bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selection of cell lines resistant to anti-transferrin receptor antibody: evidence for a mutation in transferrin receptor.
Authors: Lesley J F , Schulte R J
Published: September 2015

Some anti-murine transferrin receptor monoclonal antibodies block iron uptake in mouse cell lines and inhibit cell growth. We report here the selection and characterization of mutant murine lymphoma cell lines which escape this growth inhibition by anti-transferrin receptor antibody. Growth assays and immunoprecipitation of transferrin receptor in hybrids between independently derived mutants or between mutants and antibody-susceptible parental cell lines indicate that all of the selected lines have a similar genetic alteration that is codominantly expressed in hybrids. Anti-transferrin receptor antibodies and transferrin itself still bind to the mutant lines with saturating levels and Kd values very similar to those of the parental lines. However, reciprocal clearing experiments by immunoprecipitation and reciprocal blocking of binding to the cell surface with two anti-transferrin receptor antibodies indicate that the mutant lines have altered a fraction of their transferrin receptors such that the growth-inhibiting antibody no longer binds, whereas another portion of their transferrin receptors is similar to those of the parental lines and binds both antibodies. These results argue that the antibody-selected mutant cell lines are heterozygous in transferrin receptor expression, probably with a mutation in one of the transferrin receptor structural genes.
Structure of adenosine deaminase mRNAs from normal and adenosine deaminase-deficient human cell lines.
Authors: Adrian G S , Wiginton D A , Hutton J J
Published: September 2015

The structure of human adenosine deaminase mRNA from normal and mutant lymphoblasts was examined by sequence analysis of a cDNA for normal mRNA and electrophoretic analyses of DNA fragments generated by S1 endonuclease cleavage of mRNA-cDNA hybrids. The 1,533-base sequence of the cloned cDNA represents the complete mRNA sequence with the possible exception of some of the 5' untranslated region. S1 nuclease analyses of hybrids between cloned cDNA and normal adenosine deaminase mRNA confirmed that a 76-base sequence in a previously examined adenosine deaminase cDNA is an intron. S1 nuclease analyses of mRNAs from seven mutant cell lines demonstrated that four of the mutants, those in the GM-2471, GM-2756, GM-4258, and GM-2606 cells, contain small defects, such as single-base changes, that are not detectable by the S1 nuclease technique. Three of the mRNAs, those in GM-3043, GM-2294, and GM-2825A cells, do contain defects detectable with S1 nuclease. These defects differ from each other and have been mapped to specific regions of the mRNA. Some or all of these defective mRNAs are postulated to result from anomalous RNA processing.
Micronuclear DNA of Oxytricha nova contains sequences with autonomously replicating activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Authors: Colombo M M , Swanton M T , Donini P , Prescott D M
Published: September 2015

Oxytricha nova is a hypotrichous ciliate with micronuclei and macronuclei. Micronuclei, which contain large, chromosomal-sized DNA, are genetically inert but undergo meiosis and exchange during cell mating. Macronuclei, which contain only small, gene-sized DNA molecules, provide all of the nuclear RNA needed to run the cell. After cell mating the macronucleus is derived from a micronucleus, a derivation that includes excision of the genes from chromosomes and elimination of the remaining DNA. The eliminated DNA includes all of the repetitious sequences and approximately 95% of the unique sequences. We cloned large restriction fragments from the micronucleus that confer replication ability on a replication-deficient plasmid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sequences that confer replication ability are called autonomously replicating sequences. The frequency and effectiveness of autonomously replicating sequences in micronuclear DNA are similar to those reported for DNAs of other organisms introduced into yeast cells. Of the 12 micronuclear fragments with autonomously replicating sequence activity, 9 also showed homology to macronuclear DNA, indicating that they contain a macronuclear gene sequence. We conclude from this that autonomously replicating sequence activity is nonrandomly distributed throughout micronuclear DNA and is preferentially associated with those regions of micronuclear DNA that contain genes.
Double-stranded RNAs that encode killer toxins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: unstable size of M double-stranded RNA and inhibition of M2 replication by M1.
Authors: Sommer S S , Wickner R B
Published: September 2015

The sizes of M1 and M2 (but not L) change rapidly with growth, varying by perhaps as much as 33%. Size variation is seen within 76 generations. In addition, the exclusion of M2 by M1 or L-A-E [( EXL]) is mediated by inhibition of replication or segregation, not by enhanced degradation of preexisting molecules.
Griseofulvin resistance mutation of Chinese hamster ovary cells that affects the apparent molecular weight of a congruent to 200,000-dalton protein.
Authors: Gupta R S
Published: September 2015

A single-step griseofulvin-resistant mutant (GrsR-4) of CHO cells which exhibit very specific cross-resistance towards certain microtubule inhibitors showed the absence of a protein of molecular weight congruent to 200,000 (designated P5) and the concomitant presence of a new protein spot, M5, of lower molecular weight (Mr congruent to 180,000) which is not present in other cell lines. Peptide mapping studies showed that proteins P5 and M5 are related to each other and that M5 may be missing a peptide fragment present in P5. In GrsR-4 X GrsS cell hybrids, both P5 and M5 were present in equal amounts, which provided evidence against post-translation mechanisms in the origin of M5 and indicated that the GrsR-4 mutant most likely contains a nonsense mutation in the structural gene for protein P5, which causes its premature termination and leads to the formation of M5. Our studies also showed that in different Chinese hamster cell lines the two alleles of the protein P5 are nonidentical and make protein products which differ from each other in isoelectric points. It is suggested that protein P5 and its isoelectric variant P6 may constitute microtubule-associated proteins.
High-resolution mapping of DNase I-hypersensitive sites of Drosophila heat shock genes in Drosophila melanogaster and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Authors: Costlow N , Lis J T
Published: September 2015

High-resolution analysis of the chromatin structure of the promoter regions of five Drosophila heat shock genes showed a similar location for the hypersensitive sequences relative to the start of transcription. For each of the five genes examined--those coding for hsp27, hsp26, hsp23, hsp70, and hsp83--the DNase I-hypersensitive sites in Drosophila melanogaster nuclei mapped to two regions upstream of the coding region. These sites occurred on the average, 115 and 17 base pairs upstream from the start of transcription of the five heat shock genes examined. This latter site corresponded to sequences at or near the TATA consensus sequence. Sites even further upstream of the hsp27, hsp26, and hsp83 genes were also evident. Additionally, for the two genes examined--hsp70 and hsp83--the DNase I-hypersensitive sites were preserved, at least within this level of resolution (+/- 10 base pairs), when the Drosophila genes were integrated into the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. This result indicates that the signals responsible for generating these hypersensitive sites are inherent in the DNA sequences and, in this case, are not highly species specific.
Inhibition of vimentin synthesis and disruption of intermediate filaments in simian virus 40-infected monkey kidney cells.
Authors: Ben-Ze'ev A
Published: September 2015

The organization, synthesis, and phosphorylation of vimentin were studied at various times after infection of monkey kidney cells with simian virus 40. Late after infection (between 36 and 48 h postinfection) there is a dramatic reduction in vimentin synthesis that is paralleled by a specific disruption of the intermediate filament network. At the same time there is no apparent alteration of the organization or the synthesis of the actin-containing filaments and of the microtubules. The inhibition of vimentin synthesis is also reflected by the level of vimentin mRNA activity in the infected cells, as assayed in a cell-free in vitro translation system, and vimentin mRNA concentration as revealed by RNA blot hybridization to cloned vimentin cDNA. The level of vimentin phosphorylation also decreases dramatically but at a much earlier time after infection (between 14 and 24 h postinfection), when mitosis in the infected cells is blocked. Although the decrease in vimentin synthesis in simian virus 40-infected cells is paralleled by the alterations in the organization of the intermediate filament network, the phosphorylation of vimentin correlates with the cell cycle, as it does in other systems. A possible feedback control mechanism of vimentin synthesis by alterations in the organization of the intermediate filament network is discussed.
Mg2+ induces a sharp and reversible transition in U1 and U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein configurations.
Authors: Reveillaud I , Lelay-Taha M N , Sri-Widada J , Brunel C , Jeanteur P
Published: September 2015

When U1 and U2 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) purified by a procedure which preserves their immunoprecipitability by autoimmune antibodies (Hinterberger et al., J. Biol. Chem. 258:2604-2613, 1983), were submitted to extensive digestion with micrococcal nuclease, we found that their degradation pattern was sharply dependent upon magnesium concentration, indicating that they undergo a profound structural modification. At low Mg2+ (less than or equal to 5 mM), both particles only exhibit a core-resistant structure previously identified as being common to all but U6 snRNAs (Liautard et al., J. Mol. Biol. 162: 623-643, 1982). At high Mg2+ (greater than or equal to 7 mM), U1 and U2 snRNPs behave differently from one another. In U1 snRNP, most U1 snRNA sequence is protected, except for the 10 5'-terminal nucleotides presumably involved in splicing and a short sequence between nucleotides 102 and 108. Another region spanning nucleotides 60 to 79 is only weakly protected. This structural modification was demonstrated to be reversible. In U2 snRNP, the U2 snRNA sequence remains exposed in its 5' part up to nucleotide 92, and the 3'-terminal hairpin located outside the core structure becomes protected.
Ingested cylindrical batteries in an incarcerated male: a caustic tale!
Authors: Dunphy Louise , Maatouk Mohamed , Raja Mazhar , O'Hara Richard
Published: September 2015

A 37-year-old incarcerated man presented to the accident and emergency department following the deliberate ingestion of eight cylindrical batteries. He also admitted to inserting a razor blade wrapped in cling-film into his rectum; in addition, he sustained a self-inflicted laceration to his left antecubital fossa, using the metal casing from a battery. His medical history included a borderline and emotionally unstable personality disorder. He had ingested several batteries 12 months previously and required an emergency laparotomy to retrieve them. On the present admission, as there was no clinical evidence of small bowel obstruction, he was treated conservatively with serial radiographs. Following conservative management, the batteries failed to progress through the gastrointestinal tract, hence a laparotomy was performed and all the batteries were extricated. This paper discusses the management and associated sequelae of patients presenting following the intentional ingestion of a battery.
Lens coloboma treated with lens surgery
Authors: Wang Jia-Kang , Ma Sheng-Hsiang
Published: September 2015

A 5-year-old boy was referred to our clinic due to an abnormal visual acuity test at school. His corrected visual acuity was counting fingers in the left eye. A nasal side deficiency of the lens substituted by a membrane was found. Lens coloboma was diagnosed. After making a 3 mm limbal incision, the colobomatous lens was removed by anterior continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis and lens aspiration. Posterior capsulorhexis and anterior vitrectomy on the side of the lens was performed to prevent posterior capsular or anterior hyaloid opacity. As the defect in the lens was very large, intracapsular placement of an intraocular lens was not feasible. A three-piece acrylic soft intraocular lens was placed in the ciliary sulcus. Since amblyopia was diagnosed by poor corrected visual acuity as 20/800 1 month after the operation, occlusion therapy with correcting eyeglasses was started at 6 h a day on the contralateral eye. The patient's corrected visual acuity improved to 20/125 7 months after the operation.
Endoscopic closure of a refractory gastrocutaneous fistula using a novel over-the-scope Padlock clip following de-epithelialisation of the fistula tract
Authors: Abraham Arun , Vasant Dipesh H , McLaughlin John , Paine Peter A
Published: September 2015

Persistent gastrocutaneous fistula (GCF) is a difficult to manage complication following gastrostomy tube removal, with leakage resulting in distressing sequelae including cutaneous injury, infection and dehydration. Many such patients are high-risk for invasive surgery and, to date, endoscopic closure techniques, including clipping systems, have limitations. We present the case of a 62-year-old woman with persistently leaking GCF 6 months postgastrostomy tube removal, despite maximal antisecretory therapy and postpyloric feeding, and describe failed attempted endoscopic closure with conventional clips. Treatment options were discussed and informed consent was given for an attempt at endoscopic closure using a novel radial closure device (‘Padlock clip’) combined with surgical de-epithelialisation, with the understanding that this device has never previously been used in this setting. At follow-up 2 weeks postprocedure, the patient was asymptomatic with complete healing of the GCF. This approach has advantages over other endoscopic closure techniques and can be considered as an alternative approach to GCF closure.
Upper gastrointestinal bleed associated with cholinesterase inhibitor use
Authors: Kok Khoon-Sheng , Loke Yoon , Southgate Jo
Published: September 2015

An 86-year-old man was admitted with a 3-day history of melaena and syncope. He was haemodynamically compromised and anaemic on presentation. His only medical history was mild Alzheimer's disease diagnosed 6 months prior. For this, he was on donepezil, a cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI), with a recent dose increase 3 months earlier. After fluid resuscitation with packed red cells, an endoscopy was performed, which showed an acute duodenal ulcer. This was treated with a high-dose proton pump inhibitor. The patient recovered well and was discharged on donepezil with the addition of a gastro-protective proton pump inhibitor. In view of other absent risk factors of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage, donepezil was the likely causative agent. ChEIs are associated with frequent side effects and increased hospitalisation due to central and peripheral increase in acetylcholine. With this case report, we review the literature of side effects related to ChEIs, where the mechanisms of action, complications and appropriate management are discussed.
Landau-Kleffner syndrome: an uncommon dealt with case in Southeast Asia
Authors: Motwani Naresh , Afsar Suhaim , Dixit Nachiket S , Sharma Nitin
Published: September 2015

An 11-year-old boy was admitted with fever followed by convulsions. He had developed aphasia subsequent to this illness. His birth history was unremarkable, and he had normal growth and development including of language, hearing and vision. His neurological examination was normal except for aphasia. Investigations including cerebrospinal fluid study and MRI were normal. However, EEG was abnormal and the boy was diagnosed as a case of Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) and treated with sodium valproate, levetiracetam and steroids. He responded well to treatment and has been on follow-up for the last 4 months. We present this case of LKS to increase awareness about early diagnosis and to highlight the importance of appropriate management for a better outcome.
Perceived discrimination is associated with health behaviours among African-Americans in the Jackson Heart Study
Authors: Sims Mario , Diez-Roux Ana V , Gebreab Samson Y , Brenner Allison , Dubbert Patricia , Wyatt Sharon , Bruce Marino , Hickson DeMarc , Payne Tom , Taylor Herman
Published: September 2015

Background

Using Jackson Heart Study data, we examined associations of multiple measures of perceived discrimination with health behaviours among African-Americans (AA).

Methods

The cross-sectional associations of everyday, lifetime and burden of discrimination with odds of smoking and mean differences in physical activity, dietary fat and sleep were examined among 4925 participants aged 35–84 years after adjustment for age and socioeconomic status (SES).

Results

Men reported slightly higher levels of everyday and lifetime discrimination than women and similar levels of burden of discrimination as women. After adjustment for age and SES, everyday discrimination was associated with more smoking and a greater percentage of dietary fat in men and women (OR for smoking: 1.13, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.28 and 1.19, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.34; mean difference in dietary fat: 0.37, p<0.05 and 0.43, p<0.01, in men and women, respectively). Everyday and lifetime discrimination were associated with fewer hours of sleep in men and women (mean difference for everyday discrimination: −0.08, p<0.05 and −0.18, p<0.001, respectively; and mean difference for lifetime discrimination: −0.08, p<0.05 and −0.24, p<0.001, respectively). Burden of discrimination was associated with more smoking and fewer hours of sleep in women only.

Conclusions

Higher levels of perceived discrimination were associated with select health behaviours among men and women. Health behaviours offer a potential mechanism through which perceived discrimination affects health in AA.
Forest vertical structure characterization using ground inventory data for the estimation of forest aboveground biomass
Authors: Toraño Caicoya Astor , Kugler Florian , Pretzsch Hans , Papathanassiou Konstantinos
Published: September 2015

A common method for estimating forest biomass is to measure forest height and apply allometric equations. However, changing forest density or structure heterogeneity increases the variability of the known allometric relationship. Here, we investigated the potential of allometric relationships based on vertical forest structure for biomass inversions with a global potential. First, vertical biomass profiles, which were calculated from ground forest inventory data, were used to model forest vertical structure. Then, a vertical structure ratio based on Legendre polynomials was proposed as a structural descriptor and its sensitivity to biomass was evaluated. Finally, we developed a structure-to-biomass inversion expression that could be extrapolated for aboveground biomass estimations. This is a case study based on inventory data from the Traunstein and Ebersberg test sites, two temperate forests located in southeastern Germany with different forest structural conditions. Results from the structure-to-biomass inversion algorithm show a clear improvement with respect to traditional height-to-biomass expressions, with increasing correlation factor (r2) from 0.52 to 0.73 for Traunstein and from 0.51 to 0.76 for Ebersberg and reducing the root mean square errors from 75.32 to 47.56 Mg·ha−1and from 73.25 to 48.31 Mg·ha−1, respectively.
Topology and Bifurcations in Nonholonomic Mechanics
Authors: Bizyaev Ivan A. , Bolsinov Alexey , Borisov Alexey , Mamaev Ivan
Published: September 2015

This paper develops topological methods for qualitative analysis of the behavior of nonholonomic dynamical systems. Their application is illustrated by considering a new integrable system of nonholonomic mechanics, called a nonholonomic hinge. Although this system is nonholonomic, it can be represented in Hamiltonian form with a Lie–Poisson bracket of rank two. This Lie–Poisson bracket is used to perform stability analysis of fixed points. In addition, all possible types of integral manifolds are found and a classification of trajectories on them is presented.
Bifurcation and Traveling Wave Solutions for the Fokas Equation
Authors: Li Jibin , Qiao Zhijun
Published: September 2015

This paper is devoted to discussing bifurcation and traveling wave solutions for the Fokas equation. By investigating the dynamical behavior with phase space analysis, we may derive all possible exact traveling wave solutions, including compactons, cuspons, periodic cusp wave solutions, and smooth solitary wave solutions.
Entanglement time in the primordial universe
Authors: Bianchi Eugenio , Hackl Lucas , Yokomizo N.
Published: September 2015

We investigate the behavior of the entanglement entropy of space in the primordial phase of the universe before the beginning of the cosmic inflation. We argue that in this phase the entanglement entropy of a region of space grows from a zero-law to an area-law. This behavior provides a quantum version of the classical Belinsky–Khalatnikov–Lifshitz (BKL) conjecture that spatially separated points decouple in the approach to a cosmological singularity. We show that the relational growth of the entanglement entropy with the scale factor provides a new statistical notion of arrow of time in quantum gravity. The growth of entanglement in the pre-inflationary phase provides a mechanism for the production of the quantum correlations present at the beginning of inflation and imprinted in the CMB sky.
The equivalence principle in a quantum world
Authors: Bjerrum-Bohr N. E. J. , Donoghue John F. , El-Menoufi Basem Kamal , Holstein Barry R. , Planté Ludovic , Vanhove Pierre
Published: September 2015

We show how modern methods can be applied to quantum gravity at low energy. We test how quantum corrections challenge the classical framework behind the equivalence principle (EP), for instance through introduction of nonlocality from quantum physics, embodied in the uncertainty principle. When the energy is small, we now have the tools to address this conflict explicitly. Despite the violation of some classical concepts, the EP continues to provide the core of the quantum gravity framework through the symmetry — general coordinate invariance — that is used to organize the effective field theory (EFT).
Modeling of Turning Parameters for Inconel 718 Alloy using ANN
Authors: Manohar M. , Selvaraj T. , Sivakumar D. , George Koshy M.
Published: September 2015

For machining a component, it is important to understand the characteristics of work material in order to choose the appropriate cutting tool and to fix a set of machining parameters to achieve optimum output. Analytical models of machining processes require complete understanding of process mechanism and hence are difficult to be developed. Once developed, these models are useful in parametric optimization, process simulation, operation and process planning, process parameter selection, parametric analysis, process performance prediction, verification of the experimental results, and improving the process performance by implementing/incorporating the theoretical findings.

Neural network models associated with artificial intelligence are known as artificial neural networks (ANNs) which are simple mathematical models in the form of defining a function. This work presents the details of the experiments carried out for data acquisition, method of building the ANN models and their validation. These models can be used for predicting the output for a chosen set of input variables or for a specific desired output, finding the set of input variables to be chosen.

This work resulted in developing models for the turning process for Inconel 718 alloy in a scientific manner. It also enables further scope of identifying the optimized set of turning parameters for Inconel 718 material using the newly developed coated carbide tools, achieving quality surface and productivity.
Teach Less Robotic System for Deburring Workpieces of Various Shapes
Authors: Leo Princely F. , Selvaraj T.
Published: September 2015

In the case of conventional industrial robot systems, operators have to write robot-language programs for each type of workpiece. This is an onerous task, especially when each workpiece has a different shape. In this paper, a teaching-less robot system for the finishing of two-dimensional workpieces of various shapes and thicknesses using computer vision is proposed. The robot system does not require shape information for the workpiece to be included in the CAD data or to be input by the operator. Each workpiece shape is acquired by segmenting edges into straight lines and circular arcs from the image data of the workpiece. The robot-language program for each workpiece is generated automatically from the workpiece shape data and finishing condition data. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by experiments using a newly developed robot system. This method provides a compact and inexpensive finishing robot system which reduces the programming timing.
Optimization of EDM Hole Drilling Parameters in Machining of MoSi2-SiC Intermetallic/Composites for Improving Geometrical Tolerances
Authors: Selvarajan L. , Sathiya Narayanan C. , Jeyapaul R.
Published: September 2015

Intermetallic/ceramic composites with multiple responses are based on L18 orthogonal array with gray relational analysis (GRA). This paper presents a new approach for the optimization of drilling parameters on drilling MoSi 2– SiC composites. Optimal machining parameters can then be determined by the gray relational grade as the performance index. In this study, the sparking parameters namely current (I), pulse on time (t on ), pulse off time (t off ), spark gap and dielectric flushing pressure (P) are optimized with considerations of multiple performance characteristics including multi responses such as material removal rate (MRR), electrode wear rate (EWR), circularity (CIR), cylindricity (CYL), perpendicularity (PER). A gray relational grade obtained from the GRA is used to solve the electrical discharge machining (EDM) process with the multiple performance characteristics. Based on the gray relational grade, optimum levels of parameters have been identified and significant contribution of parameters is determined by ANOVA. Confirmation test is conducted to validate the test result. Experimental results have shown that the responses in EDM drilling process can be improved effectively through the new approach.
Dynamic asset allocation for a bank under CRRA and HARA framework
Authors: Perera Ryle S.
Published: September 2015

This paper analyzes an optimal investment and management strategy for a bank under constant relative risk aversion (CRRA) and hyperbolic absolute risk aversion (HARA) utility functions. We assume that the bank can invest in treasuries, stock index fund and loans, in an environment subject to stochastic interest rate and inflation uncertainty. The interest rate and the expected rate of inflation follow a correlated Ornstein–Uhlenbeck processes and the risk premia are constants. Then we consider the portfolio choice under a power utility that the bank's shareholders can maximize expected utility of wealth at a given investment horizon. Closed form solutions are obtained in a dynamic portfolio optimization model. The results indicate that the optimal proportion invested in treasuries increases while the optimal proportion invested in the loans progressively decreases with respect to time.
A note on transforming PDEs to ODEs
Authors: Alghalith M.
Published: September 2015

In this paper, we develop a simple and general method that transforms (nonlinear) PDEs to ODEs. We apply our method to the stochastic portfolio model.
The Table-Hadamard GRNG
Authors: Thomas David B.
Published: September 2015

Gaussian random number generators (GRNGs) are an important component in parallel Monte Carlo simulations using FPGAs, where tens or hundreds of high-quality Gaussian samples must be generated per cycle using very few logic resources. This article describes the Table-Hadamard generator, which is a GRNG designed to generate multiple streams of random numbers in parallel. It uses discrete table distributions to generate pseudo-Gaussian base samples, then a parallel Hadamard transform to efficiently apply the central limit theorem. When generating 64 output samples, the Table-Hadamard requires just 130 slices per generated sample, which is a third of the resources needed by the next best technique, while still providing higher statistical quality.
3D CV Descriptor on Parallel Heterogeneous Platforms
Authors: Palossi Daniele , Ruggiero Martino , Benini Luca
Published: September 2015

Embedded three-dimensional (3D) Computer Vision (CV) is considered a technology enabler for future consumer applications, attracting a wide interest in academia and industry. However, 3D CV processing is a computation-intensive task. Its high computational cost is directly related to the processing of 3D point clouds, with the 3D descriptor computation representing one of the main bottlenecks. Understanding the main computational challenges of 3D CV applications, as well as the key characteristics, enabling features, and limitations of current computing platforms, is clearly strategic to identify the directions of evolution for future embedded processing systems targeting 3D CV.

In this work, an innovative and complex 3D descriptor (called SHOT) has been ported on a high-end and an embedded computing platform. The high-end system is composed by a high-performance Intel CPU coupled with a Nvidia GPU. The embedded platform is, instead, composed by an ARM-based processor, coupled with the STHORM accelerator. STHORM is a many-core low-power accelerator developed by ST Microelectronics, featuring up to 64 computational units. The SHOT descriptor has been parallelized using the OpenCL programming model for both platforms.

Finally, we have performed an in-depth performance comparison and analysis between general-purpose processors and accelerators in both high-end and embedded domains, discussing and highlighting the main differences in the Hardware/Software (HW/SW) design methodologies and approaches between high-end and embedded systems targeting 3D CV applications.
Safety and Progress for Distributed Cyber-Physical Systems with Unreliable Communication
Authors: Bak Stanley , Huang Zhenqi , Abad Fardin Abdi Taghi , Caccamo Marco
Published: September 2015

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) may interact and manipulate objects in the physical world, and therefore formal guarantees about their behavior are strongly desired. Static-time proofs of safety invariants, however, may be intractable for systems with distributed physical-world interactions. This is further complicated when realistic communication models are considered, for which there may not be bounds on message delays, or even when considering that messages will eventually reach their destination.

In this work, we address the challenge of proving safety and progress in distributed CPSs communicating over an unreliable communication layer. We show that for this type of communication model, system safety is closely related to the results of a hybrid system’s reachability computation, which can be computed at runtime. However, since computing reachability at runtime may be computationally intensive, we provide an approach that moves significant parts of the computation to design time. This approach is demonstrated with a case study of a simulation of multiple vehicles moving within a shared environment.
Single-Event Multiple-Transient Characterization and Mitigation via Alternative Standard Cell Placement Methods
Authors: Kiddie Bradley T. , Robinson William H. , Limbrick Daniel B.
Published: September 2015

As fabrication technology scales towards smaller transistor sizes and lower critical charge, single-event radiation effects are more likely to cause errant behavior in multiple, physically adjacent devices in modern integrated circuits (ICs), and with higher operating frequencies, this risk increasingly impacts design logic over memory as well. In order to increase future system reliability, circuit designers need greater awareness of multiple-transient charge-sharing effects during the early stages of their design flow with standard cell placement and routing. To measure the propagation and observability of multiple transients from single radiation events, this work uses several intra-pipeline combinational logic circuits at the 32nm technology node, investigates several different standard cell placements of each design, and analyzes those placements with a novel, physically realistic transient injection and simulation method. It is shown that (1) this simulation methodology, informed by experimental data, provides an increased realism over other works in traditional fault injection fields, (2) different placements of the same circuit where standard cells are grouped by logical hierarchy can result in different reliability behavior and benefits especially useful within the area of approximate computing, and (3) improved reliability through charge-sharing transient mitigation can be gained with no area penalty and minimal speed and power penalties by adjusting the placement of standard cells.
Robust and Low-Power Digitally Programmable Delay Element Designs Employing Neuron-MOS Mechanism
Authors: Zhang Renyuan , Kaneko Mineo
Published: September 2015

The feasibility of designing digitally programmable delay elements (PDEs) employing neuron-MOS mechanism is investigated in this work. By coupling the capacitors on the gate of the MOS transistor, the current flowing through the transistor can be digitally tuned without additional static power consumption. Various switching delays are generated by a clock buffer stage in this manner. Two types of neuron-MOS-based PDEs are suggested in this article. One of them is realized by directly applying capacitor-coupling technology on the transistors of an inverter as a clock buffer. The delay programmability is realized by tuning the charging/discharging current through the neuron-MOS inverter digitally. Since no additional transistor is introduced into the charging/discharging path, the performance fluctuation due to process variations on MOS transistors is reduced. The temperature effect is also partially compensated by the proposed neuron-MOS implementation. Another type of PDE circuit is proposed by employing a reliable reference-current-generator, where the neuron-MOS transistor acts as a linearly tunable resistance. A stable reference current is generated and used for charging/discharging the inverter as a clock buffer. As a result, the switching delay of the inverter is linearly programmed by digital input patterns. In general, both types of suggested PDE circuits achieve improved or fair performances over the robustness, power consumption, and linearity.
Analysis of the Impact of a Tag Recommendation System in a Real-World Folksonomy
Authors: Font Frederic , Serrà Joan , Serra Xavier
Published: September 2015

Collaborative tagging systems have emerged as a successful solution for annotating contributed resources to online sharing platforms, facilitating searching, browsing, and organizing their contents. To aid users in the annotation process, several tag recommendation methods have been proposed. It has been repeatedly hypothesized that these methods should contribute to improving annotation quality and reducing the cost of the annotation process. It has been also hypothesized that these methods should contribute to the consolidation of the vocabulary of collaborative tagging systems. However, to date, no empirical and quantitative result supports these hypotheses. In this work, we deeply analyze the impact of a tag recommendation system in the folksonomy of Freesound, a real-world and large-scale online sound sharing platform. Our results suggest that tag recommendation effectively increases vocabulary sharing among users of the platform. In addition, tag recommendation is shown to contribute to the convergence of the vocabulary as well as to a partial increase in the quality of annotations. However, according to our analysis, the cost of the annotation process does not seem to be effectively reduced. Our work is relevant to increase our understanding about the nature of tag recommendation systems and points to future directions for the further development of those systems and their analysis.
Crenel-Interval-Based Dynamic Power Management for Periodic Real-Time Systems
Authors: Li Guohui , Zhang Yi , Li Jianjun
Published: September 2015

In order to save the energy consumption of real-time embedded systems, the integration of Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) and Device Power Management (DPM) techniques has been well studied. In this article, we propose a new energy management scheme for periodic real-time tasks with implicit deadlines. We mainly focus on the DPM part by presenting a novel approach to the real-time DPM problem. Specifically, we first identify intervals for each device, which we refer to as Crenel Intervals, by partitioning the Earliest Deadline First (EDF) schedule of the tasks that need to access the device into successive intervals. The principle for identifying Crenel Intervals is that for each task, there is only one deadline located in each Crenel Interval. Next, targeting at a single device model and a multiple device model, respectively, we propose the CI-EDF and CI-EDF

m

algorithms to schedule task instances in each Crenel Interval, so as to form long and continuous slacks in each Crenel Interval but without jeopardizing any task deadlines. Then, the slack in the Crenel Intervals can be utilized to perform not only DPM, but also DVFS. The experimental results show that our approaches can achieve considerably more energy savings than existing techniques with comparable quality.
Implementing an Application-Specific Instruction-Set Processor for System-Level Dynamic Program Analysis Engines
Authors: Heo Ingoo , Kim Minsu , Lee Yongje , Choi Changho , Lee Jinyong , Kang Brent Byunghoon , Paek Yunheung
Published: September 2015

In recent years, dynamic program analysis (DPA) has been widely used in various fields such as profiling, finding bugs, and security. However, existing solutions have their own weaknesses. Software solutions provide flexibility in DPA but they suffer from tremendous performance overhead. In contrast, core-level hardware engines rely on specialized integrated logics and attain extremely fast computation, but they have a limited functional extensibility because the logics are tightly coupled with the host processor. To mend this, a prior system-level approach utilizes an existing channel to integrate their hardware without necessitating the host architecture modification and introduced great potential in performance. Nevertheless, the prior work does not address the detailed design and implementation of the engine, which is quite essential to leverage the deployment on real systems. To address this, in this article, we propose an implementation of programmable DPA hardware engine, called program analysis unit (PAU). PAU is an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) whose instruction set is customized to reflect common features of various DPA methods. With the specialized architecture and programmability of software, our PAU aims at fast computation and sufficient flexibility. In our case studies on several DPA techniques, we show that our ASIP approach can be successfully applicable to complex DPA schemes while providing hardware-backed power in performance and software-based flexibility in analysis. Recent experiments on our FPGA prototype revealed that the performance of PAU is 4.7-13.6 times faster than pure software DPA, and the power/area consumption is also acceptably small compared to today's mobile processors.
TCONMAP
Authors: Heyse Karel , Al Farisi Brahim , Bruneel Karel , Stroobandt Dirk
Published: September 2015

Parameterised configurations are FPGA configuration bitstreams in which the bits are defined as functions of user-defined parameters. From a parameterised configuration, it is possible to quickly and efficiently derive specialised, regular configuration bitstreams by evaluating these functions. The specialised bitstreams have different properties and functionality depending on the chosen values of the parameters. The most important application of parameterised configurations is the generation of specialised configuration bitstreams for Dynamic Circuit Specialisation, a technique for optimising circuits at runtime using partial reconfiguration of the FPGA.

Generating and using parameterised configurations requires a new FPGA tool flow. In this article, we present a new technology mapping algorithm for parameterised designs, called TCONMAP, that can be used to produce parameterised configurations in which both the configuration of the logic blocks and routing is a function of the parameters. In our experiments, we demonstrate that in using TCONMAP, the depth and area of the mapped circuit is close to the minimal depth and area attainable. Both Dynamic Circuit Specialisation and fine-grained modular reconfiguration are extracted by TCONMAP from the HDL description of the design requiring only simple parameter annotations.
Impact of Cell Failure on Reliable Cross-Point Resistive Memory Design
Authors: Xu Cong , Niu Dimin , Zheng Yang , Yu Shimeng , Xie Yuan
Published: September 2015

Resistive random access memory (ReRAM) technology is an emerging candidate for next-generation nonvolatile memory (NVM) architecture due to its simple structure, low programming voltage, fast switching speed, high on/off ratio, excellent scalability, good endurance, and great compatibility with silicon CMOS technology. The most attractive of the characteristics of ReRAM is its cross-point structure, which features a 4
F
2
cell size.

In a cross-point structure, the existence of sneak current and resulting voltage loss due to the wire's resistance might cause read and write failures if not designed properly. In addition, a robust ReRAM design needs to deal with both soft and hard errors. In this article, we summarize mechanisms of both soft and hard errors of ReRAM cells and propose a unified model to characterize different failure behaviors. We quantitatively analyze the impact of cell failure types on the reliability of the cross-point array. We also propose an error-resilient architecture, which avoids unnecessary writes in the hard error detection unit. Assuming constant soft error rate, our approach can extend the lifetime of ReRAM up to 75% over a design without hard error detection and up to 12% over the design with a “write-verify” detection mechanism. Our approach yields greater significant lifetime improvement when considering postcycling retention degradation.
Built-In Self-Test and Test Scheduling for Interposer-Based 2.5D IC
Authors: Wang Ran , Chakrabarty Krishnendu , Bhawmik Sudipta
Published: September 2015

Interposer-based 2.5D integrated circuits (ICs) are seen today as a precursor to 3D ICs based on through-silicon vias (TSVs). All the dies and the interposer in a 2.5D IC must be adequately tested for product qualification. We present an efficient built-in self-test (BIST) architecture for targeting defects in dies and in the interposer interconnects. The proposed BIST architecture can also be used for fault diagnosis during interconnect testing. To reduce the overall test cost, we describe a test scheduling and optimization technique under power constraints. We present simulation results to validate the BIST architecture and demonstrate fault detection, synthesis results to evaluate the area overhead of the proposed BIST architecture, and test scheduling results to highlight the effectiveness of the optimization approach.
In-Scratchpad Memory Replication
Authors: Delshadtehrani Leila , Farbeh Hamed , Miremadi Seyed Ghassem
Published: September 2015

Scratchpad memories (SPMs) are widely employed in multicore embedded processors. Reliability is one of the major constraints in the embedded processor design, which is threatened with the increasing susceptibility of memory cells to multiple-bit upsets (MBUs) due to continuous technology down-scaling. This article proposes a low-cost and efficient data replication mechanism, called In-Scratchpad Memory Replication (ISMR), to correct MBUs in SPMs of multicore embedded processors. The main feature of ISMR is a smart controller, called Replication Management Unit (RMU), which is responsible for dynamically analyzing the activity of the SPM blocks at runtime and efficiently replicating the vulnerable SPM blocks into currently inactive SPM blocks. RMU exploits a 2-bit tag for each SPM block, where the value of each tag is determined by RMU according to the SPM access pattern. Accordingly, the proposed mechanism guarantees the replication of all vulnerable SPM blocks to provide error correction without decreasing the SPM utilization. To detect errors in SPM blocks, ISMR uses a 2-bit interleaved-parity code. As compared with the previous E-RAID 1 mechanism, the simulation results illustrate that for an 8-core embedded processor, the ISMR mechanism experiences 81% less energy consumption overhead and 48% less performance overhead.
Analyzing Event-Based Scheduling in Concurrent Reactive Systems
Authors: Jiang Jian-Min , Zhu Huibiao , Li Qin , Zhao Yongxin , Zhao Lin , Zhang Shi , Gong Ping , Hong Zhong
Published: September 2015

The traditional research on scheduling focuses on task scheduling and schedulability analysis in concurrent reactive systems. In this article, we dedicate ourselves to event-based scheduling. We first formally define an event-based scheduling policy and propose the notion of the correctness of a scheduling policy in terms of weak termination. Then we investigate the correctness of the decomposition of scheduling controls and finally obtain a decentralized scheduling method. The method can automatically decompose the scheduling policies of a concurrent reactive system into atomic scheduling policies. Every atomic scheduling policy corresponds to one subsystem. Each of the subsystems is a completely independent system, which may be developed and deployed independently. An experiment demonstrates these results that may help engineers to design correct and efficient schedule policies for a concurrent reactive system.
Reciprocal Drag-and-Drop
Authors: Appert Caroline , Chapuis Olivier , Pietriga Emmanuel , Lobo María-Jesús
Published: September 2015

Drag-and-drop has become ubiquitous, both on desktop computers and touch-sensitive surfaces. It is used to move and edit the geometry of elements in graphics editors, to adjust parameters using controllers such as sliders, or to manage views (e.g., moving and resizing windows, panning maps). Reverting changes made via a drag-and-drop usually entails performing the reciprocal drag-and-drop action. This can be costly as users have to remember the previous position of the object and put it back precisely. We introduce the D
n
D
−1
model that handles all past locations of graphical objects. We redesign the Dwell-and-Spring widget to interact with this history, and explain how applications can implement D
n
D
−1
to enable users to perform reciprocal drag-and-drop to any past location for both individual objects and groups of objects. We report on two user studies, whose results show that users understand D
n
D
−1
, and that Dwell-and-Spring enables them to interact with this model effectively.