Abstract
Hierarchical Data Format (HDF5) is a popular binary storage solution in high performance computing (HPC) and other scientific fields. It has bindings for many popular programming languages, including C++, which is widely used in the HPC field. Its C++ API requires mapping of the native C++ data types to types native to the HDF5 API. This task can be error prone, especially when working with complex data structures, which are usually stored using HDF5 compound data types. Due to the lack of a comprehensive reflection mechanism in C++, the mapping code for data manipulation has to be hand-written for each compound type separately. This approach is vulnerable to bugs and mistakes, which can be eliminated by using an automated code generation phase. In this paper we present an approach implemented in the LARA language and supported by the tool Clava, which allows us to automate the generation of the HDF5 data access code for complex data structures in C++.

Abstract
Micromachining with femtosecond laser can be exploited to fabricate optical components and microfluidic channels in fused silica, due to internal modification of the glass properties that is induced by the laser beam. In this paper, we refer to the formation of microfluidic channels, where an optimization of the fabrication procedure was conducted by examining etch rate and surface roughness as a function of the irradiation conditions. Microfluidic channels with high and uniform aspect ratio and with smooth sidewalls were obtained, and such structures were successfully integrated with optical components. The obtained results set the foundations towards the development of new optofluidic devices.

Abstract
Assessing the quality of aperture synthesis maps is relevant for benchmarking image reconstruction algorithms, for the scientific exploitation of data from optical long-baseline interferometers, and for the design/upgrade of new/existing interferometric imaging facilities. Although metrics have been proposed in these contexts, no systematic study has been conducted on the selection of a robust metric for quality assessment. This article addresses the question: what is the best metric to assess the quality of a reconstructed image? It starts by considering several metrics and selecting a few based on general properties. Then, a variety of image reconstruction cases are considered. The observational scenarios are phase closure and phase referencing at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), for a combination of two, three, four and six telescopes. End-to-end image reconstruction is accomplished with the MIRA software, and several merit functions are put to test. It is found that convolution by an effective point spread function is required for proper image quality assessment. The effective angular resolution of the images is superior to naive expectation based on the maximum frequency sampled by the array. This is due to the prior information used in the aperture synthesis algorithm and to the nature of the objects considered. The l(1)-norm is the most robust of all considered metrics, because being linear it is less sensitive to image smoothing by high regularization levels. For the cases considered, this metric allows the implementation of automatic quality assessment of reconstructed images, with a performance similar to human selection.

Abstract

Abstract
Major rivers have traditionally been linked with important human settlements throughout history. The growth of cities over recent river deposits makes necessary the use of multidisciplinary approaches to characterize the evolution of drainage networks in urbanized areas. Since under-consolidated fluvial sediments are especially sensitive to compaction, their spatial distribution, thickness, and mechanical behavior must be studied. Here, we report on subsidence in the city of Seville (Southern Spain) between 2003 and 2010, through the analysis of the results obtained with the Multi-Temporal InSAR (MT-InSAR) technique. In addition, the temporal evolution of the subsidence is correlated with the rainfall, the river water column and the piezometric level. Finally, we characterize the geotechnical parameters of the fluvial sediments and calculate the theoretical settlement in the most representative sectors. Deformation maps clearly indicate that the spatial extent of subsidence is controlled by the distribution of under-consolidated fine-grained fluvial sediments at heights comprised in the range of river level variation. This is clearly evident at the western margin of the river and the surroundings of its tributaries, and differs from rainfall results as consequence of the anthropic regulation of the river. On the other hand, this influence is not detected at the eastern margin due to the shallow presence of coarse-grain consolidated sediments of different terrace levels. The derived results prove valuable for implementing urban planning strategies, and the InSAR technique can therefore be considered as a complementary tool to help unravel the subsidence tendency of cities located over under-consolidated fluvial deposits. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract