144,111 research outputs found
RAxML-Cell: Parallel Phylogenetic Tree Inference on the Cell Broadband Engine
Phylogenetic tree reconstruction is one of the grand challenge
problems in Bioinformatics. The search for a best-scoring tree with 50
organisms, under a reasonable optimality criterion, creates a
topological search space which is as large as the number of atoms in
the universe. Computational phylogeny is challenging even for the most
powerful supercomputers. It is also an ideal candidate for
benchmarking emerging multiprocessor architectures, because it
exhibits various levels of fine and coarse-grain parallelism. In this
paper, we present the porting, optimization, and evaluation of RAxML
on the Cell Broadband Engine. RAxML is a provably efficient, hill
climbing algorithm for computing phylogenetic trees based on the
Maximum Likelihood (ML) method. The algorithm uses an embarrassingly
parallel search method, which also exhibits data-level parallelism and
control parallelism in the computation of the likelihood functions.
We present the optimization of one of the currently fastest tree
search algorithms, on a real Cell blade prototype. We also
investigate problems and present solutions pertaining to the
optimization of floating point code, control flow, communication,
scheduling, and multi-level parallelization on the Cell
A Distributed Sensor Data Search Platform for Internet of Things Environments
Recently, the number of devices has grown increasingly and it is hoped that,
between 2015 and 2016, 20 billion devices will be connected to the Internet and
this market will move around 91.5 billion dollars. The Internet of Things (IoT)
is composed of small sensors and actuators embedded in objects with Internet
access and will play a key role in solving many challenges faced in today's
society. However, the real capacity of IoT concepts is constrained as the
current sensor networks usually do not exchange information with other sources.
In this paper, we propose the Visual Search for Internet of Things (ViSIoT)
platform to help technical and non-technical users to discover and use sensors
as a service for different application purposes. As a proof of concept, a real
case study is used to generate weather condition reports to support rheumatism
patients. This case study was executed in a working prototype and a performance
evaluation is presented.Comment: International Journal of Services Computing (ISSN 2330-4472) Vol. 4,
No.1, January - March, 201
Search and design of nonmagnetic centrosymmetric layered crystals with large local spin polarization
Until recently, spin polarization in nonmagnetic materials was the exclusive territory of noncentrosymmetric structures. It was recently shown that a form of "hidden spin polarization" (named the "Rashba-2" or "R-2" effect) could exist in globally centrosymmetric crystals provided the individual layers belong to polar point group symmetries. This realization could considerably broaden the range of materials that might be considered for spin-polarization spintronic applications to include the hitherto "forbidden spintronic compound" that belongs to centrosymmetric symmetries. Here we take the necessary steps to transition from such general, material-agnostic condensed matter theory arguments to material-specific "design principles" that could aid future laboratory search of R-2 materials. Specifically, we (i) classify different prototype layered structures that have been broadly studied in the literature in terms of their expected R-2 behavior, including the Bi2Se3-structure type (a prototype topological insulator), MoS2-structure type (a prototype valleytronic compound), and LaBiOS2-structure type (a host of superconductivity upon doping); (ii) formulate the properties that ideal R-2 compounds should have in terms of combination of their global unit cell symmetries with specific point group symmetries of their constituent "sectors"; and (iii) use first-principles band theory to search for compounds from the prototype family of LaOBiS2-type structures that satisfy these R-2 design metrics. We initially consider both stable and hypothetical M???OMX2 (M': Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Al, Ga, In, Tl; M: P, As, Sb, Bi; X: S, Se, Te) compounds to establish an understanding of trends of R-2 with composition, and then indicate the predictions that are expected to be stable and synthesizable. We predict large spin splittings (up to ???200meV for holes in LaOBiTe2) as well as surface Rashba states. Experimental testing of such predictions is called for. © 2015 American Physical Society.open0
Deformable Prototypes for Encoding Shape Categories in Image Databases
We describe a method for shape-based image database search that uses deformable prototypes to represent categories. Rather than directly comparing a candidate shape with all shape entries in the database, shapes are compared in terms of the types of nonrigid deformations (differences) that relate them to a small subset of representative prototypes. To solve the shape correspondence and alignment problem, we employ the technique of modal matching, an information-preserving shape decomposition for matching, describing, and comparing shapes despite sensor variations and nonrigid deformations. In modal matching, shape is decomposed into an ordered basis of orthogonal principal components. We demonstrate the utility of this approach for shape comparison in 2-D image databases.Office of Naval Research (Young Investigator Award N00014-06-1-0661
An event-based architecture for solving constraint satisfaction problems
Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) are typically solved using
conventional von Neumann computing architectures. However, these architectures
do not reflect the distributed nature of many of these problems and are thus
ill-suited to solving them. In this paper we present a hybrid analog/digital
hardware architecture specifically designed to solve such problems. We cast
CSPs as networks of stereotyped multi-stable oscillatory elements that
communicate using digital pulses, or events. The oscillatory elements are
implemented using analog non-stochastic circuits. The non-repeating phase
relations among the oscillatory elements drive the exploration of the solution
space. We show that this hardware architecture can yield state-of-the-art
performance on a number of CSPs under reasonable assumptions on the
implementation. We present measurements from a prototype electronic chip to
demonstrate that a physical implementation of the proposed architecture is
robust to practical non-idealities and to validate the theory proposed.Comment: First two authors contributed equally to this wor
The Robo-AO-2 facility for rapid visible/near-infrared AO imaging and the demonstration of hybrid techniques
We are building a next-generation laser adaptive optics system, Robo-AO-2,
for the UH 2.2-m telescope that will deliver robotic, diffraction-limited
observations at visible and near-infrared wavelengths in unprecedented numbers.
The superior Maunakea observing site, expanded spectral range and rapid
response to high-priority events represent a significant advance over the
prototype. Robo-AO-2 will include a new reconfigurable natural guide star
sensor for exquisite wavefront correction on bright targets and the
demonstration of potentially transformative hybrid AO techniques that promise
to extend the faintness limit on current and future exoplanet adaptive optics
systems.Comment: 15 page
Nursery Cities: Urban Diversity, Process Innovation and the Life-Cycle of Products
A simple model of process innovation is proposed, where firms learn about their ideal production process by making prototypes. We build around this a dynamic general equilibrium model, and derive conditions under which diversified and specialised cities coexist. New products are developed in diversified cities, trying processes borrowed from different activities. On finding their ideal process, firms switch to mass-production and relocate to specialised cities with lower costs. When in equilibrium, this configuration welfare-dominates those with only diversified or only specialised cities. We find strong evidence of this relocation pattern in establishment relocations across French employment areas 1993û1996.Cities, diversity, specialisation, innovation, learning, life-cycle
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