High-Precision Numerical Simulations of Rotating Black Holes Accelerated by CUDA

Hardware accelerators (such as Nvidia's CUDA GPUs) have tremendous promise for computational science, because they can deliver large gains in performance at relatively low cost. In this work, we focus on the use of Nvidia's Tesla GPU for high-precision (double, quadruple and octal precision) numerical simulations in the area of black hole physics -- more specifically, solving a partial-differential-equation using finite-differencing. We describe our approach in detail and present the final performance results as compared with a single-core desktop processor and also the Cell BE. We obtain mixed results -- order-of-magnitude gains in overall performance in some cases and negligible gains in others.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, Accepted for publication in the International Conference on High Performance Computing Systems (HPCS 2010

Comparison Genomics of Oryza rufipogon Chromosome Eight Centromere with Other Species Centromeres

Centromeres are playing a key role in proper segregation of sister chromatids during mitosis and meiosis. At the centromere region in the chromosome, spindle microtubules attached to the kinetochores that direct the chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis. Although centromeric function is conserved among different organisms, there is no conservation of centromeric DNA sequences ranging from budding yeast which has a consensus sequence of approximately 125 base pairs (bp) on each chromosome to Caenorhabditis elegans species which has a holocentric centromere that spans the entire chromosome. However, there are some common proteins that form the kinetochore, such as CENH3 and CENP-C. In this study, wild rice (Oryza ruflpogon) chromosome 8 centromere fragments were compared to all the domesticate rice {Oryza sativa ssp japónica) chromosome centromeres, Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5 centromere, Lycopersicon esculentum chromosome 12 centromere, and Dictyostelium discoideum chromosome centromere. Annotation results of all the genomes suggest that many of the structural aspects parallel in both the species of the rice centromeres. For example, both wild rice fragments and domesticated rice chromosome centromere sequences found to share their GC contents in between 40-45%. The Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 5 centromere, the Lycopersicon esculentum chromosome 12 centromere, and the Dictyostelium discoideum chromosome centromere had less structural similarities with the Oryza rufipogon chromosome 8 centromere. Further, annotation of the wild rice fragments and the domesticated rice genome revealed that both the species had the cento satellite repeats and Ty3/gypsy retrotransposons

ARACHIDONIC ACID REVERSES THE PYRIPROXYFEN AND IBUPROFEN INDUCED TOXICITY IN DAPHNIA MAGNA

Healthy reproduction and neonatal sex ratios of Daphnia are crucial to the health of the aquatic ecosystems in which Daphnia play principal roles in trophic transfer of nutrients. Combinations of environmental factors such as availability and quality of diet, overcrowding, hypoxia, reduced photoperiods and fall in ambient temperatures perturb normal parthenogeneic reproduction and induce sexual reproduction through male production. Male production provides a mechanism for overcoming specific stressors such as overcrowding and overwinter pond desiccation. However, it also induces a decrease in the Daphnia population that could have adverse implications on the pond ecosystem that depend on Daphnia . Interestingly, Daphnia exhibit great phenotypic and reproductive plasticity in response to different environmental stressors. I hypothesized that arachidonic acid (AA), a dietary ω-6 fatty acid that accumulates in the ovary of Daphnia influences Daphnia reproduction and is important in counteracting the male production effects induced by environmental stressors. In this study, I investigated the male production effects of a juvenile hormone analog, the insecticide pyriproxyfen in Daphnia magna and examined how a diet rich or poor in arachidonic acid influences overall fecundity and amelioration of pyriproxyfen mediated sex ratio. Further investigation is focused on the novel nuclear hormone receptor HR97g. Based on higher expression of HR97g in the ovaries of mature Daphnia and inhibition by arachidonic acid in vitro, I thought that interactions of AA and HR97g are important in regulation of neonatal sex ratios. However, HR97g is only partially activated by pyriproxyfen in vivo and the significance of their interaction needs to be determined. In addition, AA is metabolized to eicosanoids and I hypothesized that these molecules may play a role in male production. However, ibuprofen inhibition of AA did not perturb male production, but it did induce selective developmental abnormalities. In conclusion, pyriproxyfen is a juvenile hormone pesticide that induces male production in a time-dependent manner, and AA can in part ameliorate this activity as a potent dietary activator of fecundity

Effect of various dentin disinfection protocols on the bond strength of resin modified glass ionomer restorative material

Disinfection of dentin surface prior to any restorative therapy is important for the longevity of the treatment rendered. However, these dentin disinfection methods should itself not interfere with the adhesion of the restorative material. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the effect of various dentin disinfection protocols on the shear bond strength (SBS) of resin modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC). The occlusal surface of 40 extracted premolars were trimmed to obtain a flat dentinal surface and was randomly divided into four groups. CTRL was the control group; NaOCl was 1% sodium hypochlorite disinfection group; CHX was 2% chlorhexidine disinfection group; and PAD was the photo-activated disinfection group. Then a predetermined dimension of RMGIC was bonded to the pre-treated dentin surfaces. Following this, each sample was tested for SBS using universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5mm/min. Among the test groups, CHX showed the least reduction in SBS and NaOCl the highest reduction in SBS as compared to the control group. PAD on the other hand showed significantly lower SBS than CTRL and CHX groups, but the values were higher than the NaOCl group. Thus, it could be concluded from the present study that use of chlorhexidine based dentin disinfection does interfere with the adhesion of RMGIC. However, photo-activated disinfection should be done with caution. Moreover, sodium hypochlorite based disinfectants should be avoided prior to the use of RMGIC

Comparative Evaluation of Flexural Strength of Two Newer Composite Resin Materials: An in Vitro Study

Objective: To evaluate in vitro the flexural strength of two newer composite resin materials. Material and Methods: Twenty-four samples were equally divided into two groups: G1 - Brilliant EverGlow and G2: Brilliant NG. The rectangular blocks of 25 mm in length, 2 mm in width and thickness were prepared from two composite materials. Blocks were created by applying composites to a customized split mold and formed between two parallel glass plates. Before light-curing, blocks were covered with Mylar strips and rinsed for 10 seconds in water. Subsequently, they were stored in distilled water for 24 hours at 37ºC and 100% humidity before testing. Each sample was placed within a suitable framework of aluminum. The length of gap between the support was 21 mm and the speed of crosshead at 1 mm/minute. The data were subjected to an independent t-test. The level of significance was set at p <0.05. Results: A less flexural strength was observed in G1 (77.43 Mpa) compared to G2 (118.70 Mpa) (p<0.001). Conclusion: Universal nanohybrid composite resin material was found to have greater flexural strength than universal submicron hybrid composite material

Late-time Kerr tails: generic and non-generic initial data sets, "up" modes, and superposition

Three interrelated questions concerning Kerr spacetime late-time scalar-field tails are considered numerically, specifically the evolutions of generic and non-generic initial data sets, the excitation of "up" modes, and the resolution of an apparent paradox related to the superposition principle. We propose to generalize the Barack-Ori formula for the decay rate of any tail multipole given a generic initial data set, to the contribution of any initial multipole mode. Our proposal leads to a much simpler expression for the late-time power law index. Specifically, we propose that the late-time decay rate of the $Y_{\ell m}$ spherical harmonic multipole moment because of an initial $Y_{\ell' m}$ multipole is independent of the azimuthal number $m$, and is given by $t^{-n}$, where $n=\ell'+\ell+1$ for $\ell<\ell'$ and $n=\ell'+\ell+3$ for $\ell\ge\ell'$. We also show explicitly that the angular symmetry group of a multipole does not determine its late-time decay rate.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables. Substantially revised manuscrip

A gestural human computer interface for Smart Health

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on March 19, 2013Thesis advisor: Deendayal DinakarpandianVitaIncludes bibliographic references (p. 97-100)Thesis (M.S.)--School of Computing and Engineering. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2013For centuries, man was forced to live a highly active lifestyle with food being a precious commodity. Technological advances in the past few decades have resulted in increasingly sedentary lifestyles and a surfeit of calorie dense foods. This has resulted in a global epidemic of obesity and a host of associated health problems. One way to address this problem is to incorporate a higher level of physical activity into the workday. The objective of this thesis is to design a low cost gestural human computer interface for the recognition of vigorous gestures. We demonstrate that an action vocabulary of eight intuitive gestures can be recognized by the use of inexpensive accelerometers and a computationally simple approach involving Principal Component Analysis and Naïve Bayes classification. The accuracy is comparable to more computationally intensive approaches. The actions can be mapped to commands for controlling commonly used applications like e-mail and customized to individual preferences. There is a significant rise in pulse rate during these actions comparable to light aerobic activity. This has the potential to mitigate the harmful effects of sedentary work habits by raising the rate of metabolism with minimal impact on productivity.Introduction -- Related work -- Model for gesture recognition -- Application -- Implementation -- Evaluation of gestural human computer interface for Smart Health -- Conclusion and future wor

Prophylactic use of tranexamic acid for reducing postpartum hemorrhage in vaginal delivery

Background: The use of anti-fibrinolytic therapy has potential to reduce obstetric blood loss due to profound changes that take place in the fibrinolytic system during normal childbirth. Objective was to evaluate the efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) during normal labour.Methods: Patients who planned for normal delivery and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study. The pre-delivery parameters -pulse rate, blood pressure, Hb gm% and PCV% were measured for each patient. The study group received injection oxytocin (10 IU) and injection tranexamic acid (500 mg) slow intravenous route. The control group received injection oxytocin (10 IU) and placebo injection. Immediately after delivery of the anterior shoulder of the baby, when all the liquor was drained, Brasse-V drape is placed under the patient. Then the patient was given pre-weighed pads, which were weighed 2 hours post-partum. Final blood loss was calculated by combining amount of blood collected in the drape and blood absorbed by the pads.Results: The total number of patients studied was 300- equally distributed in both the groups. There was a significant increase in the pulse rate and decrease in blood pressure in the control group compared to the study group. The post-delivery haemoglobin and haematocrit were significantly reduced in the control group. The blood loss was significantly low in the study group. The need for other uterotonics, blood transfusion, and duration of hospital stay, were significantly low in study group.Conclusions: Tranexamic acid, when given prophylactically to the women with vaginal delivery who received prophylactic oxytocin, appears to reduce the blood loss effectively compared to placebo alone

Haemostatic agents on the shear bond strength of self-adhesive resin

Background: Dentin surface contaminated with haemostatic agents can interfere with the bonding of self-adhesive resin cement. Therefore the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of various haemostatic agents such as Aluminium chloride, Ferric sulphate and Tannic acid on the shear bond strength of self-adhesive resin luting agent. Material and Methods: The buccal surfaces of extracted premolars were flattened to expose the dentine. The teeth were then randomly divided into four groups. In Group I Aluminium Chloride was applied on the flattened dentinal surface, in Group II Ferric Sulphate was applied to exposed dentin surface, in Group III tannic acid was applied on to the dentinal surface, and the control group, i.e. Group IV was rinsed with saline. After the surface treatment, all the teeth were air dried. Then a predetermined dimension of RelyX™ U200 self-adhesive resin cement was bonded to the pretreated dentin surfaces. The samples were then stored under 37 0 C in distilled water for 24 hours under 100 % humidity. Following this each sample was tested for shear bond strength with an Instron testing machine at a crosshead speed of 1mm/min. Results: There was significant difference in the shear bond strength of control and tannic acid contaminated group ( p <0.05), whereas there was no significant differences between the shear bond strength between control and aluminium chloride and ferric sulphate groups ( p >0.05). Conclusions: The usage of haemostatic agent can negatively affect the bond strength of self-adhesive resin cement (Rely X) on to the dentin surface. As per the study Tannic acid significantly weakened the bond between the self- adhesive resin and denti