Pixie: A heterogeneous Virtual Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Array for high performance image processing applications

Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Arrays (CGRAs) enable ease of programmability and result in low development costs. They enable the ease of use specifically in reconfigurable computing applications. The smaller cost of compilation and reduced reconfiguration overhead enables them to become attractive platforms for accelerating high-performance computing applications such as image processing. The CGRAs are ASICs and therefore, expensive to produce. However, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are relatively cheaper for low volume products but they are not so easily programmable. We combine best of both worlds by implementing a Virtual Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Array (VCGRA) on FPGA. VCGRAs are a trade off between FPGA with large routing overheads and ASICs. In this perspective we present a novel heterogeneous Virtual Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Array (VCGRA) called "Pixie" which is suitable for implementing high performance image processing applications. The proposed VCGRA contains generic processing elements and virtual channels that are described using the Hardware Description Language VHDL. Both elements have been optimized by using the parameterized configuration tool flow and result in a resource reduction of 24% for each processing elements and 82% for each virtual channels respectively.Comment: Presented at 3rd International Workshop on Overlay Architectures for FPGAs (OLAF 2017) arXiv:1704.0880

Projeto ExPOSE: criação de protocolos para avaliação da exposição ocupacional ao microbiota em ambientes clínicos

FCT - 02/SAICT/2016 – Project nº 23222Nas últimas décadas, tem sido enfatizada a importância dos bioaerossóis em ambientes interiores, pelos efeitos adversos que causam na saúde humana e consequente impacto na saúde pública. Os hospitais e restantes unidades de saúde, pelas caraterísticas inerentes aos mesmos podem potenciar a contaminação microbiana, pelo que requerem uma atenção e intervenção especial para proteger, não só os pacientes mas também os profissionais de saúde, das infeções associadas aos cuidados de saúde e das doenças profissionais. O projeto ExPOSE tem como objetivo avaliar a exposição dos trabalhadores ao microbiota em unidades de cuidados de saúde e consequente elaboração de orientações para a redução dessa exposição.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Calcitonin substitution in calcitonin deficiency reduces particle-induced osteolysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Periprosthetic osteolysis is a major cause of aseptic loosening in joint arthroplasty. This study investigates the impact of CT (calcitonin) deficiency and CT substitution under in-vivo circumstances on particle-induced osteolysis in <it>Calca </it>-/- mice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used the murine calvarial osteolysis model based on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) particles in 10 C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) mice and twenty <it>Calca </it>-/- mice. The mice were divided into six groups: WT without UHMWPE particles (Group 1), WT with UHMWPE particles (Group 2), <it>Calca </it>-/- mice without UHMWPE particles (Group 3), <it>Calca </it>-/- mice with UHMWPE particles (Group 4), <it>Calca </it>-/- mice without UHMWPE particles and calcitonin substitution (Group 5), and <it>Calca </it>-/- mice with UHMWPE particle implantation and calcitonin substitution (Group 6). Analytes were extracted from serum and urine. Bone resorption was measured by bone histomorphometry. The number of osteoclasts was determined by counting the tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP) + cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Bone resorption was significantly increased in <it>Calca </it>-/- mice compared with their corresponding WT. The eroded surface in <it>Calca </it>-/- mice with particle implantation was reduced by 20.6% after CT substitution. Osteoclast numbers were significantly increased in <it>Calca </it>-/- mice after particle implantation. Serum OPG (osteoprotegerin) increased significantly after CT substitution.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>As anticipated, <it>Calca </it>-/- mice show extensive osteolysis compared with wild-type mice, and CT substitution reduces particle-induced osteolysis.</p

An integrated on-silicon verification method for FPGA overlays

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) gain popularity as higher-level tools evolve to deliver the benefits of re-programmable silicon to engineers and scientists at all levels of expertise. In order to use FPGAs efficiently, new CAD tools and modern architectures are needed for the growing demands of heterogeneous computing paradigms. Overlay architectures have become a popular option to support a variety of high-performance computing applications implemented on heterogeneous computing platforms. However, most of these architectures cannot offer an efficient way to dynamically debug and repair them. In this paper, we propose a superimposed virtual coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture, embedded with on-demand debug and self-healing capabilities. The proposed method automatically creates flexible techniques for in-circuit error detection and correction of generic Processing Elements and Virtual Channels. The debugging infrastructure is integrated in the design with tailor-made CAD tools, making feasible to rapidly debug and repair virtual architectures with minimal use of additional FPGA resources

Towards biological experimentation in microfludic microdroplets

The concept of in vitro compartmentalisation (IVC) in microfluidic microdroplets provides an experimental format for biological experimentation in which individual reactions are partitioned into independent droplet microreactors. The high-hroughput that his format affords (on the order of 108 - 1010) combined with the possibility of analysing the content of these compartments with high accuracy and managing their contents with a high level of control, will enable massively multiplexed assays to be conducted. This paper reviews recent progress in establishing such systems

Influence of germination time and temperature on the properties of rye malt and rye malt based worts

The effects of germination time and temperature on the quality of rye malt and worts derived thereof were investigated using Response Surface Methodology. Amylolytic and proteolytic enzyme activities were increased by long germination periods, while beta-glucanase activity was not influenced. Total and Soluble Nitrogen content were also not significantly affected by the variations in germination conditions. Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN) was found in higher amounts in worts prepared from rye malts with long germination times. Extract contents were higher in rye malt than in the control barley malt and could be increased by a favourable germination regime, while no such impact on wort fermentability was found. High wort viscosities could be significantly reduced by a long germination period at low temperatures, but were still unacceptably high. The same conditions favoured the development of endoxylanase activity. Arabinoxylan (AX) accumulated during the germination process and their extractability increased. The results suggest that longer germination periods resulted in an increased number of AX molecules with lower molecular mass. Optimal rye malt qualities within the limits of this study were found for a germination time of 144 h at 10 degrees C, which resulted in an acceptable FAN content and the lowest measured viscosity. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Confinement of phonon propagation in laser deposited tungsten/polycarbonate multilayers

Abstract Nanoscale multilayer thin films of W and PC (Polycarbonate) show, due to the great difference of the components’ characteristics, fascinating properties for a variety of possible applications and provide an interesting research field, but are hard to fabricate with low layer thicknesses. Because of the great acoustic mismatch between the two materials, such nanoscale structures are promising candidates for new phononic materials, where phonon propagation is strongly reduced. In this article we show for the first time that W/PC-multilayers can indeed be grown with high quality by pulsed laser deposition. We analyzed the polymer properties depending on the laser fluence used for deposition, which enabled us to find best experimental conditions for the fabrication of high-acoustic-mismatch W/PC multilayers. The multilayers were analyzed by fs pump-probe spectroscopy showing that phonon dynamics on the ps time-scale can strongly be tailored by structural design. While already periodic multilayers exhibit strong phonon localization, especially aperiodic structures present outstandingly low phonon propagation properties making such 1D-layered W/PC nano-structures interesting for new phononic applications