Hardware-accelerated parallel genetic algorithm for fitness functions with variable execution times

Genetic Algorithms (GAs) following a parallel master-slave architecture can be effectively used to reduce searching time when fitness functions have fixed execution time. This paper presents a parallel GA architecture along with two accelerated GA operators to enhance the performance of master-slave GAs, specially when considering fitness functions with variable execution times. We explore the performance of the proposed approach, and analyse its effectiveness against the state-of-the-art. The results show a significant improvement in search times and fitness function utilisation, thus potentially enabling the use of this approach as a faster searching tool for timing-sensitive optimisation processes such as those found in dynamic real-time systems

Game change in the Gulf of Guinea: three intertwined perspectives on Sino-Equatoguinean cooperation

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea (EG) joined the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macao) in 2022, becoming the tenth member-state. This occurred during the 2022 Extraordinary Ministerial Conference, after it acceded to the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) in 2014. Since 2015, China and EG have been intensifying their bilateral cooperation after establishing a comprehensive cooperative partnership (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 2015). In 2019, the two countries signed a Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) MoU during the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, and initiated a strategic approach for bilateral cooperation. Consequently, considering the uniqueness of EG as a Portuguese-speaking Country (PSC) and as the newest member of Forum Macao, this paper poses and answers the following research question: What will be the impact of Sino-Equatoguinean cooperation in light of EG’s recent accession to FM? Methodologically, the research uses qualitative data supported by triangular referencing, including official and non-official sources, namely official statistics, academic papers, and media reports, to look into the bilateral Sino-Equatoguinean relations under the B&RI Lusophone framework, as well as the fact that EG is a CPLP member state. Accordingly, the methodologic rationale focuses on the uniqueness of EG as one of the Lusophone countries and relates it to the Chinese B&RI at three levels: domestic, regional and global. This paper is organized as follows: (1) Introduction; (2) The uniqueness of EG as a PSC; (3) The B&RI and the Lusophone Countries; (4) Cooperation between Equatorial Guinea and China; (5) Conclusion – The Future of Sino-Equatoguinean Cooperation.A República da Guiné Equatorial (GE) tornou-se membro do Fórum para a Cooperação Económica e Comercial entre a China e os Países de Língua Portuguesa (Fórum de Macau, doravante designado por FM) em 2022, tornando-se o décimo estado a fazê-lo. A integração oficial da GE, decorreu à margem da Reunião Extraordinária Ministerial do Fórum de Macau em 2022, após o país ter aderido à Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP) em 2014. Desde 2015, a China e a GE têm vindo a intensificar a cooperação bilateral desde o estabelecimento das relações de parceria de cooperação abrangente (Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros da República Popular da China, 2015). Em 2019, os dois países assinaram o Memorando de Entendimento sobre a Iniciativa Uma Faixa Uma Rota (B&RI, em sigla inglesa) durante a segunda edição do Fórum Faixa e Rota em Pequim e iniciaram desde já uma abordagem estratégica na cooperação bilateral. Por conseguinte, tendo em consideração a singularidade da GE como País de Língua Portuguesa e o facto de ser o mais recente membro do FM, este artigo coloca e responde à seguinte questão central de investigação: Qual será o impacto da cooperação Sino-Equatoguineense à luz da recente adesão da GE ao FM? Metodologicamente, a investigação utiliza dados qualitativos sustentados por referências triangulares, incluindo relatórios oficiais e não oficiais, estatísticas oficiais, documentos académicos e notícias dos meios de comunicação social, para analisar as relações bilaterais Sino-Equatoguineenses no âmbito da B&RI nos países lusófonos. Desse modo, a fundamentação qualitativa metodológica centra-se na singularidade da GE como um dos países lusófonos que se envolve na B&RI Chinesa em três níveis: doméstico, regional e global. O presente artigo apresenta a seguinte estrutura: (1) Introdução; (2) A singularidade da GE como um dos PLP; (3) B&RI e os Países Lusófonos; (4) Cooperação entre a Guiné Equatorial e a China; (5) Conclusão - o Futuro da Cooperação Sino-Equatoguineense.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hardware-accelerated analysis of real-time Networks-on-Chip

A real-time Network-on-Chip (NoC) must guarantee that it is able to execute a set of tasks and deliver the communication packets that they generate, all within the respective deadlines even under a worst-case scenario. End-to-End Response Time Analysis (E2ERTA) is a mathematical formulation that can be used to test whether a particular NoC configuration is able to guarantee the timely execution of tasks and delivery packets. The complexity of E2ERTA calculation increases with the increase of the number of tasks and packet flows, and with the core count of the NoC. This paper presents an approach to accelerate E2ERTA calculations through the use of custom hardware and efficient implementation of its mathematical operations. We explore the performance of the proposed approach, and analyse its effectiveness against the state-of-the-art in the field. The results show a significant improvement in testing NoC guarantees, thus potentially enabling the use of E2ERTA as a fast and guaranteed deterministic admission controller for open and dynamic real-time systems. As a case-study, we integrate the proposed approach to a NoC optimisation framework aiming to accelerate the search for NoC configurations that meet all the NoC's hard real-time requirements

Digital image analysis of collagen assessment of progression of fibrosis in recurrent HCV after liver transplantation

Background & Aims: Histological assessment of fibrosis progression is currently performed by staging systems which are not continuous quantitative measurements. We aimed at assessing a quantitative measurement of fibrosis collagen proportionate area (CPA), to evaluate fibrosis progression and compare it to Ishak stage progression. Methods: We studied a consecutive cohort of 155 patients with recurrent HCV hepatitis after liver transplantation (LT), who had liver biopsies at one year and were subsequently evaluated for progression of fibrosis using CPA and Ishak staging, and correlated with clinical decompensation. The upper quartile of distribution of fibrosis rates (difference in CPA or Ishak stage between paired biopsies) defined fast fibrosers. Results: Patients had 610 biopsies and a median follow-up of 116 (18-252) months. Decompensation occurred in 29 (18%) patients. Median Ishak stage progression rate was 0.42 units/year: (24 (15%) fast fibrosers). Median CPA fibrosis progression rate was 0.71%/year (36 (23%) fast fibrosers). Clinical decompensation was independently associated by Cox regression only with CPA (p = 0.007), with AUROCs of 0.81 (95% CI 0.71-0.91) compared to 0.68 (95% CI 0.56-0.81) for Ishak stage. Fast fibrosis defined by CPA progression was independently associated with histological de novo hepatitis (OR: 3.77), older donor age (OR: 1.03) and non-use/discontinuation of azathioprine before 1 year post-LT (OR: 3.85), whereas when defined by Ishak progression, fast fibrosers was only associated with histological de novo hepatitis. Conclusions: CPA fibrosis progression rate is a better predictor of clinical outcome than progression by Ishak stage. Histological de novo hepatitis, older donor age and non-use/discontinuation of azathioprine are associated with rapid fibrosis progression in recurrent HCV chronic hepatitis after liver transplantation. © 2012 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Impact of secreted glucanases upon the cell surface and fitness of Candida albicans during colonisation and infection.

Acknowledgements We thank Raif Yuecel and Attila Bebes in the Exeter Centre for Cytomics for their help with the cytometry, and Annie Phillips-Brookes, Jamie Harvey and the BSU staff for their support with the animal experimentation. We are grateful to Karen Moore, Paul O’Neill and Jemima Onime in the University of Exeter Sequencing Facility University of Exeter Sequencing Facility for their help with the barcode sequencing. We also thank Paulina Cherek in the Bioimaging Facility in Exeter Biosciences for her help with the transmission electron microscopy, and Darren Thomson in the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology for his support for our the DeltaVision imaging. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.Peer reviewe