Parallel and Distributed Processing

This paper presents an integrated design system called SPARCS (Synthesis and Partitioning for Adaptive Reconfigurable Computing Systems) for automatically partitioning and synthesizing designs for reconfigurable boards with multiple field-programmable devices (FPGAS). The SPARCS system accepts design specifications at the behavior level, in the form of task graphs. The system contains a temporal partitioning tool to temporally divide and schedule the tasks on the reconfigurable architecture, a spatial partitioning tool to map the tasks to individual FPGAs, and a high-level synthesis tool to synthesize efficient register-transfer level designs for each set of tasks destined to be downloaded on each FPGA. Commercial logic and layout synthesis tools are used to complete logic synthesis, placement, and routing for each FPGA design segment. A distinguishing feature of the SPARCS system is the tight integration of the partitioning and synthesis tools to accurately predict and control design performance and resource utilizations. This paper presents an overview of SPARCS and the various algorithms used in the system, along with a brief description of how a JPEG-like image compression algorithm is mapped to a Multi-FPGA board using SPARCS.N/

A method for data path synthesis using neural networks

Presents a deterministic parallel algorithm to solve the data path allocation problem in high-level synthesis. The method is based on the modified Hopfield neural network model of computation and the McCulloch-Pitts binary neuron model. The proposed algorithm has a running time complexity of O(1) for a neural network with n vertices and c cliques. A sequential simulator was implemented for the proposed algorithm on a Linux Pentium PC under X Windows. Several circuits hare been attempted, all yielding sub-optimal solutions.N/

providing learners with a simple computer model

Computer programming learning/teaching has been an active research area in computer science and engineering. The difficulty level of the teaching/learning process that novices in computer programming report is three-fold, lack of problem solving strategies, misconceptions of code syntax and semantics, and inability to develop an adequate mental model of the machine. This paper examines major difficulties encountered by students taking introductory-level programming courses and it proposes a computer model that sets thresholds for defining basic programming concepts. The study's initial findings suggest that the adoption of the model succeeded significantly in improving students' academic achievement and perception of computer programmingN/

Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering 17

The main loads applied on the drilled shafts are axial compressive loads. It is important to know how many percent of the maximum applied load will be shed in side friction and how much will be transferred to the base. Part of the axial load carrying capacity of the drilled shaft is resisted by the soil below the tip of the shaft which is tip resistance and the other part is resisted by the friction developed around the drilled shaft which is side resistance. The axial capacity of the drilled shaft foundation is influenced by the size of the drilled shaft, and soil characteristics. In this study, the effect of the size and soil characteristic will be investigated on the contribution of side resistance and end bearing capacity. Also, the study presents a three-dimensional finite element modeling of a drilled shaft subjected to axial load using ANSYS12. The top displacement and settlement of the drilled shaft are verified with analytical results. The soil profile is considered as Table 1 and for a drilled shaft with 7 ft diameter and 95 ft length the stresses in z-direction are calculated through the length of the shaft. There is a good agrrement between analythical and fiN/

directions for public health action

Research in the field of eating disorders (ED) is limited in the Middle East. The aim of the present study was to profile Lebanese ED outpatients. A mixed-method design was used. Clinicians across Lebanon filled individual questionnaires about their 2013 ED outpatients (n = 104) and participated in focus groups. Results showed that bulimia nervosa was the most prevalent ED (46.1 %) followed by anorexia nervosa (39.4 %) and binge eating (14.4 %). The emerging socio-demographic profile of the Lebanese ED patient was that of a single female young adult of middle to high socio-economic status with severe ED symptoms (amenorrhea, multiple purging behaviors) and depression. Also, there was a general delay in seeking help which made patient recovery more difficult. The present study emphasizes the critical need for a public health approach to ED awareness and could help in developing preventive and remedial educational programs targeting youth in Lebanon and the Middle East.PublishedN/

Towards efficient evaluation of XACML policies

Policy-based computing is taking an increasing role in providing real-time decisions and governing the systematic interaction among distributed cloud and Web services. XACML has been known as the de facto standard widely used by many vendors for specifying access control and context-aware policies. Accordingly, the size and complexity of XACML policies are significantly growing to cope with the evolution of web-based applications. This growth raised many concerns related to the efficiency of real-time decision process (i.e. policy evaluation). This paper is addressing this concern through the elaboration of SBA-XACML, a novel set-based algebra scheme that provides efficient evaluation of XACML policies. Our approach constitutes of elaborating (1) set-based language that covers all the XACML components and establish an intermediate layer to which policies are automatically converted, and (2) policy evaluation module that provides better performance compared to the industrial standard Sun Policy Decision Point (PDP) and its corresponding ameliorations. Experiments have been conducted on real-life and synthetic XACML policies in order to demonstrate the efficiency, relevance and scalability of our proposition. The experimental results explore that SBA-XACML evaluation of large and small sizes policies offers better performance than the current approaches, by a factor ranging between 2.4 and 15 times faster depending on policy size.N/

Evaluation of the energy policy for Lebanon

The Lebanese Electric Power System (LEPS) suffers from technical and financial deficiencies that required the development of a policy paper to rescue it from its drastic situation to a new sustainable, reliable, and efficient delivery of electricity. An energy policy that includes ten strategic initiatives and 42 action steps that are integrated and correlated to cover the sector's infrastructure, supply/demand, and the legal aspects was proposed and approved by the Government of Lebanon. This paper describes the current technical and financial situation of the LEPS and the need for an energy policy. The stochastic Load Modification Technique (LMT) is then used to assess the impact of implementing the projects proposed in the energy policy on energy production, overall cost, technical and commercial losses, reliability and customer service. The proposed technique is used to establish a technical and financial baseline of the LEPS against which the full implementation of the energy policy is compared and the resulting tariff is calculated.N/

Integrated design and construction planning of a high-rise residential building

The main issues that significantly contribute to problems and delays on construction sites are changing client's view, incomplete design information, and poor site monitoring and control. Although experienced designers and construction managers control or minimize such problems during the design stage, the complexity and amount of the information in a pre-construction project makes such a task very difficult to accomplish effectively. This paper presents an actual case study model for an integrated system which aims at presenting construction activities in 3D using virtual reality. Firstly, the technology enables construction managers to walk through the proposed building, perhaps at different construction time intervals,-giving a vivid appreciation of the whole situation. Secondly, it enables the users to interrogate the building structural elements to present its details progress, thus giving a total virtual structural view of the project. Thirdly, the design effect of any changes in the building configuration can be modeled and visualized, and the cost effect can be calculated. Finally, the system enables virtual models to be shared and, thus, facilitates collaborative global design and construction.N/

The use of semantic-based predicates implication to improve horizontal multimedia database fragmentation

Database fragmentation allows reducing irrelevant data accesses by grouping data frequently accessed together in dedicated segments. In this paper, we address multimedia database fragmentation to take into account the rich characteristics of multimedia objects. We particularly discuss multimedia primary horizontal fragmentation and focus on semantic-based textual predicates implication required as a pre-process in current fragmentation algorithms in order to partition multimedia data efficiently. Identifying semantic implication between similar queries (if a user searches for the images containing a car, he would probably mean auto, vehicle, van or sport-car as well) will improve the fragmentation process. Making use of the neighborhood concept in knowledge bases to identify semantic implications constitutes the core of our proposal. A prototype has been implemented to evaluate the performance of our approach.N/