Delay-Bounded Routing for Shadow Registers

The on-chip timing behaviour of synchronous circuits can be quantified at run-time by adding shadow registers, which allow designers to sample the most critical paths of a circuit at a different point in time than the user register would normally. In order to sample these paths precisely, the path skew between the user and the shadow register must be tightly controlled and consistent across all paths that are shadowed. Unlike a custom IC, FPGAs contain prefabricated resources from which composing an arbitrary routing delay is not trivial. This paper presents a method for inserting shadow registers with a minimum skew bound, whilst also reducing the maximum skew. To preserve circuit timing, we apply this to FPGA circuits post place-and-route, using only the spare resources left behind. We find that our techniques can achieve an average STA reported delay bound of ±200ps on a Xilinx device despite incomplete timing information, and achieve <1ps accuracy against our own delay model

Transparent In-Circuit Assertions for FPGAs

Commonly used in software design, assertions are statements placed into a design to ensure that its behaviour matches that expected by a designer. Although assertions apply equally to hardware design, they are typically supported only for logic simulation, and discarded prior to physical implementation. We propose a new HDL-agnostic language for describing latency-insensitive assertions and novel methods to add such assertions transparently to an already placed-and-routed circuit without affecting the existing design. We also describe how this language and associated methods can be used to implement semi-transparent exception handling. The key to our work is that by treating hardware assertions and exceptions as being oblivious or less sensitive to latency, assertion logic need only use spare FPGA resources. We use network-flow techniques to route necessary signals to assertions via spare flip-flops, eliminating any performance degradation, even on large designs (92% of slices in one test). Experimental evaluation shows zero impact on critical-path delay, even on large benchmarks operating above 200MHz, at the cost of a small power penalty

The Source of Enhanced Cognitive Control in Bilinguals: Evidence From Bimodal Bilinguals

Bilinguals often outperform monolinguals on nonverbal tasks that require resolving conflict from competing alternatives. The regular need to select a target language is argued to enhance executive control. We investigated whether this enhancement stems from a general effect of bilingualism (the representation of two languages) or from a modality constraint that forces language selection. Bimodal bilinguals can, but do not always, sign and speak at the same time. Their two languages involve distinct motor and perceptual systems, leading to weaker demands on language control. We compared the performance of 15 monolinguals, 15 bimodal bilinguals, and 15 unimodal bilinguals on a set of flanker tasks. There were no group differences in accuracy, but unimodal bilinguals were faster than the other groups; bimodal bilinguals did not differ from monolinguals. These results trace the bilingual advantage in cognitive control to the unimodal bilingual’s experience controlling two languages in the same modality

Efektivitas Serbuk Sargassum Polycystum Sebagai Antibakteri Pada Ikan Lele (Clarias SP.) Selama Penyimpanan Dingin

Ikan lele merupakan ikan air tawar yang diminati oleh masyarakat. Ikan lele mengandung nutrisi tinggi dan merupakan ikan yang berlendir, dan lendir merupakan salah satu media pertumbuhan yang baik untuk bakteri. Serbuk S. polycystum merupakan rumput laut coklat yang mengandung senyawa bioaktif yang berfungsi sebagai antibakteri. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kandungan senyawa bioaktif yang ada pada serbuk S. polycystum dan kemampuan serbuk S. polycystum sebagai antibakteri pada ikan lele (Clarias sp.). Materi yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah sebuk S. polycystum dan ikan lele (Clarias sp.). Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah experimental laboratories dengan menggunakan Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) faktorial dengan 2 faktor yaitu konsentrasi serbuk S. polycystum (0%, 3%, 6% dan 9%) dan lama penyimpanan (hari ke-0, hari ke-4, hari ke-8, dan hari ke-12). Rendemen serbuk S. polycystum sebesar 51,3 %, kandungan fenol 0,23 %, flavonoid 0,10 %, tanin 0,66 % dan saponin 0,64 %. Rendemen serbuk S. polycystum yang ditambahkan pada ikan lele yang disimpan pada suhu dingin menunjukkan bahwa perbedaan penambahan konsentrasi sebuk S. polycystum dan lama penyimpanan memberikan pengaruh nyata terhadap nilai TPC, nilai TVBN, nilai pH serta nilai organoleptik (p &lt; 0,05). Konsentrasi terbaik pada penelitian ini adalah 6% dengan nilai TPC pada hari ke- 12 yaitu 1,3 x 105 CFU/g, nilai TVBN 20,63 mgN/100g, nilai pH sebesar 6,96 dan nilai organoleptik ikan lele konsentrasi 6% masih layak konsumsi

The influence of microgravity on invasive growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This study investigates the effects of microgravity on colony growth and the morphological transition from single cells to short invasive filaments in the model eukaryotic organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Two-dimensional spreading of the yeast colonies grown on semi-solid agar medium was reduced under microgravity in the Sigma 1278b laboratory strain but not in the CMBSESA1 industrial strain. This was supported by the Sigma 1278b proteome map under microgravity conditions, which revealed upregulation of proteins linked to anaerobic conditions. The Sigma 1278b strain showed a reduced invasive growth in the center of the yeast colony. Bud scar distribution was slightly affected, with a switch toward more random budding. Together, microgravity conditions disturb spatially programmed budding patterns and generate strain-dependent growth differences in yeast colonies on semi-solid medium

Lifelong Bilingualism Maintains White Matter Integrity in Older Adults

Previous research has shown that bilingual speakers have higher levels of cognitive control than comparable monolinguals, especially at older ages. The present study investigates a possible neural correlate of this behavioral effect. Given that white matter (WM) integrity decreases with age in adulthood, we tested the hypothesis that bilingualism is associated with maintenance of WM in older people. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we found higher WM integrity in older people who were lifelong bilinguals than in monolinguals. This maintained integrity was measured by fractional anisotropy (FA) and was found in the corpus callosum extending to the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculi. We also hypothesized that stronger WM connections would be associated with more widely distributed patterns of functional connectivity in bilinguals. We tested this by assessing the resting-state functional connectivity of frontal lobe regions adjacent to WM areas with group differences in FA. Bilinguals showed stronger anterior to posterior functional connectivity compared to monolinguals. These results are the first evidence that maintained WM integrity is related to lifelong naturally occurring experience; the resulting enhanced structural and functional connectivity may provide a neural basis for “brain reserve.

Advance directive and preference of old age home residents for community model of end-of-life care in Hong Kong

Key Messages: 1. Among 1600 cognitively normal elderly persons living in old age homes in Hong Kong, 88% preferred palliative treatments that could keep them comfortable and free from pain, and 88% agreed to have advance directives. Factors that favour having advance directives among Chinese elders included the practice of asking for relatives’ advice in medical decisions, wishing to be informed of their terminal illness diagnoses, absence of a stroke history, and having no problems in self-care. 2. Approximately one third of old age home residents would accept dying in place. Older age, religion (Catholic or non-believer of traditional Chinese religion), having a better mood score (Geriatric Depression Scale), having no siblings, not receiving an old age allowance, and being a resident of subvented old age homes were independent predictors of preference for community end-of-life care and dying in place. 3. End-of-life care in the hospital was expensive. The total bed-day costs for the 2084 deaths in the two clusters for the index death episode, cumulative 3, 6, and 12 months of hospitalisation were HK$65 474 591, HK$82 543 510, HK$100 170 949, and HK$108 960 348, respectively. The annual cost-savings in hospitalisation bed-days would be HK$177 million when about 30% of elders accepted dying in their old age homes. 4. Elderly residents were willing to pay an additional fee for community end-of-life care services in old age homes. Both the services of the doctor and old age home staff were important attributes. Hence, elderly people were prepared to use more community end-of-life care if better staff and doctor services were provided.published_or_final_versio

Osteopontin as potential biomarker and therapeutic target in gastric and liver cancers

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Reducing radiation exposure in early-onset scoliosis surgery patients: novel use of ultrasonography to measure lengthening in magnetically-controlled growing rods

Abstract Background context Magnetically-controlled growing rod (MCGR) technology has been reported for the treatment of early-onset scoliosis (EOS). Such technology allows for regular and frequent outpatient rod distractions without the need for additional surgery. However, pre- and postdistraction spine radiographs are required to verify the amount of lengthening. This increased exposure to ionizing radiation in developing children significantly increases their risk profile for radiation-induced cancer and noncancerous morbidity. Purpose This study addressed the first and novel application and reliability of the use of ultrasonography, that has no ionizing radiation exposure, as an alternative to plain radiographs in the visualizing and confirming of rod distractions. Study design A prospective study. Patient sample Six EOS patients who underwent surgical treatment with MCGRs were prospectively recruited. Outcome measures Imaging measurements based on ultrasound and plain radiographs. Methods All patients were imaged via ultrasound, ease of rod identification was established, and the reliability and reproducibility of optimal reference point selection assessed blindly by three individuals. The clinical algorithm, using ultrasound, was subsequently implemented. Plain radiographs served as controls. Results Assessment of the rod's neck distance on ultrasound demonstrated a high degree of interrater reliability (a=0.99; p<.001). Intrarater reliability remained high on repeat measurements at different time intervals (a=1.00; p<.001). Satisfactory interrater reliability was noted when measuring the rod's neck (a=0.73; p=.010) and high reliability was noted in assessing the housing of the rod (a=0.85; p=.01) on plain radiographs. Under blinded conditions, 2 mm rod distraction measured on radiographs corresponded to 1.7 mm distraction on the ultrasound (standard deviation: 0.24 mm; p<.001). Subsequently, the clinical algorithm using ultrasound, instead of radiographs, has been successfully implemented. Conclusions This is the first study to report the use of a novel technique using noninvasive, nonionizing ultrasound to reliably document rod distractions in EOS patients. A high level of inter- and intrarater reliabilities were noted. More importantly, the use of ultrasonography may result in fewer whole spine radiographs from being taken in patients who have had MCGRs implanted for EOS; thereby decreasing their exposure to ionizing radiation and the potential risk of future radiation-induced diseases.postprin