Experiences with Implementing Parallel Discrete-event Simulation on GPU

Modern graphics processing units (GPUs) offer much more computational power than recent CPUs by providing a vast number of simple, data-parallel, multithreaded cores. In this study, we focus on the use of a GPU to perform parallel discrete-event simulation. Our approach is to use a modified service time distribution function to allow more independent events to be processed in parallel. The implementation issues and alternative strategies will be discussed in detail. We describe and compare our experience and results in using Thrust and CUB, two open-source parallel algorithms libraries which resemble the C++ Standard Template Library, to build our tool. The experimental results show that our implementation can be two orders of magnitude faster than the sequential simulation for large-scale simulation models

Disordered Fe vacancies and superconductivity in potassium-intercalated iron selenide (K2-xFe4+ySe5)

The parent compound of an unconventional superconductor must contain unusual correlated electronic and magnetic properties of its own. In the high-Tc potassium intercalated FeSe, there has been significant debate regarding what the exact parent compound is. Our studies unambiguously show that the Fe-vacancy ordered K2Fe4Se5 is the magnetic, Mott insulating parent compound of the superconducting state. Non-superconducting K2Fe4Se5 becomes a superconductor after high temperature annealing, and the overall picture indicates that superconductivity in K2-xFe4+ySe5 originates from the Fe-vacancy order to disorder transition. Thus, the long pending question whether magnetic and superconducting state are competing or cooperating for cuprate superconductors may also apply to the Fe-chalcogenide superconductors. It is believed that the iron selenides and related compounds will provide essential information to understand the origin of superconductivity in the iron-based superconductors, and possibly to the superconducting cuprates

To Enhance the Fire Resistance Performance of High-Speed Steel Roller Door with Water Film System

The structure of high-speed roller door with water film has improved in this study. The flameproof water film system is equipped with a water circulating device to reduce the water consumption of water film system. The water film is generated at the roller box of the high-speed roller door in this study. The heating test is done with the full-scale heating furnace. Both cases of the water film on unexposed surface and water film on exposed surface passed the fire resistance test based on ISO 834, proving that the high-speed roller door with water film system has 120A fire resistance period. The main findings indicate that the water film on exposed surface shows that as the amount of water film evaporated by high temperature inside the furnace must be greater than the evaporation capacity of water film on unexposed surface, the required water supply is 660 L more than the water film on unexposed surface

The relationship between psychological states and health perception in individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease

© 2019 Lee et al. Backgrounds: Perceptions of health are important to motivate people to change behaviors. Non-adherence to healthy behaviors that prevent cardiovascular disease may result from inadequate health perceptions. However, there are few studies investigating relationships between health perceptions and psychological states. Objective: To determine whether psychological states (ie, depressive symptoms and anxi-ety) are associated with the congruency between health perception and estimated risk for cardiovascular disease in adults with 2 or more cardiovascular disease risk factors. Methods: Community dwellers at risk for cardiovascular disease were asked to complete the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the anxiety subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory to measure depressive symptoms and anxiety, respectively. Participants rated their perceived health from excellent to poor. The estimated cardiovascular disease risks were measured with the 10-year cardiovascular disease Framingham risk scores. Participants were grouped into three health perception groups based on congruency between levels of health perception and cardiovascular disease risk. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression was done to examine the association between psychological states and health perception groups. Results: Of 828 participants 54.7%, 12.0%, and 33.3% had congruent, pessimistically biased, and optimistically biased health perception, respectively. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with pessimistic bias (adjusted odds ratio: 1.070, 95% confidence interval 1.010–1.133), but not anxiety. Optimistic bias was not associated with either depressive symptoms or anxiety. Conclusions: A mismatch between individual health perceptions and cardiovascular disease risks was associated with depressive symptoms. As health perception is affected by depressive symptoms, clinicians should assess depressive symptoms when exploring health perceptions and engaging individuals in decision-making about a healthy lifestyle

Coenzyme Q0 from Antrodia cinnamomea

We investigated the anticancer effects of Antrodia cinnamomea, a medicinal mushroom from Taiwan, on A549 human lung cancer cells using the ethyl acetate extract from submerged culture filtrates. Our results showed that 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (coenzyme Q0; CoQ0) derived from A. cinnamomea submerged culture filtrates has anticancer activity. CoQ0 treatment reduced the viability of A549, HepG2, and SW480 cancer cell lines. Furthermore, CoQ0 induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and apoptosis in A549 cells, which was inhibited by the antioxidant ascorbic acid. To our knowledge, these data demonstrate for the first time that CoQ0 derived from A. cinnamomea submerged culture filtrates exerts its anticancer effect through the induction of ROS-mediated apoptosis in A549 human lung cancer cells

An Interval Type-2 Fuzzy System with a Species-Based Hybrid Algorithm for Nonlinear System Control Design

We propose a species-based hybrid of the electromagnetism-like mechanism (EM) and back-propagation algorithms (SEMBP) for an interval type-2 fuzzy neural system with asymmetric membership functions (AIT2FNS) design. The interval type-2 asymmetric fuzzy membership functions (IT2 AFMFs) and the TSK-type consequent part are adopted to implement the network structure in AIT2FNS. In addition, the type reduction procedure is integrated into an adaptive network structure to reduce computational complexity. Hence, the AIT2FNS can enhance the approximation accuracy effectively by using less fuzzy rules. The AIT2FNS is trained by the SEMBP algorithm, which contains the steps of uniform initialization, species determination, local search, total force calculation, movement, and evaluation. It combines the advantages of EM and back-propagation (BP) algorithms to attain a faster convergence and a lower computational complexity. The proposed SEMBP algorithm adopts the uniform method (which evenly scatters solution agents over the feasible solution region) and the species technique to improve the algorithm’s ability to find the global optimum. Finally, two illustrative examples of nonlinear systems control are presented to demonstrate the performance and the effectiveness of the proposed AIT2FNS with the SEMBP algorithm

Continuous Production of Lipase-Catalyzed Biodiesel in a Packed-Bed Reactor: Optimization and Enzyme Reuse Study

An optimal continuous production of biodiesel by methanolysis of soybean oil in a packed-bed reactor was developed using immobilized lipase (Novozym 435) as a catalyst in a tert-butanol solvent system. Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box-Behnken design were employed to evaluate the effects of reaction temperature, flow rate, and substrate molar ratio on the molar conversion of biodiesel. The results showed that flow rate and temperature have significant effects on the percentage of molar conversion. On the basis of ridge max analysis, the optimum conditions were as follows: flow rate 0.1 mL/min, temperature 52.1°C, and substrate molar ratio 1 : 4. The predicted and experimental values of molar conversion were 83.31 ± 2.07% and 82.81 ± .98%, respectively. Furthermore, the continuous process over 30 days showed no appreciable decrease in the molar conversion. The paper demonstrates the applicability of using immobilized lipase and a packed-bed reactor for continuous biodiesel synthesis

High serum levels of procalcitonin and soluble TREM-1 correlated with poor prognosis in pulmonary tuberculosis

SummaryObjectivesComparisons of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) would expand our knowledge of which biomarker is the best predictor for outcomes of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 243 PTB patients, in whom PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 measurement were performed to evaluate their prognostic value for 6-month mortality.ResultsSerum PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 levels on diagnosis of PTB were significantly higher in nonsurvivors (2.22 ± 6.22 vs. 0.13 ± 0.31 ng/mL, P = 0.043; 42.1 ± 59.4 vs. 12.5 ± 29.1 mg/L, P = 0.004; 332 ± 362 vs. 128 ± 98 pg/mL, P = 0.001, respectively) as compared with 6-month survivors. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, PCT ≧0.5 ng/mL (hazard ratio 4.13, 95% CI, 1.99–8.58) and sTREM-1 ≧129 pg/mL (hazard ratio 3.39, 95% CI, 1.52–7.58) remained independent mortality predictors. Serum PCT and sTREM-1 levels above the cutoffs were also associated with the presence of disseminated tuberculosis.ConclusionsAmong PTB patients, higher PCT, CRP, and sTREM-1 levels are observed in nonsurvivors than in 6-month survivors. Serum levels of PCT and sTREM-1 over the cutoffs are independently associated with a poor outcome. In addition, higher PCT and sTREM-1 levels would raise the clinical suspicion of disseminated tuberculosis

Japanese encephalitis virus induces matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression via a ROS/c-Src/PDGFR/PI3K/Akt/MAPKs-dependent AP-1 pathway in rat brain astrocytes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection is a major cause of acute encephalopathy in children, which destroys central nervous system (CNS) cells, including astrocytes and neurons. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 has been shown to degrade components of the basal lamina, leading to disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and to contribute to neuroinflammatory responses in many neurological diseases. However, the detailed mechanisms of JEV-induced MMP-9 expression in rat brain astrocytes (RBA-1 cells) are largely unclear.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, the effect of JEV on expression of MMP-9 was determined by gelatin zymography, western blot analysis, RT-PCR, and promoter assay. The involvement of AP-1 (c-Jun and c-Fos), c-Src, PDGFR, PI3K/Akt, and MAPKs in these responses were investigated by using the selective pharmacological inhibitors and transfection with siRNAs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we demonstrate that JEV induces expression of pro-form MMP-9 via ROS/c-Src/PDGFR/PI3K/Akt/MAPKs-dependent, AP-1 activation in RBA-1 cells. JEV-induced MMP-9 expression and promoter activity were inhibited by pretreatment with inhibitors of AP-1 (tanshinone), c-Src (PP1), PDGFR (AG1296), and PI3K (LY294002), and by transfection with siRNAs of c-Jun, c-Fos, PDGFR, and Akt. Moreover, JEV-stimulated AP-1 activation was inhibited by pretreatment with the inhibitors of c-Src, PDGFR, PI3K, and MAPKs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From these results, we conclude that JEV activates the ROS/c-Src/PDGFR/PI3K/Akt/MAPKs pathway, which in turn triggers AP-1 activation and ultimately induces MMP-9 expression in RBA-1 cells. These findings concerning JEV-induced MMP-9 expression in RBA-1 cells imply that JEV might play an important role in CNS inflammation and diseases.</p