Concurrent Application Bias Scheduling for Energy Efficiency of Heterogeneous Multi-Core platforms

Minimizing energy consumption of concurrent applications on heterogeneous multi-core platforms is challenging given the diversity in energy-performance profiles of both the applications and hardware. Adaptive learning techniques made the exhaustive Pareto-optimal space exploration practically feasible to identify an energy-efficient configuration. The existing approaches consider a single application's characteristic for optimizing energy consumption. However, an optimal configuration for a given single application may not be optimal when a new application arrives. Although some related works do consider concurrent applications scenarios, these approaches overlook the weight of total energy consumption per application, restricting those from prioritizing among applications. We address this limitation by considering the mutual effect of concurrent applications on system-wide energy consumption to adapt resource configuration at run-time. We characterize each application's power-performance profile as a weighted bias through off-line profiling. We infer this model combined with an on-line predictive strategy to make resource allocation decisions for minimizing energy consumption while honoring performance requirements. The proposed strategy is implemented as a user-space process and evaluated on a heterogeneous hardware platform of Odroid XU3 over the Rodinia benchmark suite. Experimental results show up to 61% of energy saving compared to the standard baseline of Linux governors and up to 27% of energy gain compared to state-of-the-art adaptive learning-based resource management techniques.</p

Heat induction in two-dimensional graphene–Fe3O4 nanohybrids for magnetic hyperthermia applications with artificial neural network modeling

We report the synthesis and characterization of graphene functionalized with iron (Fe3+) oxide (G-Fe3O4) nanohybrids for radio-frequency magnetic hyperthermia application. We adopted the wet chemical procedure, using various contents of Fe3O4 (magnetite) from 0–100% for making two-dimensional graphene–Fe3O4 nanohybrids. The homogeneous dispersal of Fe3O4 nanoparticles decorated on the graphene surface combined with their biocompatibility and high thermal conductivity make them an excellent material for magnetic hyperthermia. The morphological and magnetic properties of the nanohybrids were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The smart magnetic platforms were exposed to an alternating current (AC) magnetic field of 633 kHz and of strength 9.1 mT for studying their hyperthermic performance. The localized antitumor effects were investigated with artificial neural network modeling. A neural net time-series model was developed for the assessment of the best nanohybrid composition to serve the purpose with an accuracy close to 100%. Six Nonlinear Autoregressive with External Input (NARX) models were obtained, one for each of the components. The assessment of the accuracy of the predicted results has been done on the basis of Mean Squared Error (MSE). The highest Mean Squared Error value was obtained for the nanohybrid containing 45% magnetite and 55% graphene (F45G55) in the training phase i.e., 0.44703, which is where the model achieved optimal results after 71 epochs. The F45G55 nanohybrid was found to be the best for hyperthermia applications in low dosage with the highest specific absorption rate (SAR) and mean squared error values

Thermal Properties of Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes and Nanostructured Carbon Materials

Recent years witnessed a rapid growth of interest of scientific and engineering communities to thermal properties of materials. Carbon allotropes and derivatives occupy a unique place in terms of their ability to conduct heat. The room-temperature thermal conductivity of carbon materials span an extraordinary large range - of over five orders of magnitude - from the lowest in amorphous carbons to the highest in graphene and carbon nanotubes. I review thermal and thermoelectric properties of carbon materials focusing on recent results for graphene, carbon nanotubes and nanostructured carbon materials with different degrees of disorder. A special attention is given to the unusual size dependence of heat conduction in two-dimensional crystals and, specifically, in graphene. I also describe prospects of applications of graphene and carbon materials for thermal management of electronics.Comment: Review Paper; 37 manuscript pages; 4 figures and 2 boxe

Towards a Quality-of-Thing based Approach for Assigning Things to Federations

In the context of an Internet-of-Things (IoT) ecosystem, this paper discusses 2 necessary stages for managing federations of things. The first stage defines things in terms of duties and non-functional properties that define the quality of these duties. And, the second stage uses these properties to assign appropriate things to future federations. Specialized into adhoc and planned, federations are expected to satisfy needs and requirements of real-life situations like traffic control that arise at run-time. A set of experiments using a mix of real and simulated datasets, demonstrate the technical doability of thing assignment to federations and are presented in the paper, as well

A laboratory demonstration of rail grinding and analysis of running roughness and wear

Rail grinding has been widely used for rail maintenance to keep the performance of the rail track at satisfactory levels. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the relationship between different grinding parameters and the effect on the rails and the post-grinding evolution of roughness and wear. Rail undergoes significant levels of stress during grinding to remove any defects that appear during its life-cycle which can cause significant microstructural change. By developing a method of demonstrating rail grinding it will allow further investigation of the process and potentially the exploration of different grinding patterns. Moreover, an analysis of the roughness of wheel and rail is an input parameter in most modern simulation tools that could be associated with the coefficient of friction. This paper reports a laboratory demonstration of rail grinding followed by a series of tests to determine the wear of the rail and if there is a relationship between friction coefficient and roughness. The rail specimens that were ground have undergone a phase transformation and showed White Etching Layer (WEL) on the contact surface. This was found to initially act protectively for the rail disc reducing the wear rates, but then contributed to crack formation. No clear long-term correlation was identified between the coefficient of friction and roughness during the testing, however a relationship could be drawn when test periods were studied individually

Preliminary report of a nationwide case-control study for identifying risk factors of tuberculosis following renal transplantation

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is an important infection encountered posttransplantation, especially among patients in developing countries, where there are high incidences of morbidity and mortality. Materials and Methods. One hundred and twenty subjects (1) from 15 major kidney transplantation centers in Iran from 1984 to 2003 were compared with 440 controls who were matched for operative time, treatment center, and surgical team. Results. Mean ages of research subjects and controls were 38.6 and 36.6 years (P = .04), respectively. The mean duration of pretransplantation hemodialysis was 29 months (range, 2 to 192 months) in research subjects and 20 months (range, 1 to 180 months) in controls (P = .003). Positive past history of tuberculosis was detected in 4 (3.3) research subjects and in 7 (1.5) controls (P = .2). Fifty-two research subjects (43.3) and 241 controls (54.8) had pretransplantation purified protein derivative of tuberculin less than 5 mm (P = .02). Mean dosages of initial and maintenance immunosuppressive drugs in research subjects and in controls were not significantly different. Sixty research subjects (50) and 152 controls (34.5) had rejection prior to diagnosis of TB (P = .03). Conclusion. To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates an increased risk of posttransplant TB by prolonged duration of pretransplant hemodialysis and number of posttransplant rejection episodes. Further study is needed to clarify these findings specifically with respect to various immunosuppressive regimens. © 2005 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Pseudoneoplastic lesions of the testis and paratesticular structures

Pseudotumors or tumor-like proliferations (non-neoplastic masses) and benign mimickers (non-neoplastic cellular proliferations) are rare in the testis and paratesticular structures. Clinically, these lesions (cysts, ectopic tissues, and vascular, inflammatory, or hyperplastic lesions) are of great interest for the reason that, because of the topography, they may be relevant as differential diagnoses. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the pseudoneoplasic entities arising in the testis and paratesticular structures; emphasis is placed on how the practicing pathologist may distinguish benign mimickers and pseudotumors from true neoplasia. These lesions can be classified as macroscopic or microscopic mimickers of neoplasia

Sinteza, spazmolitsko i antidijaretsko djelovanje nekih 1-supstituiranih derivata imidazola

A series of 1-substituted imidazoles 1a-d and 2a-d were synthesized and screened for antispasmodic and antidiarrheal activities. Antispasmodic activity was tested at various concentrations on isolated tissue preparations; concentration-response curves were plotted and compared with atropine. All compounds were found to inhibit contraction of the guinea pig ileum. Castor oil-induced diarrhea model in rats was used for evaluation of antidiarrheal activity. Parameters such as intestinal transit and volume of intestinal fluid were measured for antidiarrheal activity at 40 mg kg-1 dose and compared with the standard drug loperamide at a 6 mg kg1 dose. Defecation frequency in the test group was found to be significantly lower (p < 0.01) compared to the control group and comparable with that of the standard. The present study reveals that the compounds exert antidiarrheal activity through possible inhibition of intestinal movement and reduction of capillary permeability in the abdominal cavity.U radu je opisana sinteza serije novih 1-supstituiranih imidazola 1a-d i 2a-d te evaluacija njihovog spazmolitskog i antidijaretskog djelovanja. Spazmolitsko djelovanje različith koncentracija ispitivanih spojeva (10, 50 i 100 µg mL1) ispitano je na izoliranim tkivnim preparatima; krivulje ovisnosti djelovanja o koncentraciji uspoređene su s djelovanjem atropina. Svi ispitivani spojevi inhibirali su kontrakcije ileuma zamorca. Dijarea inducirana ricinusovim uljem u štakora korištena je za vrednovanje antidijaretskog djelovanja. Intestinalni prijenos i volumen intestinalne tekućine mjereni su pri dozi od 40 mg kg1 i uspoređeni s učinkom standarda loperamida (doza 6 mg kg1). Učestalost defekacije u testiranoj skupini bila je značajno niža (p < 0,01) u usporedbi s kontrolnom skupinom i standardom. Provedena ispitivanja pokazuju da antidijaretsko djelovanje ispitivanih spojeva može biti posljedica inhibicije intestinalnih pokreta i redukcije kapilarne permeabilnosti u abdominalnoj šupljini