PProto: An environment for prototyping parallel programs

This paper describes Parallel Proto (PProto), an integrated environment for constructing prototypes of parallel programs. Using functional and performance modeling of dataflow specifications, PProto assists in analysis of high-level software and hardware architectural tradeoffs. Facilities provided by PProto include a visual language and an editor for describing hierarchical dataflow graphs, a resource modeling tool for creating parallel architectures, mechanisms for mapping software components to hardware components, an interactive simulator for prototype interpretation, and a reuse capability. The simulator contains components for instrumenting, animating, debugging, and displaying results of functional and performance models. The Pproto environment is built on top of a substrate for managing user interfaces and database objects to provide consistent views of design objects across system tools.     

Development of a bilingual interpreter program: An alternative model for Spanish-speaking services.

Traces the development and growth of an innovative program designed to help English-speaking therapists evaluate and treat Spanish-speaking patients. Difficulties and successes encountered in implementing a bilingual interpreter program are described. Specific issues examined include the roles of language proficiency, language recall, and language distortion; the role of psychological education; and transference problems in a triadic interaction. It is argued that the training and use of bilingual interpreters is an effective and feasible alternative model for providing Spanish-speaking services. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of Metastable Operation in a CMOS Dynamic D-Latch

Nowadays, metastability is becoming a serious problemin high-performance VLSI design, mainly due to the relatively-highprobability of error when a bistable circuit operates at highfrequencies. As far as we know, there is not any work publishedthat justifies and formally characterizes metastable behaviorin dynamic latches. With current technologies, dynamic latchesare widely used in high-performance VLSI circuits, mainly dueto their lower cost and higher operation speed than static latches.In this work, we demonstrate that dynamic memory cells presentan anomalous behavior referred to as metastable operation withcharacteristics similar to those of static latches. We performa suitable generalization of metastability to the dynamic case,applying it to a CMOS dynamic D-latch. A theoretical model willbe proposed, allowing the quantification of metastability, andit will be validated through electric simulation with HSPICE.After that, we have compared the metastable behavior of the dynamiclatch with its static counterpart, obtaining results about thecharacteristic parameters of metastability and the Mean TimeBetween Failures (MTBF) for both kinds of bistable circuits.These results have allowed us to conclude that, unlike metastabilitywindows in static latches, a clearly defined input interval existswhich produces an infinite resolution time. Regarding MTBF, thedynamic latch presents a very low MTBF value compared to thestatic latch. These results show that dynamic latches shouldnot be used in those circuits where the risk of asynchronismbetween clock and data signals is not negligible.     

Learning fuzzy partitions in FIR methodology

The main goal of this research is the development of a hybrid genetic fuzzy system (GFS), composed by the fuzzy inductive reasoning (FIR) methodology and a genetic algorithm (GA) that is responsible of learning the fuzzy partitions needed in the recode process of FIR. A partition includes the number of fuzzy sets (classes) per variable and the membership function of each class. The resulting GFS is applied to two real problems, i.e. the estimation of the maintenance cost of medium voltage lines in Spanish towns and the prediction of ozone levels in Austria. The results obtained in each application are compared with some of the most popular classical statistical modeling methods, neural networks and other hybrid evolutionary data analysis techniques.     

Tuning of Adaptive Weight Depth Map Generation Algorithms

In depth map generation algorithms, parameters settings to yield an accurate disparity map estimation are usually chosen empirically or based on unplanned experiments. Algorithms’ performance is measured based on the distance of the algorithm results vs. the Ground Truth by Middlebury’s standards. This work shows a systematic statistical approach including exploratory data analyses on over 14000 images and designs of experiments using 31 depth maps to measure the relative influence of the parameters and to fine-tune them based on the number of bad pixels. The implemented methodology improves the performance of adaptive weight based dense depth map algorithms. As a result, the algorithm improves from 16.78 to 14.48 % bad pixels using a classical exploratory data analysis of over 14000 existing images, while using designs of computer experiments with 31 runs yielded an even better performance by lowering bad pixels from 16.78 to 13 %.     

A miniature cell for gas solubility measurements in oils and bitumen

A miniature cell has been designed and constructed to measure gas solubility in crude oils and bitumen. The cell was made of stainless steel with a total internal volume of 1.835 cc and only an oil sample of 0.4 cc was required for one set of measurements at different pressures. By using this small cell, the waiting time for reaching equilibrium was less than 10 min. The technique was validated by measuring CO(2) gas solubility in two bitumen samples. The results were compared and found to be in very good agreement with available data. The apparatus was also used to study the effect of ashphaltene on CO(2) solubility in bitumen. It was shown that ashphaltene had a negligible effect on CO(2) solubility in bitumen.     

Preparation and characterization of superparamagnetic chitosan microspheres: Application as a support for the immobilization of tyrosinase

Superparamagnetic chitosan microspheres were prepared by a water‐in‐oil suspension‐crosslinking technique. To this end, magnetite particles were dispersed in a chitosan solution in acetic acid. The dispersion was added to toluene containing Span 20 as a surfactant with stirring. Chitosan solution droplets were hardened with glutaraldehyde. The magnetic chitosan microspheres obtained were characterized with scanning electron microscopy, differential thermal analysis, and vibrational magnetometry. The microspheres had a wide size distribution, ranging from 43 ± 25 to 255 ± 55 μm, that depended on the reaction conditions. The mean particle size decreased with an increase in the concentration of Span 20 or the amount of glutaraldehyde and with the addition of NaCl. However, a major size reduction was achieved by an increase in the stirring rate. Tyrosinase was immobilized on the microspheres. The immobilized enzyme retained 70% of its activity, as determined by the capacity to degrade phenolic compounds. The immobilized tyrosinase resulted in greater stability than the free enzyme. In addition, the enzyme maintained 65% of its phenol oxidation activity after 10 cycles of reuse. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 651–657, 2005     

Variable aberration generators using rotated Zernike plates

The rotational properties of Zernike polynomials allow for an easy generation of variable amounts of aberration using two rotated phase plates, each one encoding one or several Zernike modes. This effect may be used to build variable aberration generators useful for calibrating different kinds of aberrometer.     

Microemulsion formation and detergency with oily soils: III. Performance and mechanisms

The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between oily soil removal efficiency and low oil-water interfacial tension (IFT) generated by microemulsion formation. A mixture of sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate, alkyl diphenyl oxide disulfonate, and sorbitan monooleate was selected as a detergent formulation to evaluate detergency performance for two highly hydrophobic oils: hexadecane and motor oil. The maximum detergency corresponds to formation of a Winsor Type III microemulsion as well as to the supersolubilization region, which is a Winsor Type I microemulsion close to the Winsor Type III region. In addition, the oil removal in the rinse step is almost as high as that in the wash step for both regions. We propose the following mechanism to explain these results: During the wash step, the contact angle of the oil on the fabric surface is progressively increased, resulting in the detachment of the oil droplets. However, owing to the very low IFT, the spreading effect is dominant, thereby causing incomplete oil removal. During the subsequent rinse step, the IFT increases, passing through a composition at which the rollup mechanism causes additional oil removal. These results demonstrate that microemulsion formation and the resulting IFT reduction are important mechanisms in oily soil detergency.     

Polymeric proton conducting systems based on commercial elastomers. II. Synthesis and microstructural characterization of films based on HSBR/EPDM/PP/PS/silica

This article reports on the synthesis and structural characterization of films containing hydrogenated poly(butadiene‐styrene) block copolymer/ethylene‐propylene terpolymer/polypropylene, hydrogenated poly(butadiene‐styrene) block copolymer/ethylene‐propylene terpolymer/polystyrene, and hydrogenated poly(butadiene‐styrene block copolymer/ethylene‐propylene terpolymer/silica) crosslinked with peroxides and heterogeneously sulfonated. Sulfonation of the different polymeric systems gives rise to materials with high proton conductivity and great dimensional stability, suited for application in a variety of electronic devices. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 2394–2402, 2004