Background memory area estimation for multidimensional signalprocessing systems

Memory cost is responsible for a large amount of the chip and/or board area of customized video and image processing system realizations. In this paper, we present a novel technique-founded on data-flow analysis which allows one to address the problem of background memory size evaluation for a given nonprocedural algorithm specification, operating on multidimensional signals with affine indexes. Most of the target applications are characterized by a huge number of signals, so a new polyhedral data-flow model operating on groups of scalar signals is proposed. These groups are obtained by a novel analytical partitioning technique, allowing to select a desired granularity, depending on the application complexity. The method incorporates a way to tradeoff memory size with computational and controller complexity     

N.m.r. study of the ferroelectric phase transition in a 7030mol% copolymer of vinylidene fluoride (VF2) and trifluoroethylene (TrFE)

Nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) studies of ¹⁹F nuclei in a $\text{70}\text{30}\text{mol}\text{\%}$ random copolymer of vinylidene fluoride and trifluoroethylene were performed at 9.14 MHz and 20.0 MHz. The free induction decays (FIDs) were analysed in terms of two T₂ components attributed to the amorphous and crystalline portions of the polymer. The changes in crystallinity as well as the effects of the ferroelectric transition were observed during cycles of heating and cooling between 20°C and 140°C. The crystalline component of the FID lengthens by a factor of 2 at 100°C on heating and decreases by this factor at 60°C on cooling, thus exhibiting the thermal hysteresis of this ferroelectric transition. The spin-lattice relaxation was also investigated. From measurements at 9.14 MHz the observed longitudinal relaxation time T₁ appears to be dominated by the dynamics of the amorphous phase and exhibits no anomaly through the phase transition. However, from measurements at 20 MHz, well defined minima of T₁ were observed, which are associated with the ferroelectric transition (especially after repeated annealing of the samples). Results are discussed in terms of the crystalline phase structure, which appears dynamically disordered above the ferroelectric phase transition. An analogy is considered with the plastic phase transitions encountered in molecular crystals.     

Parallel Pattern-Based Systems for Computational Biology: A Case Study

Computational biology research is now faced with the burgeoning number of genome data. The rigorous postprocessing of this data requires an increased role for high-performance computing (HPC). Because the development of HPC applications for computational biology problems is much more complex than the corresponding sequential applications, existing traditional programming techniques have demonstrated their inadequacy. Many high level programming techniques, such as skeleton and pattern-based programming, have therefore been designed to provide users new ways to get HPC applications without much effort. However, most of them remain absent from the mainstream practice for computational biology. In this paper, we present a new parallel pattern-based system prototype for computational biology. The underlying programming techniques are based on generic programming, a programming technique suited for the generic representation of abstract concepts. This allows the system to be built in a generic way at application level and, thus, provides good extensibility and flexibility. We show how this system can be used to develop HPC applications for popular computational biology algorithms and lead to significant runtime savings on distributed memory architectures.     

Nephropathy of type II diabetes: evidence for hereditary factors?

Family studies point to an important genetic element in the genesis of diabetic nephropathy, but it is not known whether renal abnormalities are present prior to the onset of diabetes. To address this issue we examined all consecutive patients suffering from type II diabetes with a duration of more than 10 years who attended a diabetes outpatient clinic. Ninety-four patients had nephropathy, 307 did not. All offspring who were phenotypically normal (no hypertension, normal oral glucose tolerance, non-smoking) and agreed to participate were examined, 26 from nephropathic and 30 from non-nephropathic diabetic parents. They were compared with 30 offspring matched for age, gender and BMI from non-diabetic parents as controls. We measured urinary albumin excretion under baseline conditions and at several time points after ingestion of 300 g cooked beef and submaximal treadmill exercise, respectively. In addition, casual blood pressure, ambulatory blood pressure, urinary albumin and urinary alpha-1-microglobulin were measured. Primary renal disease was excluded by clinical examination. Under baseline conditions, median urinary albumin excretion rate (AER; microgram/min) was significantly (P < 0.005) higher in offspring of nephropathic type II diabetic patients (7.8; range 1.04 to 19.5) than in the offspring of non-nephropathic type II diabetic patients (4.8; 0.36 to 17.5) and controls (4.4; 0.16 to 18.4). Submaximal treadmill exercise caused a greater proportional increase of AER in offspring of nephropathic type II diabetics (median 16-fold) than in offspring of non-nephropathic diabetic patients (6.3-fold) or controls (4.8-fold). In offspring of nephropathic diabetic patients casual and particularly ambulatory systolic blood pressures were significantly higher, but AER was not correlated with blood pressure. In summary, higher values, albeit within the normal range, for baseline and postexercise albuminuria were noted in phenotypically normal offspring of parents with type II diabetes and nephropathy. The observation suggests that changes in transglomerular albumin traffic are demonstrable prior to the onset of diabetes and diabetic nephropathy in subjects with a potential genetic predisposition to these conditions.     

Improving manufacturing by cost-effective process modeling

Computer-aided engineering tools are routinely used to simulate forging and heat-treatment operations and to perform thermal and stress analyses. This review gives a few examples of the current uses of process modeling tools and outlines some developing capabilities and near-term applications.     

Estimation of sampling error variance in the meta-analysis of correlations: Use of average correlation in the homogeneous case.

The estimate of the population correlation used in the formula for sampling error variance of a correlation is typically the observed correlation, but in meta-analysis the average of the observed correlations can be used. For the case in which there is no variation in the study population correlations or sample sizes and the number of studies is very large, the authors found that use of the average correlation estimator is more accurate than use of the traditional, individual correlation estimator, except in those rare cases in which the uncorrected population correlation is greater than .60. For typical sample sizes, when the uncorrected population correlation is between -.40 and .40, there is virtually no error in the meta-analysis credibility interval based on the average correlation estimator. On the other hand, the amount of the error in the individual correlation estimator is qualitatively important if the sample is 25 or less and the population correlation is less than .40. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regulation of distal esophageal mucosal blood flow: the roles of nitric oxide and substance P

BACKGROUND: An increase in esophageal mucosal blood flow (MBF) may be an important protective mechanism against mucosal injury from noxious agents that are ingested or refluxed. This study investigated the changes in MBF and the regulation thereof after intraluminal application of noxious chemical stimuli. The role, if any, of substance P (SP) and nitric oxide (NO), two potent vasodilatory substances, and the vascular distribution of SP in the distal esophagus were evaluated. METHODS: Esophageal MBF was measured in anesthetized dogs with a laser Doppler flow probe attached to manometry and pH probes. MBF was measured before and after topical application of HCl (2 ml; 1N) or capsaicin (2 ml; 0.5%) in the distal esophagus. The effects on MBF of intraarterial SP and bradykinin were also determined. Pharmacologic antagonists and denervation procedures were used to delineate the mechanisms that regulate MBF. RESULTS: Sequential luminal applications of hydrochloric acid (HCl) or a single application of capsaicin increased MBF (p < 0.01). Topical intraluminal lidocaine blocked the response to capsaicin (p > 0.2) but not to HCl (p < 0.05). Abrupt increases in MBF occurred with intraarterial SP or bradykinin (p < 0.01). Neither atropine nor truncal vagotomy blocked the increase in MBF from these peptides or noxious stimuli. The NO synthesis antagonist NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) blocked the response to bradykinin and attenuated the response to HCl (p < 0.05). NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester did not affect the response to SP or capsaicin. A substance P antagonist blocked the effects of both capsaicin (p > 0.6) and SP (p > 0.1) but not that of HCl (p < 0.01) or bradykinin (p > 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Intraluminal applications of HCl or capsaicin appear to stimulate increases in esophageal MBF by different mechanisms. HCl produces an adaptive response that appears dependent on the paracrine effect of NO. Capsaicin-sensitive neurons mediate vasodilation through SP neurotransmission, independent of extrinsic vagal or cholinergic innervation.     

Whole-body kinetics and dosimetry of L-3--123I-iodo-alpha-methyltyrosine

BACKGROUND: Desflurane anesthesia can produce cerebral metabolic depression and increase cerebral blood flow. We evaluated the effect of desflurane on brain tissue oxygen pressure (PO2), carbon dioxide pressure (PCO2) and pH during neurosurgery. METHODS: Following a craniotomy, the dura was opened and a Paratrend 7 sensor, which measures PO2, PCO2, pH and temperature, was inserted into brain tissue. In 6 control patients in group 1, anesthesia was maintained constant with 3% end-tidal desflurane over 60 min, including a 30-min stabilization period. In group 2, 9 patients were ventilated with 3% desflurane under baseline conditions. After a 30-min stabilization period, baseline tissue gases and pH were measured and end-tidal desflurane was increased to 6% and then 9% for 15-min intervals. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was maintained with intravenous phenylephrine. RESULTS: Under baseline conditions, cardiovascular and brain tissue measures were similar between the 2 groups. Increasing end-tidal desflurane from 3% to 9% produced burst-suppression EEG in all patients and significantly increased tissue PO2 and pH and decreased PCO2. No parameters changed significantly in the control group during steady-state anesthesia. CONCLUSION: These results show that 9% desflurane can improve brain tissue metabolic status before temporary brain artery occlusion if cerebral perfusion pressure is maintained. This may be particularly important in patients with symptoms of ischemia before surgery.     

Wide-band symmetrical analog multiplier IC for coherentoptical-fiber receivers operating up to 10 Gb/s

A versatile analog four-quadrant multiplier IC with large bandwidth (DC to 6 GHz and 10 Gb/s) and large dynamic range is presented. It was mainly developed for differential-phase-shift-keying (DPSK) phase demodulator and polarization diversity receivers in coherent optical-fiber transmission systems. The circuit consumes 450 mW and only needs a single power supply of -5 V. The circuit principle used allows exact symmetry with respect to both linear inputs, which reduced multiplication errors. In the intended application, especially, the time jitter and the offset voltage of the output pulse patterns are reduced to negligible values. The IC was realized in a 1.25-μm double-polysilicon bipolar technology     

Homogenization of hardness distribution and distortion in high pressure gas quenching

Quenching with gases rather than oil or other liquid media has the advantages of reducing the risks concerning health and environment, while simultaneously homogenizing the quenching results and minimizing distortion due to a wide range of possible process parameter variations and the pure convective heat transfer. In this contribution, a coupled solution for increasing homogenization of quenching results within high pressure gas quenching will be presented. In the first stage, an experimental test facility was set up for flow investigations and in the second stage a numerical simulation model was generated. The numerical and experimental results of the flow through the chamber were compared for several boundary conditions. Finally, after complete verification of the simulation, the model may be used to assist in parameter variation for optimization of homogeneous high pressure gas quenching.