A pipeline structure for the block QR update in digital signal processing

[EN] There exist problems in the field of digital signal processing, such as filtering of acoustic signals that require processing a large amount of data in real time. The beamforming algorithm, for instance, is a process that can be modeled by a rectangular matrix built on the input signals of an acoustic system and, thus, changes in real time. To obtain the output signals, it is required to compute its QR factorization. In this paper, we propose to organize the concurrent computational resources of a given multicore computer in a pipeline structure to perform this factorization as fast as possible. The pipeline has been implemented using both the application programming interface OpenMP and GrPPI, a library interface to design parallel applications based on parallel patterns. We tackle not only the performance challenge but also the programmability of our idea using parallel programming frameworks.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under MINECO and FEDER projects TIN2014-53495-R and TEC2015-67387-C4-1-R.Dolz, MF.; Alventosa, FJ.; Alonso-Jordá, P.; Vidal Maciá, AM. (2019). A pipeline structure for the block QR update in digital signal processing. The Journal of Supercomputing. 75(3):1470-1482. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-018-2666-1S14701482753Huang Y, Benesty J, Chen J (2006) Acoustic MIMO signal processing (signals and communication technology). Springer, BerlinRamiro C, Vidal AM, González A (2015) MIMOPack: a high performance computing library for MIMO communication systems. J Supercomput 71:751–760Alventosa FJ, Alonso P, Piñero G, Vidal AM (2016) Implementation of the Beamformer algorithm for the NVIDIA Jetson. In: Actas de la Conferencia, Granada, Spain, pp 201–211. ISBN 978-3-319-49955-0Alventosa FJ, Alonso P, Vidal AM, Piñero G, Quintana-Ortí ES (2018) Fast block QR update in digital signal processing. J Supercomput. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-018-2298-5del Rio D, Dolz MF, Fernández J, García JD (2017) A generic parallel pattern interface for stream and data processing. Concurr Comput Pract Exp 29(24):e4175Benesty J, Chen J, Huang Y, Dmochowski J (2007) On microphone-array Beamforming from a MIMO acoustic signal processing perspective. IEEE Trans Audio Speech Lang Process 15(3):1053–1065Lorente J, Piñero G, Vidal AM, Belloch JA, González A (2011) Parallel implementations of Beamforming design and filtering for microphone array applications. In: 19th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), Barcelona, Spain, pp 501–505Belloch JA, Ferrer M, González A, Martínez-Zaldívar FJ, Vidal AM (2013) Headphone-based virtual spatialization of sound with a GPU accelerator. J Audio Eng Soc 61:546–561Belloch JA, González A, Martínez-Zaldívar FJ, Vidal AM (2011) Real-time massive convolution for audio applications on GPU. J Supercomput 58(3):449–457Golub GH, Van Loan CF (2013) Matrix computations. Johns Hopkins studies in the mathematical sciences. Johns Hopkins University Press, BaltimoreGunter BC, van de Geijn RA (2005) Parallel out-of-core computation and updating the QR factorization. ACM Trans Math Softw 31(1):60–78Buttari A, Langou J, Kurzak J, Dongarra J (2009) A class of parallel tiled linear algebra algorithms for multicore architectures. Parallel Comput 35(1):38–53Dolz MF, Alventosa FJ, Alonso-Jordá P, Vidal AM (2018) A pipeline for the QR update in digital signal processing. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computational and Mathematical Methods in Science and Engineering (CMMSE 2018), Rota, Cádiz, Spain, pp 1–5Quintana-Ortí G, Quintana-Ortí ES, Van De Geijn RA, Van Zee FG, Chan E (2009) Programming matrix algorithms-by-blocks for thread-level parallelism. ACM Trans Math Softw 36(3):14:1–14:2

Hipocondría e información tranquilizadora.

Se revisa el rol de la información tranquilizadora como elemento definitorio y terapéutico de la hipocondría. Se indican algunas cuestiones a contemplar en la futura investigación sobre esta temática

Hipocondría e información tranquilizadora.

Se revisa el rol de la información tranquilizadora como elemento definitorio y terapéutico de la hipocondría. Se indican algunas cuestiones a contemplar en la futura investigación sobre esta temática

Relationship between anthropometric parameters, physiological responses, routes and competition results in formula windsurfing

Formula windsurfing is faster than the Olympic version, due to anumber of unique differences. This study was designed to identify the importance of anthropometric and cardiac factors on the final result of the European Formula Windsurf Championships (2007). We selected 45 competitors (30 amateurs and 15 professionals) of 30±9.77 years of age, a height of 182.6±0.06 cm, a weight of 81.67±7.35 kg and a BMIof 24.7±2.1 kg. They were divided into three groups (PG: 15; TG: 45and GPSG: 12). We followed the recommendations of Carter and Marfell-Jones for the anthropometric measurements. The route, speed, distance and heart rate were recorded using an FRWD W600 GPS (Global Positioning System) unit. The anthropometric measurements indicate a professional profile with 2.3±0.4 endomorphy 5±0.8 mesomorphy and 2.4±0.6 ectomorphy. Arm span and fat mass show a significant (p≤0.02) and very significant (p≤0.005) correlation with the final classification. The average speed was 11.84±2.38 km·h–1, the heart rate varied from 128 to 180 b·min–1 and the average was 127.62±13.73 b·min–1. The distances covered (12784.77±5522.19 m) and the times used for the races (2049.3±989.68 s) were very variable. This will assist not only in initial selection for the sport, but also in the design of training programmes which further develop that morphology, where possible, in the pursuit of improved performance

Phase IV open-label study of the efficacy and safety of deferasirox after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

This is the first prospective study of deferasirox in adult allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with transfusional iron overload in hematologic malignancies. Patients at least six months post transplant were treated with deferasirox at a starting dose of 10 mg/kg/day for 52 weeks or until serum ferritin was less than 400 ng/mL on two consecutive occasions. Thirty patients were enrolled and 22 completed the study. A significant reduction from baseline in median serum ferritin and in liver iron concentration at 52 weeks was observed in the overall population: from 1440 to 755.5 ng/mL (P=0.002) and from 14.5 to 4.6 mg Fe/g dw (P=0.0007), respectively. Reduction in serum ferritin in patients who did not discontinue deferasirox therapy was significantly greater than that found in those who prematurely discontinued the treatment (from 1541 to 581 ng/mL vs. from 1416 to 1486 ng/mL; P=0.008). Drug-related adverse events, reported in 17 patients (56.7%), were mostly mild to moderate in severity. There were no drug-related serious adverse events. Twelve patients (40.0%) showed an increase of over 33% in serum creatinine compared to baseline and greater than the upper limit of normal on two consecutive visits. Two patients (6.7%) with active graft-versus-host disease showed an increase in alanine aminotransferase exceeding 10 times upper limit of normal; both resolved. In this prospective study, deferasirox provided a significant reduction in serum ferritin and liver iron concentration over one year of treatment in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with iron overload. In addition, the majority of adverse events related to deferasirox were mild or moderate in severity. (clinicaltrials.gov identifier:01335035)

Treatments used for obsessive-compulsive disorder-An international perspective

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to characterise international trends in the use of psychotropic medication, psychological therapies, and novel therapies used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHODS: Researchers in the field of OCD were invited to contribute summary statistics on the characteristics of their samples. Consistency of summary statistics across countries was evaluated. RESULTS: The study surveyed 19 expert centres from 15 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States) providing a total sample of 7,340 participants. Fluoxetine (n = 972; 13.2%) and fluvoxamine (n = 913; 12.4%) were the most commonly used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications. Risperidone (n = 428; 7.3%) and aripiprazole (n = 415; 7.1%) were the most commonly used antipsychotic agents. Neurostimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, gamma knife surgery, and psychosurgery were used in less than 1% of the sample. There was significant variation in the use and accessibility of exposure and response prevention for OCD. CONCLUSIONS: The variation between countries in treatments used for OCD needs further evaluation. Exposure and response prevention is not used as frequently as guidelines suggest and appears difficult to access in most countries. Updated treatment guidelines are recommended.Peer reviewe

The genome sequence of the highly acetic acid-tolerant zygosaccharomyces bailii-derived interspecies hybrid strain ISA1307, isolated from a sparkling wine plant

In this work, it is described the sequencing and annotation of the genome of the yeast strain ISA1307, isolated from a sparkling wine continuous production plant. This strain, formerly considered of the Zygosaccharomyces bailii species, has been used to study Z. bailii physiology, in particular, its extreme tolerance to acetic acid stress at low pH. The analysis of the genome sequence described in this work indicates that strain ISA1307 is an interspecies hybrid between Z. bailii and a closely related species. The genome sequence of ISA1307 is distributed through 154 scaffolds and has a size of around 21.2 Mb, corresponding to 96% of the genome size estimated by flow cytometry. Annotation of ISA1307 genome includes 4385 duplicated genes (~90% of the total number of predicted genes) and 1155 predicted single-copy genes. The functional categories including a higher number of genes are 'Metabolism and generation of energy', 'Protein folding, modification and targeting' and 'Biogenesis of cellular components'. The knowledge of the genome sequence of the ISA1307 strain is expected to contribute to accelerate systems-level understanding of stress resistance mechanisms in Z. bailii and to inspire and guide novel biotechnological applications of this yeast species/strain in fermentation processes, given its high resilience to acidic stress. The availability of the ISA1307 genome sequence also paves the way to a better understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying the generation and selection of more robust hybrid yeast strains in the stressful environment of wine fermentations.This research was supported by FCT and FEDER through POFC-COMPETE [contracts PEst-OE/EQB/ LA0023/2011_ research line: Systems and Synthetic Biology PTDC/AGR-ALI/102608/2008, PEst-C/BIA/ UI4050/2011, and post-doctoral grant to M.P. (SFRH/BPD/73306/2010) and PhD grants to J.F.G. (SFRH/ BD/80065/2011) and F.C.R. (SFRH/BD/82226/2011)]. U.G. acknowledges the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, special research project F3705)