Energy-efficient acceleration of MPEG-4 compression tools

We propose novel hardware accelerator architectures for the most computationally demanding algorithms of the MPEG-4 video compression standard-motion estimation, binary motion estimation (for shape coding), and the forward/inverse discrete cosine transforms (incorporating shape adaptive modes). These accelerators have been designed using general low-energy design philosophies at the algorithmic/architectural abstraction levels. The themes of these philosophies are avoiding waste and trading area/performance for power and energy gains. Each core has been synthesised targeting TSMC 0.09 μm TCBN90LP technology, and the experimental results presented in this paper show that the proposed cores improve upon the prior art

Towards an optimised VLSI design algorithm for the constant matrix multiplication problem

The efficient design of multiplierless implementations of constant matrix multipliers is challenged by the huge solution search spaces even for small scale problems. Previous approaches tend to use hill-climbing algorithms risking sub-optimal results. The proposed algorithm avoids this by exploring parallel solutions. The computational complexity is tackled by modelling the problem in a format amenable to genetic programming and hardware acceleration. Results show an improvement on state of the art algorithms with future potential for even greater savings

Californians Newly Eligible for Medi-Cal Under Health Care Reform

Examines the size of the population that will be newly eligible for Medi-Cal under the 2010 healthcare reform and their demographic and other characteristics, including health status and access to health care. Considers implications

Why moderate Republicans should both fear and look forward to the 2020 election

For moderate Republicans, this year’s election has been a disaster. The GOP nominee, Donald Trump, has been promoting xenophobic, racist policies, and his nearest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, is an arch-conservative. With 2016 written off, do moderate Republicans have any reasons to be cheerful about the 2020 election? Rory Kinane gives five reasons why they might be, and five more reasons why 2020 could be another bad year for the moderate wing of the GOP

FPGA-based conformance testing and system prototyping of an MPEG-4 SA-DCT hardware accelerator

Two FPGA implementations of a shape adaptive discrete cosine transform (SA-DCT) accelerator are presented in this paper: one PCI-based and the other AMBA-based. The former is used for conformance testing with the MPEG-4 standard requirements. The latter is an alternative platform for system prototyping and has an architecture more representative of a mobile device. The proposed accelerator meets real time constraints on both platforms with a gate count of approximately 40k, and outperforms the optimised reference software implementation by 20/spl times/. It is estimated that the accelerator consumes 250mW on a Virtex-E FPGA and 79mW on a Virtex-II FPGA in the worst case scenario

Who Can Participate in the California Health Benefit Exchange?: A Profile of Subsidy-Eligible Uninsured and Individually Insured

Examines the size of the population that will be eligible for subsidies in the state health insurance exchange and their demographic and other characteristics, including health status and healthcare utilization. Considers implications

The New Politics of US Health Care Prices: Institutional Reconfiguration and the Emergence of All-Payer Claims Databases

Prices are a significant driver of health care cost in the United States. Existing research on the politics of health system reform has emphasized the limited nature of policy entrepreneurs’ efforts at solving the problem of rising prices through direct regulation at the state level. Yet this literature fails to account for how change agents in the states gradually reconfigured the politics of prices, forging new, transparency-based policy instruments called all-payer claims databases (APCDs), which are designed to empower consumers, purchasers, and states to make informed market and policy choices. Drawing on pragmatist institutional theory, this article shows how APCDs emerged as the dominant model for reforming health care prices. While APCD advocates faced significant institutional barriers to policy change, we show how they reconfigured existing ideas, tactical repertoires, and legal-technical infrastructures to develop a politically and technologically robust reform. Our analysis has important implications for theories of how change agents overcome structural barriers to health reform

How periodontal disease may contribute to cardiovascular disease

No abstract available

Efficient hardware architectures for MPEG-4 core profile

Efficient hardware acceleration architectures are proposed for the most demandingMPEG-4 core profile algorithms, namely; texture motion estimation (TME), binary motion estimation (BME)and the shape adaptive discrete cosine transform (SA-DCT). The proposed ME designs may also be used for H.264, since both architectures can handle variable block sizes. Both ME architectures employ early termination techniques that reduce latency and save needless memory accesses and power consumption. They also use a pixel subsampling technique to facilitate parallelism, while balancing the computational load. The BME datapath also saves operations by using Run Length Coded (RLC) pixel addressing. The SA-DCT module has a re-configuring multiplier-less serial datapath using adders and multiplexers only to improve area and power. The SA-DCT packing steps are done using a minimal switching addressing scheme with guarded evaluation. All three modules have been synthesised targeting the WildCard-II FPGA benchmarking platform adopted by the MPEG-4 Part9 reference hardware group

Superconductivity-driven magnetization modulation in YBa2Cu3O7-{\delta} /SrTiO3/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 heterostructures

Using spin polarized neutron reflectivity experiments, we demonstrate an unusual proximity behaviour when the superconductor (SC) and the ferromagnet (FM) are coupled through an insulator (I) in YBa2Cu3O7-{\delta} (SC)/SrTiO3 (I)/La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (FM) heterostructures. We have observed an unexpected magnetic modulation at the interface region of the FM below the superconducting transition temperature. The magnetization of the FM layer at the I/FM interface was drastically reduced as compared to the magnetization in the rest of the FM layer. This result indicates that the Cooper pairs tunnel across the insulator and interact with the local magnetization at the interface region (extending ~ 30 {\AA}) of the FM causing modification of the magnetization at the interface. This unexpected magnetic behavior cannot be explained on the basis of the existing theoretical models. However, the length scale associated here clearly suggests the long range proximity effect as a result of tunneling of Cooper pairs.Comment: 6 figure