Calculating an upper bound on the finishing time of a group of threads executing on a GPU: a preliminary case study

Graphics processor units (GPUs) today can be used for computations that go beyond graphics and such use can attain a performance that is orders of magnitude greater than a normal processor. The software executing on a graphics processor is composed of a set of (often thousands of) threads which operate on different parts of the data and thereby jointly compute a result which is delivered to another thread executing on the main processor. Hence the response time of a thread executing on the main processor is dependent on the finishing time of the execution of threads executing on the GPU. Therefore, we present a simple method for calculating an upper bound on the finishing time of threads executing on a GPU, in particular NVIDIA Fermi. Developing such a method is nontrivial because threads executing on a GPU share hardware resources at very fine granularity.

Teamwork and Gendered Work Cultures: The Case of Finland

In this article I focus on women workers’ experiences of transformation from line work to teamworking in Finnish clothing companies in the 1990s and also show what happened after this transformation in the clothing branch. The undertone of it is rather melancholic. Following an initial period of intensive and successful development, clothing work was moved from Finland to countries of cheap labour, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia, and even China. In this type of network manufacturing, the development of modern information and communication technologies played a central role. My aim is to present the standpoint of women clothing workers in this process. The main body of the empirical data of my study consists of dialogues with clothing workers, union representatives, supervisors and managers. I also make use of my fieldwork notes, memos and research diaries from three companies over a period of five years. Furthermore, in the background lie the action research material from Scandinavian type work conferences and the survey material of an extensive mail inquiry that covered the whole branch in Finland. My own research started in 1991 as a mail inquiry and then continued as a case study in companies from 1992 to 2000, by employing action research and ethnographic methodologies.

The globalisation in the clothing sector and its implications for work organisation: a view from the Portuguese case

The clothing sector in Portugal is still seen, in many aspects as a traditional sector with some average characteristics, such as: low level of qualifications, less flexible labour legislation and stronger unionisation, very low salaries and low capability of investment in innovation and new technology. Is, nevertheless, a very important sector in terms of labour market, with increased weight in the exporting structure. Globalisation and delocalisation are having a strong impact in the organisation of work and in occupational careers in the sector. With the pressure of global competitiveness in what concerns time and prices, very few companies are able to keep a position in the market without changes in organisation of work and workers. And those that can perform good responses to such challenges are achieving a better economical stability. The companies have found different ways to face this reality according to size, capital and position. We could find two main paths: one where companies outsource a part or the entire production to another territory (for example, several manufacturing tasks), close and/or dismissal the workers. Other path, where companies up skilled their capacities investing, for example, in design, workers training, conception and introduction of new or original products. This paper will present some results from the European project WORKS – Work organisation and restructuring in the knowledge society (6th Framework Programme), focusing the Portuguese case studies in several clothing companies in what concern implications of global context for the companies in general and for the workers in particular, in a comparative analysis with some other European countries.

Application of FTA and the perceived impact on employment policies: the case of nanotechnology in the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal

In this paper we will analyse the usage of FTA to support decision-making in employment policy relate to specific occupational groups. The examples can be better understood if one focus on the nanotechnology and its implications on some sectors (clothing, bio-medical engineering, micro-electronics). When this is done will be clear which occupations will engage a restructuring process (engineers, specialised technicians, qualified machine operators, quality controllers) and what policies are being designed to cope with it. This means toward which extend social partners have driven specific policies on these issues (focused in their sectors).

Importance of global co-innovation networks: A TCS case study

Today all kinds of innovations and research work is done by partnerships of competent entities each having some specialized skills. Like the development of the global economy, global innovation partnerships have grown considerably and form the basis of most of the sophisticated innovations today. To further streamline and simplify such cooperation, several innovation networks have been formed, both at local and global levels. This paper discusses the different types of innovations and how cooperation can benefit innovation in terms of pooling of resources and sharing of risks. One example of an open global co-innovation network promoted by Tata Consultancy Services, the TCS COIN is taken as a case. It enables venture capitalists, consultants, research agencies, companies and universities form nodes of the network so that each entity can play a meaningful role in the innovation network. Further, two innovation projects implemented using the COIN are discussed. Innovation Networks like these could form the basis of a unique global innovation network, which is not owned by any company and is used by innovation partners globally to collaborate and conduct research and development.

Modeling and worst-case dimensioning of cluster-tree wireless sensor networks

Time-sensitive Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) applications require finite delay bounds in critical situations. This paper provides a methodology for the modeling and the worst-case dimensioning of cluster-tree WSNs. We provide a fine model of the worst-case cluster-tree topology characterized by its depth, the maximum number of child routers and the maximum number of child nodes for each parent router. Using Network Calculus, we derive “plug-and-play” expressions for the endto- end delay bounds, buffering and bandwidth requirements as a function of the WSN cluster-tree characteristics and traffic specifications. The cluster-tree topology has been adopted by many cluster-based solutions for WSNs. We demonstrate how to apply our general results for dimensioning IEEE 802.15.4/Zigbee cluster-tree WSNs. We believe that this paper shows the fundamental performance limits of cluster-tree wireless sensor networks by the provision of a simple and effective methodology for the design of such WSNs.

Weather parameters and nosocomial bloodstream infection: a case-referent study

OBJECTIVE To evaluate if temperature and humidity influenced the etiology of bloodstream infections in a hospital from 2005 to 2010.METHODS The study had a case-referent design. Individual cases of bloodstream infections caused by specific groups or pathogens were compared with several references. In the first analysis, average temperature and humidity values for the seven days preceding collection of blood cultures were compared with an overall “seven-days moving average” for the study period. The second analysis included only patients with bloodstream infections. Several logistic regression models were used to compare different pathogens and groups with respect to the immediate weather parameters, adjusting for demographics, time, and unit of admission.RESULTS Higher temperatures and humidity were related to the recovery of bacteria as a whole (versus fungi) and of gram-negative bacilli. In the multivariable models, temperature was positively associated with the recovery of gram-negative bacilli (OR = 1.14; 95%CI 1.10;1.19) or Acinetobacter baumannii (OR = 1.26; 95%CI 1.16;1.37), even after adjustment for demographic and admission data. An inverse association was identified for humidity.CONCLUSIONS The study documented the impact of temperature and humidity on the incidence and etiology of bloodstream infections. The results correspond with those from ecological studies, indicating a higher incidence of gram-negative bacilli during warm seasons. These findings should guide policies directed at preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infections.

The daily and hourly energy consumption and load forecasting using artifitial neural network method: a case study using a set of 93 households in Portugal

It is important to understand and forecast a typical or a particularly household daily consumption in order to design and size suitable renewable energy systems and energy storage. In this research for Short Term Load Forecasting (STLF) it has been used Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and, despite the consumption unpredictability, it has been shown the possibility to forecast the electricity consumption of a household with certainty. The ANNs are recognized to be a potential methodology for modeling hourly and daily energy consumption and load forecasting. Input variables such as apartment area, numbers of occupants, electrical appliance consumption and Boolean inputs as hourly meter system were considered. Furthermore, the investigation carried out aims to define an ANN architecture and a training algorithm in order to achieve a robust model to be used in forecasting energy consumption in a typical household. It was observed that a feed-forward ANN and the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm provided a good performance. For this research it was used a database with consumption records, logged in 93 real households, in Lisbon, Portugal, between February 2000 and July 2001, including both weekdays and weekend. The results show that the ANN approach provides a reliable model for forecasting household electric energy consumption and load profile. © 2014 The Author.

Case study: Estratégia de aplicação de ferramentas de apoio à gestão da performance humana em ambientes Lean

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Industrial

Intrusion of Lamprophyre dyke and related deformation effects in the host rock salt: A case study from the Loulé Diapir, Portugal

A rock salt-lamprophyre dyke contact zone (sub-vertical, NE-SW strike) was investigated for its petrographic, mechanic and physical properties by means of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility CAMS) and rock magnetic properties, coupled with quantitative microstructural analysis and thermal mathematical modelling. The quantitative microstructural analysis of halite texture and solid inclusions revealed good spatial correlation with AMS and halite fabrics. The fabrics of both lamprophyre and rock salt record the magmatic intrusion, "plastic" flow and regional deformation (characterized by a NW-SE trending steep foliation). AMS and microstructural analysis revealed two deformation fabrics in the rock salt: (1) the deformation fabrics in rock salt on the NW side of the dyke are associated with high temperature and high fluid activity attributed to the dyke emplacement; (2) On the opposite side of the dyke, the emplacement-related fabric is reworked by localized tectonic deformation. The paleomagnetic results suggest significant rotation of the whole dyke, probably during the diapir ascent and/or the regional Tertiary to Quaternary deformation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Meta-heuristics self-parameterization in a multi-agent scheduling system using case-based reasoning

This paper proposes a novel agent-based approach to Meta-Heuristics self-configuration. Meta-heuristics are algorithms with parameters which need to be set up as efficient as possible in order to unsure its performance. A learning module for self-parameterization of Meta-heuristics (MH) in a Multi-Agent System (MAS) for resolution of scheduling problems is proposed in this work. The learning module is based on Case-based Reasoning (CBR) and two different integration approaches are proposed. A computational study is made for comparing the two CBR integration perspectives. Finally, some conclusions are reached and future work outlined.

Reverse problem-based learning - a case study with a Braille machine

Engineering Education includes not only teaching theoretical fundamental concepts but also its verification during practical lessons in laboratories. The usual strategies to carry out this action are frequently based on Problem Based Learning, starting from a given state and proceeding forward to a target state. The possibility or the effectiveness of this procedure depends on previous states and if the present state was caused or resulted from earlier ones. This often happens in engineering education when the achieved results do not match the desired ones, e.g. when programming code is being developed or when the cause of the wrong behavior of an electronic circuit is being identified. It is thus important to also prepare students to proceed in the reverse way, i.e. given a start state generate the explanation or even the principles that underlie it. Later on, this sort of skills will be important. For instance, to a doctor making a patient?s story or to an engineer discovering the source of a malfunction. This learning methodology presents pedagogical advantages besides the enhanced preparation of students to their future work. The work presented on his document describes an automation project developed by a group of students in an engineering polytechnic school laboratory. The main objective was to improve the performance of a Braille machine. However, in a scenario of Reverse Problem-Based learning, students had first to discover and characterize the entire machine's function before being allowed (and being able) to propose a solution for the existing problem.

Adapting remote labs to learning scenarios: case studies using VISIR and RemotElectLab

Remote laboratories are an emergent technological and pedagogical tool at all education levels, and their widespread use is an important part of their own improvement and evolution. This paper describes several issues encountered on laboratorial classes, on higher education courses, when using remote laboratories based on PXI systems, either using the VISIR system or an alternate in-house solution. Three main issues are presented and explained, all reported by teachers, that gave support to students' use of remote laboratories. The first issue deals with the need to allow students to select the actual place where an ammeter is to be inserted on electric circuits, even incorrectly, therefore emulating real-world difficulties. The second one deals with problems with timing when several measurements are required at short intervals, as in the discharge cycle of a capacitor. In addition, the last issue deals with the use of a multimeter in dc mode when reading ac values, a use that collides with the lab settings. All scenarios are presented and discussed, including the solution found for each case. The conclusion derived from the described work is that the remote laboratories area is an expanding field, where practical use leads to improvement and evolution of the available solutions, requiring a strict cooperation and information-sharing between all actors, i.e., developers, teachers, and students.

Spatial data infrastructures model for developing countries: A case study of Nigeria

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies