Complete exchange on the CM-5 and Touchstone Delta

The complete exchange (or all-to-all personalized) communication pattern occurs frequently in many important parallel computing applications. It is the densest form of communication because all processors need to communicate with all other processors. This can result in severe link contention and degrade performance considerably. Hence, it is necessary to use efficient algorithms in order to get good performance over a wide range of message and multiprocessor sizes. In this paper we present several algorithms to perform complete exchange on the Thinking Machines CM-5 and the Intel Touchstone Delta multiprocessors. Since these machines have different architectures and communication capabilities, different algorithms are needed to get the best performance on each of them. We present four algorithms for the CM-5 and six algorithms for the Delta. Complete exchange algorithms generally assume that the number of processors is a power of two. However, on the Delta the number of processors allocated by a user need not be a power of two. We propose algorithms that are even applicable to non-power-of-two meshes on the Delta. We have developed analytical models to estimate the performance of the algorithms on the basis of system parameters. Performance results on the CM-5 and Delta are also presented and analyzed.     

OSCA Genes in Bread Wheat: Molecular Characterization,Expression Profiling,and Interaction Analyses Indicated Their Diverse Roles during Development and Stress Response

The hyperosmolality-gated calcium-permeable channels (OSCA) are pore-forming transmembrane proteins that function as osmosensors during various plant developmental processes and stress responses. In our analysis, through in silico approaches, a total of 42 OSCA genes are identified in the Triticum aestivum genome. A phylogenetic analysis reveals the close clustering of the OSCA proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, and T. aestivum in all the clades, suggesting their origin before the divergence of dicots and monocots. Furthermore, evolutionary analyses suggest the role of segmental and tandem duplication events (Des) and purifying selection pressure in the expansion of the OSCA gene family in T. aestivum. Expression profiling in various tissue developmental stages and under abiotic and biotic stress treatments reveals the probable functioning of OSCA genes in plant development and the stress response in T. aestivum. In addition, protein–protein and protein–chemical interactions reveal that OSCA proteins might play a putative role in Ca²⁺-mediated developmental processes and adaptive responses. The miRNA interaction analysis strengthens the evidence for their functioning in various biological processes and stress-induced signaling cascades. The current study could provide a foundation for the functional characterization of TaOSCA genes in future studies.     

Spatial variability of soil hydraulic and physical properties in erosive sloping agricultural fields

It is essential to minimize soil quality degradation in sloping agricultural fields through stabilization and improvement of soil hydraulic properties using sustainable soil management. This study aimed to analyze the impact of different tillage practices, including conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), and zero tillage (ZT), on soil hydraulic conductivity in a sloping agricultural field under maize–wheat rotation. The results showed that the highest runoff volume (257.40 m³), runoff coefficient (42.84%), and soil loss (11.3 t) were observed when the CT treatment was applied. In contrast, the lowest runoff volume (67.95 m³), runoff coefficient (11.35%), and soil loss (1.05 t) were observed when the ZT treatment was adopted. The soil organic carbon and aggregate mean weight diameter were found to be significantly greater (with mean values of 0.79% and 1.19 mm, respectively) with the ZT treatment than with the CT treatment. With the tilled treatments (CT and MT), substantial changes in the saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (k_s), near-saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (k), and water-conducting porosity (ε) were observed between two crop seasons. These three soil parameters were significantly higher in the period after maize harvesting than in the wheat growing period. In contrast, no significant difference in these soil parameters was found when the untilled treatment (ZT) was carried out. With regard to the slope positions, k_s, k, and ε showed different behaviors under different treatments. The toe slope position showed significantly lower k_s and ε values than the summit and middle slope positions. Of the evaluated tillage practices, ZT was found to be the most promising means to improve the soil hydro-physical properties and effectively reduce surface runoff and soil erosion.     

Dual Metal Double Gate Ge-Pocket TFET (DMG-DG-Ge-Pocket TFET) with Hetero Dielectric: DC & Analog Performance Projections

Silicon - This work exclusively illustrates dual-metal double gate Ge pocket tunnel field effect transistor (DMG-DG-Ge pocket TFET) with hetero gate dielectric. This structure includes dual-metal...