Abstract
Modern large-scale I/O applications that run on HPC infrastructures are increasingly becoming metadata-intensive. Unfortunately, having multiple concurrent applications submitting massive amounts of metadata operations can easily saturate the shared parallel file system's metadata resources, leading to unresponsiveness of the storage backend and overall performance degradation. To address these challenges, we present PADLL, a storage middleware that enables system administrators to proactively control and ensure QoS over metadata workflows in HPC storage systems. We demonstrate its performance and feasibility by controlling the rate of both synthetic and realistic I/O workloads. Results show that PADLL can dynamically control metadata-aggressive workloads, prevent I/O burstiness, and ensure I/O fairness and prioritization.

Abstract
Color comparison is a key aspect in many areas of application, including industrial applications, and different metrics have been proposed. In many applications, this comparison is required to be closely related to human perception of color differences, thus adding complexity to the process. To tackle this, different approaches were proposed through the years, culminating in the CIEDE2000 formulation. In our previous work, we showed that simple color properties could be used to reduce the computational time of a color similarity decision process that employed this metric, which is recognized as having high computational complexity. In this paper, we show mathematically and experimentally that these findings can be adapted and extended to the recently proposed CIEDE2000 PF metric, which has been recommended by the CIE for industrial applications. Moreover, we propose new efficient models that not only achieve lower error rates, but also outperform the results obtained for the CIEDE2000 metric.

Abstract

Abstract
Serious Games use game strategies to encourage participants to make decisions and face challenges in a training environment; the more interactive the game, the more engaged the participants are with the content. Moreover, the best way to train is to simulate and identify scenarios for decision making, recreating situations, and strategies for learning. The Serious Games for training have this purpose. A Serious Game for Training can be refined with a game narrative, a methodology centered on the player to present independent and straightforward scenarios, giving solutions through the game story. The challenge is to rethink a unique narrative according to the individual player's experience. The present systematic literature review aims to answer which are the benefits of using Design Thinking for serious game narratives; the benefits of learning theories; the Design Thinking benefits for innovative solutions; and how game design elements can create an engaging Serious Game experience.

Abstract

Abstract
Analytical grade 'in vivo' plant metabolic quantification using spectroscopy is a key enabling technology for precision agriculture.Current methods such as PLS, ANN and LS-SVM are non-optimal for resolving spectral interference and matrix effects to provide similar results to the analytical chemistry laboratory. This research presents a new self-learning artificial intelligence (SL-AI) method based on the search of covariance modes. These isolate the different modes of interference present in spectral data, allowing the consistent quantification of constituents. A review of the state-of-the-art methods with the figures of merit mean absolute standard error percentage (MASEP) and Pearson correlation coefficient (R) is presented for comparison and discussion. 707 grapes were quantified for glucose, fructose, malic and tartaric acids in five wine-making and one table grape varieties, and used to benchmark the new method against the state-of-the-art methodologies: partial least squares, local partial least squares, artificial neural networks and least squares support vector machines. SL-AI provides consistent quantifications, whereas previous methods exhibit data-driven performance dependence. Pearson correlations of 0.93 to 0.99 and MASEP of 3.70% to 7.33% were obtained with the new methodology. Local partial least squares, the method with the best benchmarks from literature, achieved correlations of 0.81 to 0.94 and MASEP of 8.00% to 13.4%. The covariance mode isolates a particular interference, providing a direct relationship between spectral inference and constituent concentrations, consistent with the Beer-Lambert law. Such quantifies non-dominant absorbance constituents (e.g. sugars and acids), which is a significant step towards 'in vivo' plant physiology-based precision agriculture.