The need for modern data analytics to combine relational, procedural, and map-reduce-style functional processing is widely recognized. State-of-the-art systems like Spark have added SQL front-ends and relational query optimization, which promise an increase in expressiveness and performance. But how good are these extensions at extracting high performance from modern hardware platforms? While S...

This paper introduces GeoSpark an in-memory cluster computing framework for processing large-scale spatial data. GeoSpark consists of three layers: Apache Spark Layer, Spatial RDD Layer and Spatial Query Processing Layer. Apache Spark Layer provides basic Spark functionalities that include loading / storing data to disk as well as regular RDD operations. Spatial RDD Layer consists of three nove...

An optical breakdown caused by a nanosecond laser beam focused into a gaseous medium forms a laser spark in the given gaseous environment. The most likely processes triggered by the spark are those of radiation chemistry forming radicals and more complex molecules from originally simple gas components. Owing to its high energy density, the laser spark is an ideal instrument to simulate the ener...

In many types of muscle, intracellular Ca(2+) release for contraction consists of brief Ca(2+) sparks. Whether these result from the opening of one or many channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum is not known. Examining massive numbers of sparks from frog skeletal muscle and evaluating their Ca(2+) release current, we provide evidence that they are generated by multiple channels. A mode is demon...

Gas motion within the cylinder is one of the major factors that control the combustion process in spark ignition engine. It also has significant impact on heat transfer. Both the bulk gas motion and the turbulence characteristics of the flow are important and governing the overall behavior of the flow. An arrangement for obtaining a stratified charge, using port injection, is proposed for a ...

Ca2+ and Mg2+ are important mediators and regulators of intracellular Ca2+ signaling in muscle. The effects of changes of cytosolic [Ca2+] or [Mg2+] on elementary Ca2+ release events were determined, as functions of concentration and time, in single fast-twitch permeabilized fibers of rat and frog. Ca2+ sparks were identified and their parameters measured in confocal images of fluo-4 fluorescen...

Bay K 8644, an L-type Ca channel agonist, was shown previously to increase resting sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca loss and convert post-rest potentiation to decay in dog and ferret ventricular muscle. Here, the effects of Bay K 8644 on local SR Ca release events (Ca sparks) were measured in isolated ferret ventricular myocytes, using laser scanning confocal microscopy and the fluorescent Ca ind...

Triggered release of Ca2+ from an individual sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+) release unit (CRU) is the fundamental event of cardiac excitation–contraction coupling, and spontaneous release events (sparks) are the major contributor to diastolic Ca(2+) leak in cardiomyocytes. Previous model studies have predicted that the duration and magnitude of the spark is determined by the local CRU geome...

Various solutions are being proposed and adopted by manufactures and researchers to improve the energetic and environmental performance of internal combustion engines within the transportation sector. For automotive spark ignition engines, gasoline direct injection is one of the presently preferred technologies, in conjunction with turbocharging and downsizing. One of the limiting phenomena of ...

The Common Criteria (CC) require the use of programming languages whose statements have an "unambiguous meaning." This presentation considers SPARK[1]: a widely-used language that is perhaps unique in actually meeting this requirement. While SPARK has its roots in security research, it is currently most widely used in the aerospace and rail industries, and has a well-established track record in...