Automatic generation of hardware/software interfaces

Enabling new applications for mobile devices often requires the use of specialized hardware to reduce power consumption. Because of time-to-market pressure, current design methodologies for embedded applications require an early partitioning of the design, allowing the hardware and software to be developed simultaneously, each adhering to a rigid interface contract. This approach is problematic for two reasons: (1) a detailed hardware-software interface is difficult to specify until one is deep into the design process, and (2) it prevents the later migration of functionality across the interface motivated by efficiency concerns or the addition of features. We address this problem using the Bluespec Codesign Language~(BCL) which permits the designer to specify the hardware-software partition in the source code, allowing the compiler to synthesize efficient software and hardware along with transactors for communication between the partitions. The movement of functionality across the hardware-software boundary is accomplished by simply specifying a new partitioning, and since the compiler automatically generates the desired interface specifications, it eliminates yet another error-prone design task. In this paper we present BCL, an extension of a commercially available hardware design language (Bluespec SystemVerilog), a new software compiling scheme, and preliminary results generated using our compiler for various hardware-software decompositions of an Ogg Vorbis audio decoder, and a ray-tracing application.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF (#CCF-0541164))National Research Foundation of Korea (grant from the Korean Government (MEST) (#R33-10095)

Tsunami hazards in the Catalan Coast, a low-intensity seismic activity area

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11069-017-2918-zThe potential impacts of tsunamis along the Catalan Coast (NW Mediterranean) are analysed using numerical modelling. The region is characterized by moderate to low seismic activity and by moderate- to low-magnitude earthquakes. However, the occurrence of historical strong earthquakes and the location of several active offshore faults in front of the coast suggest that the possibility of an earthquake-triggered tsunami is not negligible although of low probability. Up to five faults have been identified to generate tsunamis, being the highest associated possible seismic magnitudes of up to 7.6. Coastal flooding and port agitation are characterized using the Worst-case Credible Tsunami Scenario Analysis approach. The results show a multiple fault source contribution to tsunami hazard. The shelf dimensions and the existence of submerged canyons control the tsunami propagation. In wide shelves, waves travelling offshore may become trapped by refraction causing the wave energy to reach the coastline at some distance from the origin. The free surface water elevation increases at the head of the canyons due to the sharp depth gradients. The effects of potential tsunamis would be very harmful in low-lying coastal stretches, such as deltas, with a high population concentration, assets and infrastructures. The Ebro delta appears to be the most exposed coast, and about the 20% of the delta surface is prone to flooding due to its extremely low-lying nature. The activity at Barcelona port will be severely affected by inflow backflow current at the entrance of up to 2 m/s.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Synthesis and Characterization of Templated Ion Exchange Resins for the Selective Complexation of Actinide Ions

The purpose of this research is to develop a polymeric extractant for the selective complexation of uranyl ions (and subsequently other actinyl and actinide ions) from aqueous solutions (lakes, streams, waste tanks and even body fluids). Chemical insights into what makes a good complexation site will be used to synthesize reagents tailor-made for the complexation of uranyl and other actinide ions. These insights, derived from studies of molecular recognition include ion coordination number and geometry, ionic size and ionic shape, as well as ion to ligand thermodynamic affinity. Selectivity for a specific actinide ion will be obtained by providing the polymers with cavities lined with complexing ligands so arranged as to match the charge, coordination number, coordination geometry, and size of the actinide metal ion. These cavity-containing polymers will be produced by using a specific ion (or surrogate) as a template around which monomeric complexing ligands will be polymerized. The complexing ligands will be ones containing functional groups known to form stable complexes with a specific ion and less stable complexes with other cations. Prior investigator's approaches for making templated resins for metal ions have had marginal success. We have extended and amended these methodologies in our work with Pb(II) and uranyl ion, by changing the order of the steps, by the inclusion of sonication, by using higher complex loading, and the selection of functional groups with better complexation constants. This has resulted in significant improvements to selectivity. The unusual shape of the uranyl ion suggests that this approach will result in even greater selectivities than already observed for Pb(II). Preliminary data obtained for uranyl templated polymers shows unprecedented selectivity and has resulted in the first ion selective electrode for uranyl ion

Comparative genomics of European Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC)

Background Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes colibacillosis, which results in significant economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. However, the diversity between isolates remains poorly understood. Here, a total of 272 APEC isolates collected from the United Kingdom (UK), Italy and Germany were characterised using multiplex polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) targeting 22 equally weighted factors covering virulence genes, R-type and phylogroup. Following these analysis, 95 of the selected strains were further analysed using Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS). Results The most prevalent phylogroups were B2 (47%) and A1 (22%), although there were national differences with Germany presenting group B2 (35.3%), Italy presenting group A1 (53.3%) and UK presenting group B2 (56.1%) as the most prevalent. R-type R1 was the most frequent type (55%) among APEC, but multiple R-types were also frequent (26.8%). Following compilation of all the PCR data which covered a total of 15 virulence genes, it was possible to build a similarity tree using each PCR result unweighted to produce 9 distinct groups. The average number of virulence genes was 6-8 per isolate, but no positive association was found between phylogroup and number or type of virulence genes. A total of 95 isolates representing each of these 9 groupings were genome sequenced and analysed for in silico serotype, Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST), and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The UK isolates showed the greatest variability in terms of serotype and MLST compared with German and Italian isolates, whereas the lowest prevalence of AMR was found for German isolates. Similarity trees were compiled using sequencing data and notably single nucleotide polymorphism data generated ten distinct geno-groups. The frequency of geno-groups across Europe comprised 26.3% belonging to Group 8 representing serogroups O2, O4, O18 and MLST types ST95, ST140, ST141, ST428, ST1618 and others, 18.9% belonging to Group 1 (serogroups O78 and MLST types ST23, ST2230), 15.8% belonging to Group 10 (serogroups O8, O45, O91, O125ab and variable MLST types), 14.7% belonging to Group 7 (serogroups O4, O24, O35, O53, O161 and MLST type ST117) and 13.7% belonging to Group 9 (serogroups O1, O16, O181 and others and MLST types ST10, ST48 and others). The other groups (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) each contained relatively few strains. However, for some of the genogroups (e.g. groups 6 and 7) partial overlap with SNPs grouping and PCR grouping (matching PCR groups 8 (13 isolates on 22) and 1 (14 isolates on 16) were observable). However, it was not possible to obtain a clear correlation between genogroups and unweighted PCR groupings. This may be due to the genome plasticity of E. coli that enables strains to carry the same virulence factors even if the overall genotype is substantially different. Conclusions The conclusion to be drawn from the lack of correlations is that firstly, APEC are very diverse and secondly, it is not possible to rely on any one or more basic molecular or phenotypic tests to define APEC with clarity, reaffirming the need for whole genome analysis approaches which we describe here. This study highlights the presence of previously unreported serotypes and MLSTs for APEC in Europe. Moreover, it is a first step on a cautious reconsideration of the merits of classical identification criteria such as R typing, phylogrouping and serotyping

Validation of 3D neutronic-thermalhydraulic coupled codes RELAP5/PARCSv2.7 and TRACEv5.0P3/PARCSv3.0 against a PWR control rod drop transient

[EN] In nuclear safety field, neutronic and thermalhydraulic codes performance is an important issue. New capabilities implementation, as well as models and tools improvements are a significant part of the community effort in looking for better Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) designs. A procedure to analyze the PWR response to local deviations on neutronic or thermalhydraulic parameters is being developed. This procedure includes the simulation of Incore and Excore neutron flux detectors signals. A control rod drop real plant transient is used to validate the used codes and their new capabilities. Cross-section data are obtained by means of the SIMTAB methodology. Detailed thermalhydraulic models were developed: RELAP5 and TRACE models simulate three different azimuthal zones. Besides, TRACE model is performed with a fully 3D core, thus, the cross-flow can be obtained. A cartesian vessel represents the fuel assemblies and a cylindrical vessel the bypass and downcomer. Simulated detectors signals are obtained and compared with the real data collected during a control rod drop trial at a PWR NPP and also with data obtained with SIMULATE-3K code.The authors would like to acknowledge the economic support provided by Centrales Nucleares Almaraz-Trillo (CNAT) and IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción (Iberinco) for the realization of this work, and express their great appreciation to Arturo López, Juan Antonio Bermejo and Alberto Ortego for their valuable collaboration and their willingness to develop this work. This work has also been supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, through the projects NUC-MULTPHYS (ENE2012-34585) and VALIUN-3D (ENE2011-22823), and the Generalitat Valenciana (GVA), through the project PROMETEO II/2014/008.Garcia-Fenoll, M.; Mesado Melia, C.; Barrachina, T.; Miró Herrero, R.; Verdú Martín, GJ.; Bermejo, JA.; López, A.... (2017). Validation of 3D neutronic-thermalhydraulic coupled codes RELAP5/PARCSv2.7 and TRACEv5.0P3/PARCSv3.0 against a PWR control rod drop transient. Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology. 54(8):908-919. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2017.1329035S90891954

Immune Function in Alcoholism: A Controlled Study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66331/1/j.1530-0277.1993.tb00763.x.pd

The role of income inequality and social policies on income-related health inequalities in Europe

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the paper is to examine the role of income inequality and redistribution for income-related health inequalities in Europe. This paper contributes in two ways to the literature on macro determinants of socio-economic inequalities in health. First, it widens the distinctive focus of the research field on welfare state regimes to quantifiable measures such as social policy indicators. Second, looking at income differences completes studies on socio-economic health inequalities, which often analyse health inequalities based on educational differences. METHODS: Using data from the European Values Study (2008/2009), 42 European countries are available for analysis. Country characteristics are derived from SWIID, Eurostat, and ILO and include indicators for income inequality, social policies, and economic performance. The data is analysed by using a two-step hierarchical estimation approach: At the first step—the individual level—the effect of household income on self-assessed health is extracted and introduced as an indicator measuring income-related health inequalities at the second step, the country-level. RESULTS: Individual-level analyses reveal that income-related health inequalities exist all across Europe. Results from country-level analyses show that higher income inequality is significantly positively related to higher health inequalities while social policies do not show significant relations. Nevertheless, the results show the expected negative association between social policies and health inequalities. Economic performance also has a reducing influence on health inequalities. In all models, income inequality was the dominating explanatory effect for health inequalities. CONCLUSIONS: The analyses indicate that income inequality has more impact on health inequalities than social policies. On the contrary, social policies seemed to matter to all individuals regardless of socio-economic position since it is significantly positively linked to overall population health. Even though social policies are not significantly related to health inequalities, the power of public redistribution to impact health inequalities should not be downplayed. Social policies as a way of public redistribution are a possible instrument to reduce income inequalities which would in turn lead to a reduction in health inequalities

Teaching an engine-driven preparation technique to undergraduates: initial observations

Aim This paper describes the initial experiences following the introduction of a rotary engine-driven preparation technique into the undergraduate endodontic programme at the Zurich University Dental Centre. Methods Forty third-year students practised the ProFile .04 (PF .04) technique between January and July 2001 in a preclinical course. Between November 2001 and February 2002, 20 of these students (Group A) root-treated 51 teeth in their clinical course using either PF .04, the balanced force technique (BFT) or a combination of both. The second group of 20 students (Group B) similarly treated another 36 randomly selected teeth between April and July 2002. Types of teeth treated by the students and the canal preparation techniques were recorded. The students also completed a short questionnaire, evaluating their opinions of the new course. Results Of the 87 teeth endodontically treated during the clinical course, 34, 14 and 39 were shaped using PF .04 alone, a combination of PF .04 and BFT and BFT alone, respectively. No rotary instruments were fractured during the 1-year clinical course, although some instruments were fractured during the preclinical laboratory course. Overall, the students rated the rotary technique as positive. Conclusion A rotary technique was successfully introduced into an undergraduate endodontic programme (this will be continued in the foreseeable future). However, the continuity between the preclinical and the clinical courses was poor as a result of the constraints of the general teaching programme