This paper describes the achievements of the H2020 project INDIGO-DataCloud. The project has provided e-infrastructures with tools, applications and cloud framework enhancements to manage the ...demanding requirements of scientific communities, either locally or through enhanced interfaces. The middleware developed allows to federate hybrid resources, to easily write, port and run scientific applications to the cloud. In particular, we have extended existing PaaS (Platform as a Service) solutions, allowing public and private e-infrastructures, including those provided by EGI, EUDAT, and Helix Nebula, to integrate their existing services and make them available through AAI services compliant with GEANT interfederation policies, thus guaranteeing transparency and trust in the provisioning of such services. Our middleware facilitates the execution of applications using containers on Cloud and Grid based infrastructures, as well as on HPC clusters. Our developments are freely downloadable as open source components, and are already being integrated into many scientific applications.
Springs are one of important freshwater habitats in the Dynaric Mountains. Nevertheless, there were no intensive studies on dipteran communities in the region. Here we present an ecological analysis ...of Chironomidae communities recorded from a set of 27 springs along the Cvrcka River mainstream (the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Environmental classification of Cvrcka springs divide them into three groups reflecting the level of human impact. Chironomidae communities divide investigated springs into three groups more dependent on bottom substrate quality. CCA indicates that the hard bottom and altitude are primary (significant) factors determining midge assemblages. Secondary factors influencing communities are oxygen concentration and conductivity. There are clear differences in diversity and abundance in these three types of spring communities. Type II aggregates natural sites for Cvrcka valley. Samples characterized by high abundance of Chironomus seems to be an outliers in Cvrcka canyon. Eucrenon and hypocrenon communities are distinct, but no differences in the diversity level or the environmental assemblage relation were recorded for both mesohabitats. This study proves that solely environmental classification of spring habitats reflects well human impact, but invertebrate communities may not clearly follow general classification, reacting to a set of natural and altered conditions.
Les sources sont l’un des habitats d’eau douce importants dans les montagnes dinariques. Néanmoins, il n’y avait pas d’études intensives sur les communautés de diptères dans la région. Ici, nous présentons une analyse écologique des communautés de Chironomidae étudiées à partir d’un ensemble de 27 sources le long du cours principal de la rivière Cvrcka (République de Srpska, Bosnie-Herzégovine). La classification environnementale des sources Cvrcka les divise en trois groupes reflétant le niveau de l’impact humain. Les communautés de Chironomidae divisent les sources étudiées en trois groupes dépendant surtout de la qualité du substrat. La CCA indique que la dureté du substrat et l’altitude sont des facteurs primaires (significatifs) déterminants des assemblages de chironomes. Les facteurs secondaires qui influent sur les communautés sont la concentration en oxygène et la conductivité. Il existe des différences nettes dans la diversité et l’abondance de ces trois types de communautés de source. Le type II regroupe des sites naturels de la vallée Cvrcka. Les échantillons sont caractérisés par une grande abondance de Chironomus et semble être un cas atypique dans le canyon Cvrcka. Les communautés de l’eucrenon et de l’hypocrenon sont distinctes, mais aucune différence dans le niveau de diversité ou de la relation à l’environnement de l’assemblage n’a été trouvée pour ces deux mésohabitats. Cette étude prouve que la classification de l’environnement des habitats de source reflète bien l’impact humain, mais les communautés d’invertébrés peuvent ne pas bien suivre ce classement général, en réaction à un ensemble de conditions naturelles et altérées.
In North Africa seasonal streams called wadi are an unique habitats with serve hydrological and thermal regime. Non-biting midges take an important part of freshwater biodiversity in North Africa. We ...present new data on the distribution and diversity of Chironomidae in North Tunisia. Larvae, pupal exuviae and adult males of chironomids were collected from a various freshwater ecosystems from May 2005 till April 2006. The aim of this study was to recognize the pattern of midge diversity in North Tunisia to estimate ecological value of running waters in the region. In total, 79 taxa were identified. Nearly all of the taxa were typical representatives of the Palaearctic and Mediterranean complexes. The majority of the investigated sites belonged to the protected areas in North Tunisia, such as the Ichkeul National Park, the Kroumerie Mountains and the El Feija National Park, part of the Intercontinental Reserve of the Mediterranean Biosphere. Altitudinal zonation of the communities composition was found in the lowland (<250 m a.s.l.) and upland zone (>250 m a.s.l.) with maximum of 760 m. Whereas among the data 39 species are recorded from Tunisia for the first time, the species richness of Chironomidae is higher than previously estimated.
En Afrique du Nord, les cours d’eau saisonniers (Wadis) sont les habitats uniques qui servent les régimes hydrologiques et thermaux. Les chironomidae prennent une part importante dans la biodiversité des eaux douces d’Afrique du Nord. Nous présentons de nouvelles données sur la répartition et la diversité des Chironomidae au Nord de la Tunisie. Les larves, les pupes, les exuvies et les mâles adultes de chironomes sont recueillies dans divers wadis de mai 2005 à avril 2006. L’objectif de cette étude est de reconnaître le modèle de diversité de cette famille dans le Nord de la Tunisie pour estimer sa valeur écologique dans la région. Au total, 79 taxons ont été identifiés. La plupart des taxons sont des représentants typiquement paléarctique et méditerranéens. Les sites étudiés appartenaient aux réserves dans le Nord de la Tunisie : le parc d’Ichkeul, les montagnes de Kroumirie et le Parc El Feij. La zonation altitudinale de la composition des communautés a été trouvé dans la plaine (<250 m) et dans la zone de montagne (>250 m) avec un maximum de 760 m. Considérant qu’avec 39 espèces de Chironomidae enregistrées pour la première fois en Tunisie, la richesse spécifique est plus élevée que dans les estimations précédentes.
Three species of non-biting midges, Microchironomus deribae, Cricotopus (Isocladius) ornatus and Synendotendipes impar, are reported for the first time from the current fauna of Tunisia. All three ...species were collected close to a lake in a semi-desert area in Gasfa Governorate, Tunisia. Their diagnostic morphological characteristics are illustrated and their current geographical distribution in North Africa is discussed.
Records of past climate variability and associated vegetation response exist in various regions throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). To date, there has been no coherent synthesis of the ...existing palaeo-records. During an INTIMATE meeting (Cluj Napoca, Romania) focused on identifying CEE paleo-records, it was decided to address this gap by presenting the palaeo-community with a compilation of high-quality climatic and vegetation records for the past 60–8 ka. The compilation should also serve as a reference point for the use in the modelling community working towards the INTIMATE project goals, and in data-model inter-comparison studies. This paper is therefore a compilation of up to date, best available quantitative and semi-quantitative records of past climate and biotic response from CEE covering this period. It first presents the proxy and archive used. Speleothems and loess mainly provide the evidences available for the 60–20 ka interval, whereas pollen records provide the main source of information for the Lateglacial and Holocene. It then examines the temporal and spatial patterns of climate variability inferred from different proxies, the temporal and spatial magnitude of the vegetation responses inferred from pollen records and highlights differences and similarities between proxies and sub-regions and the possible mechanisms behind this variability. Finally, it identifies weakness in the proxies and archives and their geographical distribution. This exercise also provides an opportunity to reflect on the status of research in the area and to identify future critical areas and subjects of research.
•A comprehensive review of climate change and impacts on vegetation in Central and Eastern Europe.•Synchronous climate shifts in CEE and the wider North Atlantic region between 14.7 and 8 ka.•Reduced magnitude of these climatic shifts in the continental part of Europe.•Cooling intervals between 14.7 and 11.7 ka cal BP strongly expressed during winters.•Vegetation in CEE responded less drastically to the climate shifts compared to Western Europe.
Integrated modeling (IM) of present experiments and future tokamak reactors requires the provision of computational resources and numerical tools capable of simulating multiscale spatial phenomena as ...well as fast transient events and relatively slow plasma evolution within a reasonably short computational time. Recent progress in the implementation of the new computational resources for fusion applications in Europe based on modern supercomputer technologies (supercomputer MARCONI-FUSION), in the optimization and speedup of the EU fusion-related first-principle codes, and in the development of a basis for physics codes/modules integration into a centrally maintained suite of IM tools achieved within the EUROfusion Consortium is presented. Physics phenomena that can now be reasonably modelled in various areas (core turbulence and magnetic reconnection, edge and scrape-off layer physics, radio-frequency heating and current drive, magnetohydrodynamic model, reflectometry simulations) following successful code optimizations and parallelization are briefly described. Development activities in support to IM are summarized. They include support to (1) the local deployment of the IM infrastructure and access to experimental data at various host sites, (2) the management of releases for sophisticated IM workflows involving a large number of components, and (3) the performance optimization of complex IM workflows.
The Rozprza stronghold functioned as a seat of a noble family since at least the early14th century AD in the form of the motte-and-bailey residence. The remains of the residence are situated in the ...central part of mid-Luciąża River valley, on the river terrace remnant adjoining a strongly expanding floodplain. The situation and state of preservation give a unique opportunity to conduct research that explain the construction process, detailed history of the medieval moat and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the valley floor. Radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating and analysis of artefacts confirmed 14th century age of the moat. Organic deposits (gyttja, peat and organic mud) of moat fill allowed for a set of multiproxy analyses based on sediment cores. The research results indicate shallow water with brief episodes of in-wash in the first stage (13th-14th c. AD), followed by a transformation into telmatic habitat in the second phase of the moat development from 16th-17th c. AD. The deposition of overbank alluvium took place within the moat ditch system as late as the 18th and/or 19th c. AD. We studied the development of this moat environment in the context of valley floor changes.
► We developed a software tool that converts a physics code to a Kepler actor. ► The actor runs the codes on a remote supercomputer or a grid. ► The complexity is hidden from the user. ► We present ...the first workflows that use actors generated by the proposed tool.
Fusion Modelling and Simulation are very challenging and the high performance computing issues are addressed here. Based on the framework developed by the European Integrated Tokamak Modelling project and on the EUFORIA infrastructure, a tool solving nicely these difficulties has been developed for the end users and applied to several fusion simulation cases. The first part recalls the issues with GRID and high performance computing, while the second part presents the solutions and the tool for developing easily a GRID/HPC actor. The last part reports the use of this tool in MHD equilibrium and plasma edge simulations.
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