diff --git a/src/framework/containers/particles_comm.cpp b/src/framework/containers/particles_comm.cpp
index 8fe9d1ec..0fa140f9 100644
--- a/src/framework/containers/particles_comm.cpp
+++ b/src/framework/containers/particles_comm.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ namespace ntt {
                    npart_t      nsend,
                    npart_t      nrecv,
                    npart_t      offset) {
+#if defined(DEVICE_ENABLED)
+      // guard for Intel GPUs.
+      // Should be a null-operation for other architectures.
+      Kokkos::fence();
+#endif
 #if !defined(DEVICE_ENABLED) || defined(GPU_AWARE_MPI)
       MPI_Sendrecv(send_arr.data(),
                    nsend,
@@ -98,6 +103,11 @@ namespace ntt {
 
     template <typename T>
     void send(array_t<T*>& send_arr, int send_rank, npart_t nsend) {
+#if defined(DEVICE_ENABLED)
+      // guard for Intel GPUs.
+      // Should be a null-operation for other architectures.
+      Kokkos::fence();
+#endif
 #if !defined(DEVICE_ENABLED) || defined(GPU_AWARE_MPI)
       MPI_Send(send_arr.data(), nsend, mpi::get_type<T>(), send_rank, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
 #else
@@ -109,6 +119,11 @@ namespace ntt {
 
     template <typename T>
     void recv(array_t<T*>& recv_arr, int recv_rank, npart_t nrecv, npart_t offset) {
+#if defined(DEVICE_ENABLED)
+      // guard for Intel GPUs.
+      // Should be a null-operation for other architectures.
+      Kokkos::fence();
+#endif
 #if !defined(DEVICE_ENABLED) || defined(GPU_AWARE_MPI)
       MPI_Recv(recv_arr.data() + offset,
                nrecv,
diff --git a/src/framework/containers/particles_sort.cpp b/src/framework/containers/particles_sort.cpp
index 8741c966..904fb3fc 100644
--- a/src/framework/containers/particles_sort.cpp
+++ b/src/framework/containers/particles_sort.cpp
@@ -25,27 +25,33 @@ namespace ntt {
     const auto        num_tags = ntags();
     array_t<npart_t*> npptag { "nparts_per_tag", ntags() };
 
-    // count # of particles per each tag
-    auto npptag_scat = Kokkos::Experimental::create_scatter_view(npptag);
+    // count # of particles per each tag, skipping the alive bin in-kernel.
+    constexpr short tag_alive_s = static_cast<short>(ParticleTag::alive);
     Kokkos::parallel_for(
       "NpartPerTag",
       rangeActiveParticles(),
       Lambda(prtlidx_t p) {
-        auto npptag_acc = npptag_scat.access();
-        if (this_tag(p) < 0 || this_tag(p) >= static_cast<short>(num_tags)) {
+        const short t = this_tag(p);
+        if (t < 0 || t >= static_cast<short>(num_tags)) {
           raise::KernelError(HERE, "Invalid tag value");
         }
-        npptag_acc(this_tag(p)) += 1;
+        if (t != tag_alive_s) {
+          Kokkos::atomic_add(&npptag(t), static_cast<npart_t>(1));
+        }
       });
-    Kokkos::Experimental::contribute(npptag, npptag_scat);
 
-    // copy the count to a vector on the host
+    // copy the count to a vector on the host and reconstruct the alive bin
     auto npptag_h = Kokkos::create_mirror_view(npptag);
     Kokkos::deep_copy(npptag_h, npptag);
     std::vector<npart_t> npptag_vec(num_tags);
+    npart_t              non_alive_total = 0;
     for (auto t { 0u }; t < num_tags; ++t) {
       npptag_vec[t] = npptag_h(t);
+      if (static_cast<short>(t) != tag_alive_s) {
+        non_alive_total += npptag_h(t);
+      }
     }
+    npptag_vec[tag_alive_s] = npart() - non_alive_total;
 
     // count the offsets on the host and copy to device
     const array_t<npart_t*> tag_offsets("tag_offsets", num_tags - 3);
diff --git a/src/framework/domain/comm_mpi.hpp b/src/framework/domain/comm_mpi.hpp
index e3598f8b..52103c17 100644
--- a/src/framework/domain/comm_mpi.hpp
+++ b/src/framework/domain/comm_mpi.hpp
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ namespace comm {
                    int           recv_rank,
                    ncells_t      nsend,
                    ncells_t      nrecv) {
+#if defined(DEVICE_ENABLED)
+      // guard for Intel GPUs.
+      // Should be a null-operation for other architectures.
+      Kokkos::fence();
+#endif
 #if !defined(DEVICE_ENABLED) || defined(GPU_AWARE_MPI)
       MPI_Sendrecv(send_arr.data(),
                    nsend,
@@ -68,6 +73,11 @@ namespace comm {
 
     template <unsigned short D>
     void send(ndarray_t<D>& send_arr, int send_rank, ncells_t nsend) {
+#if defined(DEVICE_ENABLED)
+      // guard for Intel GPUs.
+      // Should be a null-operation for other architectures.
+      Kokkos::fence();
+#endif
 #if !defined(DEVICE_ENABLED) || defined(GPU_AWARE_MPI)
       MPI_Send(send_arr.data(), nsend, mpi::get_type<real_t>(), send_rank, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
 #else
@@ -84,6 +94,11 @@ namespace comm {
 
     template <unsigned short D>
     void recv(ndarray_t<D>& recv_arr, int recv_rank, ncells_t nrecv) {
+#if defined(DEVICE_ENABLED)
+      // guard for Intel GPUs.
+      // Should be a null-operation for other architectures.
+      Kokkos::fence();
+#endif
 #if !defined(DEVICE_ENABLED) || defined(GPU_AWARE_MPI)
       MPI_Recv(recv_arr.data(),
                nrecv,
diff --git a/src/framework/domain/metadomain_comm.cpp b/src/framework/domain/metadomain_comm.cpp
index e492752c..f8c0f60d 100644
--- a/src/framework/domain/metadomain_comm.cpp
+++ b/src/framework/domain/metadomain_comm.cpp
@@ -349,19 +349,6 @@ namespace ntt {
                                             false);
         }
       } else {
-        if (comm_em) {
-          comm::CommunicateField<M::Dim, 6>(domain.index(),
-                                            domain.fields.em,
-                                            domain.fields.em,
-                                            send_ind,
-                                            recv_ind,
-                                            send_rank,
-                                            recv_rank,
-                                            send_slice,
-                                            recv_slice,
-                                            comp_range_fld,
-                                            false);
-        }
         if (comm_j) {
           comm::CommunicateField<M::Dim, 3>(domain.index(),
                                             domain.fields.cur,