163 research outputs found
BlastFunction: An FPGA-as-a-Service system for Accelerated Serverless Computing
No full textHeterogeneous computing platforms are now a valuable solution to continue to meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for compute intensive cloud workloads. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) effectively accelerate cloud workloads, however, these workloads have a spiky behavior as well as long periods of underutilization. Sharing the FPGA with multiple tenants then helps to increase the board's time utilization. In this paper we present BlastFunction, a distributed FPGA sharing system for the acceleration of microservices and serverless applications in cloud environments. BlastFunction includes a Remote OpenCL Library to access the shared devices transparently; multiple Device Managers to time-share and monitor the FPGAs and a central Accelerators Registry to allocate the available devices. BlastFunction reaches higher utilization and throughput w.r.t. a native execution thanks to device sharing, with minimal differences in latency given by the concurrent accesses
AN FPGA-AS-A-SERVICE SYSTEM FOR ACCELERATED SERVERLESS COMPUTING
No full textThe present invention proposes a hardware accelerators management system (1) for containerized and serverless environments. The system (1) at least comprises a domain layer on which a plurality of application containers and functions (60, 61) are implemented, a hardware layer in which a set of hardware accelerators are implemented and a software layer configured for abstracting the application containers and the functions (60, 61) of the domain layer from the hardware layer, wherein the system (1) comprises a hardware interface (80, 90) to send tasks to and reconfigure at least a portion of the processing means (70) implemented in the hardware layer. The system (1) also comprises a software structure (40, 50, 63) that shares hardware accelerators of the hardware layer between application containers and functions (60, 61) of the domain layer. Advantageously, the software structure (40, 50, 63) performs scheduling and optimization algorithms on the resource allocations of the hardware accelerators of the hardware layer for the application containers and functions (60, 61) of the domain layer in terms of device time and/or space slot of utilization. In detail, the scheduling and optimization algorithms comprises a monitoring structure interfacing with processing means and with the software layer for reading performance metrics of at least one processing means (70). Advantageously, the software structure comprises at least one device manager (50) component connected with the hardware interface (80, 90) and at least one remote library (63) component to interface each application container and function (60, 61) with the at least one device manager (50) component concurrently
Bacis nigropictus Crotch 1876
No full text<i>Bacis nigropictus</i> Crotch, 1876 <p>(Figs. 1–29, 57–60)</p> <p> <i>Bacis nigropictus</i> Crotch 1876: 557; Fleutiaux 1886: 224; Kuhnt 1909: 48, 1911: 34; Blackwelder 1945: 463, list; Alvarenga 1994: 118, catalog. Type series: Venezuela (UMZC, not examined).</p> <p> <i>Zonarius limbatus</i> Kuhnt 1910: 249, 253, fig. 14; Kuhnt 1911: 30; Blackwelder 1945: 462, list. <b>New synonym</b>. Lectotype, here designated: Venezuela, Mérida: Mérida (8°35’53’’N, 71°8’41’’W), 104093, †999 (ZMHB, examined). Paralectotypes: Colombia—Starke col., ♂, 21678, †971 (ZMHB, examined); †995 (ZMHB, examined); Kuhnt det., 4678, †997 (ZMHB, examined).</p> <p> <i>Oligocorynus limbatus</i> (Kuhnt); Alvarenga 1994: 109, catalog.</p> <p> <b>Redescription.</b> Length: 9 mm, thorax/abdomen R=1.6. Body moderately oval, subcordiform, sides slightly curved, moderately convex. Head orange with irregular vertical black band, antennae black, clypeus black apically, orange at base, pronotum black with two orange lateral maculae, mesoventrite, mesanepisterna, mesepimera and metaventrite orange, coxae and femora dark yellow, elytra dark orange with eight black maculae, abdominal ventrites dark orange (Figs. 1–4).</p> <p> <b>Head</b> (R=0.8): ocular striae restricted to eye margin, eyes faceted, interocular distance ~2/3 of head width (Fig. 5). Stridulatory organs absent at base of head in both sexes. Antennae (R=11.6): antennomeres VIII and XI elongate (Fig. 6). Clypeus (R=0.4) sub-rectangular, apex truncate (Fig. 5). Labrum (R=0.7): sub-rectangular, without apical elevation, absence of membranous cover at proximal half (Fig. 7). Epipharynx with setae in median region and at anterior margin, median region covered with microtrichiae, tormae with anterior projection reaching the basal third of labrum, posterior projection of tormae almost as long as the anterior projection (Fig. 8, arrow). Mandibles slightly asymmetrical, with three incisors, membranous lobe covered with microtrichiae on molar region, with two carinae on dorsal region, ventral cavity with internal incisor margin sinuate, left mandible with proximal incisor smaller and attached to middle incisor as a lobe (Figs. 9–12). Maxillae (R=2.7): lacinia with an apical curved hook, with long setae denser distally, palpomere I elongate, palpomeres II–III as wide as long, palpomere IV wide, galea (R=1.9) subfalciform, with moderately long setae denser distally (Figs. 13–14). Hypopharynx with two basal arms extending to posterior region of mentum (Fig. 15, arrow). Labium (R=1.5): ligula long (~3/4 width of the mentum), fused at middle, with a basal sclerite extending through almost the entire ligula, outer angles rounded, basal palpomere with moderately curved base, inner angle of distal margin slightly narrow, mentum with medial region without definite shape (Fig. 16).</p> <p> <b>Thorax:</b> pronotum (R=0.4) glossy, lateral region of posterior margin with a depression, surface of depression punctate, prosternum with few short setae, procoxal lines absent. Scutellar shield (R=0.7) semiovoid. Metaventrite (R=0.4): mesocoxal lines conspicuous. Legs: metathoracic legs with femora as wide as the prothoracic legs. Elytra (R=2.4): surface with fine punctures (φ~ 0.05 mm), with elytral striae moderately conspicuous, geminate; interstriae with punctures moderately conspicuous. Metathoracic wings (R=2.3): with two axillary veins, veins AA 3+4 reaching CuA 3+4, veins MP 3+4 reaching MP 1+2, vein cua1-mp4 complete, vein r4 complete (Fig. 17).</p> <p> <b>Abdomen:</b> surface with few short setae. Male genital segments and genitalia: tergite VIII (R=0.6) subtriangular, uniformly sclerotized, base curved, setae denser distally (Fig. 18); sternite VIII (R=0.3) transverse, distal margin emarginate, setae denser distally (Fig. 19); tergite X (R=0.8) U-shaped; lateral shafts slightly curved, apex truncate, setae denser distally (Fig. 20); laterotergite IX (R=1.4) elongate, asymmetrical, lateral lobes sub-triangular; sternite IX setae denser distally (Fig. 21). Aedeagus: tegmen elongate at middle, dorsal longitudinal line sclerotized, tegmen arm long, with two sclerotized lines, lateral lobes width ~1/8 of tegmen length, setae denser distally, lateral region of median lobe narrow, internal sac short (Figs. 22–24); head of flagellum subtriangular (Fig. 25, MAAEIS). Female genital segments and genitalia: tergite VIII (R=0.5) transverse, setae denser distally (Fig. 26); sternite VIII (R=0.6) transverse, setae denser distally, median strut approximately three times longer than base (Fig. 27); tergite IX and sternite IX indistinct, membranous, surface with microtrichiae uniformly distributed. Ovipositor: proctiger lobe long (Figs. 28–29, arrow), covering the vulval lobe, subvulval lobe as wide as the basal segments of the gonocoxites, gonocoxites ~1/2 of ovipositor length with narrowed and rounded apex, gonostyli setae moderately long (Figs. 28–29). Spermatheca ellipsoidal.</p> <p> <b>Intraspecific variation.</b> Integument color from light-orange to light-brown, with bands, legs and sternites dark brown; inner spots of elytra can be fused in pairs.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Bacis nigropictus</i> can be recognized among other species of <i>Bacis</i> by its dorsal coloration, with eight black elytral spots and pronotum orange with black longitudinal medial band, and clypeus truncate.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The genus name is derived from the Greek <i>bacis</i>, “soothsayer”; the specific epithet is derived from the Latin <i>nigro</i>, “black” and <i>pictus</i>, “painted, colored”, referring to the elytral and pronotal coloration.</p> <p> <b>Material examined.</b> Venezuela—ex-Coll. C. Felsche, donation 1907, 2 ex.: †846, 845 (SMTD); †843 (SMTD); Brazil— ♂, Mus antiqu., †844 (SMTD).</p> <p> <b>Geographical distribution.</b> Colombia, Venezuela (Mérida), Brazil.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> Although the type series of <i>B. nigropictus</i> has not been examined, Crotch’s original description indicates that <i>B. nigropictus</i> and <i>Oligocorynus limbatus</i> are the same species. By comparing specimens of <i>Oligocorynus</i> to specimens of <i>B. nigropictus</i>, it is evident that the latter have an increased and more gradual curvature of the elytral sides (“ <i>breviter ovatus</i> ”, as described by Crotch [1876]), a trait typical of the genus <i>Bacis</i>, not of <i>Oligocorynus</i>. In any case, the diagnosis presented above places this species among those currently included in <i>Bacis</i>. The Venezuelan syntype of <i>Zonarius limbatus</i> is here chosen as the lectotype, because it came from the same type locality as <i>Bacis nigropictus</i> (see Crotch 1876). The Colombian syntypes of <i>Z</i>. <i>limbatus</i> are designated as paralectotypes (Figs. 57–60).</p>Published as part of <i>Lopes, Peterson Lásaro, Gasca-Álvarez, Héctor Jaime & Skelley, Paul E., 2020, Redescriptions, new synonymy, new combination and new records of Bacis Dejean, 1836 and Oligocorynus Dejean, 1876 (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Erotylinae) for Colombia, pp. 349-362 in Zootaxa 4809 (2)</i> on pages 350-353, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4809.2.6, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3934208">http://zenodo.org/record/3934208</a>
Balloon-borne aerosol–cloud interaction studies (BACIS): field campaigns to understand and quantify aerosol effects on clouds
No full textA better understanding of aerosol–cloud interaction processes is important to quantify the role of clouds and aerosols on the climate system. There have been significant efforts to explain the ways aerosols modulate cloud properties. However, from the observational point of view, it is indeed challenging to observe and/or verify some of these processes because no single instrument or platform has been proven to be sufficient. Discrimination between aerosol and cloud is vital for the quantification of aerosol–cloud interaction. With this motivation, a set of observational field campaigns named balloon-borne aerosol–cloud interaction studies (BACIS) is proposed and conducted using balloon-borne in situ measurements in addition to the ground-based (lidar; mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere (MST) radar; lower atmospheric wind profiler; microwave radiometer; ceilometer) and space-borne (CALIPSO) remote sensing instruments from Gadanki (13.45◦ N, 79.2◦ E), India. So far, 15 campaigns have been conducted as a part of BACIS campaigns from 2017 to 2020. This paper presents the concept of the observational approach, lists the major objectives of the campaigns, describes the instruments deployed, and discusses results from selected campaigns. Balloon-borne measurements of aerosol and cloud backscatter ratio and cloud particle count are qualitatively assessed using the range-corrected data from simultaneous observations of ground-based and space-borne lidars. Aerosol and cloud vertical profiles obtained in multi-instrumental observations are found to reasonably agree. Apart from this, balloon-borne profiling is found to provide information on clouds missed by ground-based and/or space-borne lidar. A combination of the Compact Optical Backscatter AerosoL Detector (COBALD) and Cloud Particle Sensor (CPS) sonde is employed for the first time in this study to discriminate cloud and aerosol in an in situ profile. A threshold value of the COBALD colour index (CI) for ice clouds is found to be between 18 and 20, and CI values for coarse-mode aerosol particles range between 11 and 15. Using the data from balloon measurements, the relationship between cloud and aerosol is quantified for the liquid clouds. A statistically significant slope (aerosol–cloud interaction index) of 0.77 found between aerosol backscatter and cloud particle count reveals the role of aerosol in the cloud activation process. In a nutshell, the results presented here demonstrate the observational approach to quantifying aerosol–cloud interactions.Geoscience and Remote Sensin
THE ELECTRONIC SPECTRA OF HYDRIDES OF GROUP IIIA METALS
No full textAuthor Institution: Laboratoire de Spectrom\'{e}trie Ionique et Mol\'{e}culaireUsing a composite wall hollow cathode lamp we were able to excite easily the electronic spectra of group IIIa metal hydrides. Three new electronic band systems of LaH and LaD appearing between 5300 and 6500 {\AA} have been studied. The rotational structure, the intensity distribution in the P, Q, and R branches, and the A-doubling show that these bands may be ascribed to ( ), (, ) transitions. The rotational study of YD and YH has been undertaken
Access Control Management for Secure Cloud Storage
No full textWith the widespread success and adoption of cloud-based solutions, we are witnessing an ever increasing reliance on external providers for storing and managing data. This evolution is greatly facilitated by the availability of solutions - typically based on encryption - ensuring the confidentiality of externally outsourced data against the storing provider itself. Selective application of encryption (i.e., with different keys depending on the authorizations holding on data) provides a convenient approach to access control policy enforcement. Effective realization of such policy-based encryption entails addressing several problems related to key management, access control enforcement, and authorization revocation, while ensuring efficiency of access and deployment with current technology. We present the design and implementation of an approach to realize policy-based encryption for enforcing access control in OpenStack Swift. We also report experimental results evaluating and comparing different implementation choices of our approach
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