Ochoa (SEV-2015-0493). The European Research Council under grant agreement No 321253 European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] and Horizon 2020 under the Mont-Blanc Projects, grant agreement n 288777, 610402 and 671697 and the European HiPEAC Network.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Aproximació crítica a l'estudi dels espais prehistòrics

Actualment hi ha una preocupació notable pels temes ecològics aplicats i/o transvasats al camp de les ciències socials. Això obeeix tant a raons internes, d'ordre científic, com estranyes al cos mateix de discussió científica, relacionades amb el moment cultural i la seva infrastructura històrica

Changes in radiological protection and quality control in Spanish dental installations : 1996-2003

Introduction: The European Union has established specific directives concerning radiological protection which are obligatory for member States. In addition, all Spanish dental clinics with radiological equipment are required to have an annual quality control check. Objective: To analyze the effect of new European legislation on dental radiological practice in Spain and to determine whether it has resulted in lower doses being administered to patients. Material and Methods: A total of 10,171 official radiological quality control reports on Spanish dental clinics, covering 16 autonomous regions, were studied following the passing of Royal Decree 2071/1995 on quality criteria in radiodiagnostic installations. The reports, compiled by U.T.P.R Asigma S.A., a company authorised by the Nuclear Safety Council, cover the years 1996 to 2003, which has enabled us to monitor the evolution of radiological procedures in dental clinics over a seven year period. Results: According to the reports for 2003, 77.3 % of clinics complied with EU requirements, using equipment of 70 kVp, 8 mA, 1.5 mm Al filters, with a collimator length of 20 cm. However, non-compliance was detected in approximately a third (30.8%) of the equipment inspected: alterations in the kilovoltage used, exposure time, performance of the tubing, dosage, linearity/intensity of current and acoustic-luminous signal 6.86%. The mean skin dose reached 3.11 mGy for patients who received an x-ray of an upper molar, representing a decrease of 18% over the seven years studied. Conclusion: there has obviously been a general improvement in the parameters studied, but only 77.3% of the installations complied fully with official EU regulations concerning dental radiological protection

Vitamin D Status of Older Adults of Diverse Ancestry Living in the Greater Toronto Area

Background: Physiological and lifestyle factors put older adults at an increased risk of vitamin D insufficiency and resulting negative health outcomes. Here we explore the vitamin D status in a sample of community dwelling older adults of diverse ancestry living in the Greater Toronto area (GTA). Methods: Two hundred and twenty-four (224) adults over 60 years of age were recruited from the Square One Older Adult Centre, in Mississauga, Ontario. Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations were measured from dried blood spot cards. Dietary and supplemental intakes of vitamin D were assessed via questionnaires. Skin pigmentation was assessed quantitatively by measuring melanin levels using a reflectometer. Results: The mean 25(OH)D concentration in the total sample was 82.4 nmol/L. There were no statistically significant differences in serum 25(OH)D concentrations, supplemental or dietary vitamin D intakes between the three major ancestral groups (East Asians, Europeans and South Asians). Females had significantly higher 25(OH)D concentrations than males (84.5 nmol/L vs. 72.2 nmol/L, p = 0.012). The proportion of participants with 25(OH)D concentrations below 50 nmol/L and 75 nmol/L were 12.1%, and 38.8%, respectively. The mean daily supplemental intake of vitamin D was 917 IU/day. Vitamin D intake from supplements was the major factor determining 25(OH)D concentrations (p \u3c 0.001). Conclusions: Mean concentration of 25(OH)D in a sample of older adults of diverse ancestry living in the GTA exceeded 80 nmol/L, and there were no significant differences in 25(OH)D levels between ancestral groups. These results sharply contrast with our recent study focused on young adults of diverse ancestry living in the same geographic area, in which we found substantially lower 25(OH)D concentrations (mean 39.5 nmol/L), low supplemental vitamin D intake (114 IU/day), and significant differences in 25(OH)D levels between ancestral groups. High daily intake of supplemental vitamin D in this sample of older adults likely accounts for such disparate findings with respect to the young adult sample

Aplicabilidad de las zeolitas como regulador de fraguado

El presente trabajo propone sustituir la proporción que corresponde al yeso en un cemento pórtland por zeolita natural, a fin de regular el fraguado de la pasta en condiciones más o menos similares a las ordinarias, y obtener igualmente resistencias mecánicas aceptables. Los criterios seguidos en esta investigación tienen su base en la propiedad de las zeolitas como intercambiadores iónicos, mediante la cual pueden saturarse de agua rápidamente, controlando la humedad de la pasta, y neutralizando así la reacción del C3A con el Ca(OH)2; de este modo, “ralentizan” el fraguado durante un período de tiempo lo suficientemente adecuado como para facilitar la hidratación óptima de los silicatos, principalmente los bicálcicos, con la formación de variedades secundarias más estables, como la tobermorita. Las resistencias mecánicas obtenidas en esta investigación alcanzaron los 59,3 Mpa a los 28 días. Asimismo, los ensayos para la determinación de los tiempos de inicio y final de fraguado arrojaron resultados de 95 y 135 minutos, respectivamente, mientras que la expansión resultó igual a cero en todos los casos. Palabras claves: zeolitas, yeso, fraguado, cemento, resistencia ABSTRACT This work proposes to substitute the proportion of gypsum on cement by natural zeolite, in order to regulate the forged of the mortar under conditions more or less similar to the ordinary ones, and to obtain high mechanical strength. The approaches used in this investigation have been focused on the zeolites property as ion-exchanger, by means of which it can be quickly saturated itself with water, controlling the humidity inside mortar, and neutralizing the reaction of both, the C3A and Ca(OH)2; this way, zeolites diminishes the forged speed during an appropriate time in which it allows the complete hydrate of the silicates, mainly the belite, with the formation of secondary more stable varieties, as tobermorite. The mechanical strength obtained in this investigation reached 59,3 Mpa at 28 days. Also, the tests for the determination of the times of starting-final forged have reported results of 95 and 135 minutes, while the volume stability was similar to zero in all the cases. Key words: zeolites, gypsum, forged, cement, strengt

Endometrial study in patients with postmenopausal metrorrhagia

Introduction: The aim of the study was to devise a strategy to diagnose malign endometrial pathologies (adenocarcinoma or atypical hyperplasia) that minimizes the number of invasive tests done (hysteroscopy, aspiration biopsy or curettage) with no loss of its detection efficiency. Material and methods: We retrospectively studied the clinical histories of 779 postmenopausal women at the University Hospital Complex of Albacete, for whom an endometrial study had been done (hysteroscopy, aspiration biopsy or curettage) with a 1-year follow-up between 1 March 2006 and 31 March 2008. Results: There were 77 cases of a malignant pathology (66 adenocarcinomas and 11 hyperplasias with atypia); 96.1% had metrorrhagia, and there were only 3 cases of asymptomatic patients (all 3 presented endometrial thickness of > 5 mm: 10, 12 and 15 mm). The sensitivity and specificity of the transvaginal ultrasound, with a 5 mm cut-off point to diagnose a malignant pathology, were 98.4% and 30.1%, respectively; 89.1% and 99.6%, respectively, for aspiration biopsy; 83.9% and 99.1%, respectively, for hysteroscopy without biopsy; and both were 100% for biopsy. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05 and confidence intervals were calculated at 95%. Conclusions: In postmenopausal women with metrorrhagia, the first action to take is to do a transvaginal ultrasound, followed by en endometrial study, but only if the endometrium is irregular or endometrial thickness is > 5 mm; in asymptomatic women, the cut-off point should be set at 10 mm. The immediate method of choice is an ambulatory biopsy

IEDs: A Major Threat for a Struggling Society

The use of improvised explosive devices by guerrillas, drug cartels and paramilitary groups has threatened Colombian society for the past 30 years. This article examines the types of IEDs found in Colombia, and the extent and history of its IED problem. Also outlined are the Colombian government’s efforts to counter IEDs, and possible solutions to the challenges ahead, such as enhanced intelligence and community security