Functional Testing Approaches for "BIFST-able" tlm_fifo

Evolution of Electronic System Level design methodologies, allows a wider use of Transaction-Level Modeling (TLM). TLM is a high-level approach to modeling digital systems that emphasizes on separating communications among modules from the details of functional units. This paper explores different functional testing approaches for the implementation of Built-in Functional Self Test facilities in the TLM primitive channel tlm_fifo. In particular, it focuses on three different test approaches based on a finite state machine model of tlm_fifo, functional fault models, and march tests respectivel

Exploring interfacial exchange coupling and sublattice effect in heavy metal/ferrimagnetic insulator heterostructures using Hall measurements, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, and neutron reflectometry

We use temperature-dependent Hall measurements to identify contributions of spin Hall, magnetic proximity, and sublattice effects to the anomalous Hall signal in heavy metal/ferrimagnetic insulator heterostructures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. This approach enables detection of both the magnetic proximity effect onset temperature and the magnetization compensation temperature and provides essential information regarding the interfacial exchange coupling. Onset of a magnetic proximity effect yields a local extremum in the temperature-dependent anomalous Hall signal, which occurs at higher temperature as magnetic insulator thickness increases. This magnetic proximity effect onset occurs at much higher temperature in Pt than W. The magnetization compensation point is identified by a sharp anomalous Hall sign change and divergent coercive field. We directly probe the magnetic proximity effect using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and polarized neutron reflectometry, which reveal an antiferromagnetic coupling between W and the magnetic insulator. Finally, we summarize the exchange-coupling configurations and the anomalous Hall-effect sign of the magnetized heavy metal in various heavy metal/magnetic insulator heterostructures

Validation of a Persian Short-Form Version of a Standardised Questionnaire Assessing Oral Cancer Knowledge, Practice and Attitudes Among Dentists

Objectives: Oral cancer is a global health problem; however, many dentists lack the necessary skills, knowledge and capacity to diagnose oral cancers early. This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of a Persian short-form version of a standardised questionnaire to assess dentists’ knowledge, practice and attitudes towards oral cancer. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in May 2015 in Tehran, Iran. An original 39-item English-language questionnaire developed by Yellowitz et al. was translated into Persian using forward and backward translation methods. A total of 15 dental professionals were asked to assess the questionnaire for content validity. Based on their feedback, a 20-item short-form version was prepared, including six demographic, six knowledge, four attitude and four practice items. The translated short-form questionnaire was subsequently distributed to 973 general dental practitioners attending a dental conference in Tehran. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and item-total correlation calculations. Results: A total of 13 professionals and 313 general dentists participated in the study (response rates: 86.7% and 32.2%, respectively). After the elimination of six items (two knowledge, two attitude and two practice items), the validity and reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed. Conclusion: The final Persian 14-item version of the questionnaire had acceptable validity and internal consistency. These results indicate that researchers can use this translated short-form version to evaluate oral cancer knowledge, attitudes and practices among Persian-speaking dentists; this will allow for a comparison of data between different populations

Tumor-derived exosomes confer antigen-specific immunosuppression in a murine delayed-type hypersensitivity model

Exosomes are endosome-derived small membrane vesicles that are secreted by most cell types including tumor cells. Tumor-derived exosomes usually contain tumor antigens and have been used as a source of tumor antigens to stimulate anti-tumor immune responses. However, many reports also suggest that tumor-derived exosomes can facilitate tumor immune evasion through different mechanisms, most of which are antigen-independent. In the present study we used a mouse model of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) and demonstrated that local administration of tumor-derived exosomes carrying the model antigen chicken ovalbumin (OVA) resulted in the suppression of DTH response in an antigen-specific manner. Analysis of exosome trafficking demonstrated that following local injection, tumor-derived exosomes were internalized by CD11c+ cells and transported to the draining LN. Exosome-mediated DTH suppression is associated with increased mRNA levels of TGF-β1 and IL-4 in the draining LN. The tumor-derived exosomes examined were also found to inhibit DC maturation. Taken together, our results suggest a role for tumor-derived exosomes in inducing tumor antigen-specific immunosuppression, possibly by modulating the function of APCs. © 2011 Yang et al

Risk Factors Associated with Denture Stomatitis in Healthy Subjects Attending a Dental School in Southeast Iran

Objectives: There is scant information regarding the multifactorial aetiology of denture stomatitis (DS) in the world and, despite its frequency, associated factors are not completely understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors that may be associated with this lesion. Methods: A total of 70 edentulous patients, all wearing removable dentures, were divided into two groups. The test group comprised 43 patients with DS and the control group comprised 27 subjects with clinically healthy palatal mucosa. A thorough history-taking and physical examination were carried out; the subjects also answered a questionnaire. The serum level of vitamin A for each subject was assayed from a blood sample taken after the examination. Results: This study showed a significant relationship between the incidence of DS and three major factors: denture age (in terms of years), the practitioner manufacturing the dentures (general dental practitioner versus dental hygienist), and the nightlong wearing of dentures. Also, the vitamin A serum level was low in 94.29% of all subjects (cases and controls). Conclusion: Although many predisposing conditions were related to this situation, the most important risk factor was the continuous use of the dentures

TLM 2.0 simple sockets synthesis to RTL

Convenience sockets are a family of derived sockets provided in utilities namespace of TLM 2.0 library which add additional functionalities to TLM 2.0 sockets. As one of the goals of high level modeling is to part communication from computation, synthesizing communication mechanisms including sockets can be a primary step to synthesize each TLM 2.0 design on RTL. Synthesizing sockets on RTL can provide the designer with the big picture of module's functionality and communication requirements. In this paper, algorithms are proposed to map TLM 2.0 simple sockets down to RTL focusing on TLM 2.0 blocking and non-blocking transport interfaces. The algorithms get TLM 2.0 sockets as an input and generate an intermediate description of sockets in terms of ports. After that, RTL descriptions of the ports are generated using the standard generic payload packet as transaction type. The automation caused by synthesis algorithms in this paper can reduce the simulation speed and the designer's effort

A genetic analysis of weed competitive ability in spring wheat

Competition with weeds decreases crop yields globally. Breeding for competitive ability against elevated weed pressure can be difficult because the selection for specific traits which contribute to competitive ability may result in yield losses. The widely studied International Triticeae Mapping Initiative (ITMI) population was used to study the genetics of traits associated with competitive ability in a high latitude (52-53oN) wheat-growing environment in central Alberta, Canada. Grain yield without weed competition and under experimentally sown cultivated oat competition exhibited similar heritability. Grain yield was positively correlated with early season vigour, and negatively correlated with days to maturity in the competitive treatment only. In this study, similar heritability estimates between competition treatments suggest that selection in a weed free environment can lead to improvements in a weedy environment, but some high-yielding lines under competition would be eliminated during selection

Reading Between the (Spectral) Lines: Magellan/IMACS spectroscopy of the Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxies Eridanus IV and Centaurus I

We present a spectroscopic analysis of Eridanus IV (Eri IV) and Centaurus I (Cen I), two ultra-faint dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way. Using IMACS/Magellan spectroscopy, we identify 28 member stars of Eri IV and 34 member stars of Cen I. For Eri IV, we measure a systemic velocity of $v_{sys} = -31.5^{+1.3}_{-1.2}\:\mathrm{km\:s^{-1}}$ and velocity dispersion $\sigma_{v}= 6.1^{+1.2}_{-0.9}\:\mathrm{km\:s^{-1}}$. Additionally, we measure the metallicities of 16 member stars of Eri IV. We find a metallicity of $\mathrm{[Fe/H]}=-2.87^{+0.08}_{-0.07}$ and resolve a dispersion of $\sigma_{\mathrm{[Fe/H]}} = 0.20\pm0.09$. The mean metallicity is marginally lower than all other known ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, making it one of the most metal-poor galaxies discovered thus far. Eri IV also has a somewhat unusual right-skewed metallicity distribution. For Cen I, we find a velocity $v_{sys} = 44.9\pm0.8\:\mathrm{km\:s^{-1}}$ and velocity dispersion $\sigma_{v} = 4.2^{+0.6}_{-0.5} \:\mathrm{km\:s^{-1}}$. We measure the metallicities of 27 member stars of Cen I, and find a mean metallicity $\mathrm{[Fe/H]} = -2.57\pm0.08$ and metallicity dispersion $\sigma_{\mathrm{[Fe/H]}} = 0.38^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$. We calculate the systemic proper motion, orbit, and the astrophysical J-factor for each system, the latter of which indicates that Eri IV is a good target for indirect dark matter detection. We also find no strong evidence for tidal stripping of Cen I or Eri IV. Overall, our measurements confirm that Eri IV and Cen I are dark matter-dominated galaxies with properties largely consistent with other known ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. The low metallicity, right-skewed metallicity distribution, and high J-factor make Eri IV an especially interesting candidate for further followup.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, submitted to AAS journal