Supporting task creation inside FPGA devices

The most common model to use co-processors/accelerators is the master-slave model where the slaves (coprocessors/ accelerators) are driven by a general purpose cpu. This simplifies the management of the accelerators because they cannot actively interact with the runtime and they are just passive slaves that operate over the memory under demand. However, the master-slave model limits system possibilities and introduces synchronization overheads that could be avoided. To overcome those limitations and increase the possibilities of accelerators, we propose extending task based programming models (like OpenMP [1] or OmpSs) to support some runtime APIs inside the FPGA co-processor. As a proof-of-concept, we implemented our proposal over the OmpSs@FPGA environment [2] adding the needed infrastructure in the FPGA bitstream and modifying the existing tools to support creation of children tasks inside a task offloaded to an FPGA accelerator. In addition, we added support to synchronize the children tasks created by a FPGA task regardless they are executed in a SMP host thread or they also target another FPGA accelerator in the same co-processor

Lattice-Based proof of a shuffle

In this paper we present the first fully post-quantum proof of a shuffle for RLWE encryption schemes. Shuffles are commonly used to construct mixing networks (mix-nets), a key element to ensure anonymity in many applications such as electronic voting systems. They should preserve anonymity even against an attack using quantum computers in order to guarantee long-term privacy. The proof presented in this paper is built over RLWE commitments which are perfectly binding and computationally hiding under the RLWE assumption, thus achieving security in a post-quantum scenario. Furthermore we provide a new definition for a secure mixing node (mix-node) and prove that our construction satisfies this definition.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Study of the benefits and applications of passenger supersonic transport vehicles: case study of Supersonic 2.0-Virgin Galactic

The commercial supersonic passenger transport business has regained momentum in recent years. With the emergence and development of state-of-the-art technologies, many aerospace companies are now confident of being able to overcome all the technical and economic problems experienced by Concorde, the last supersonic aircraft to operate commercially and the benchmark for all current designs. In this sense, aspects such as the reduction of operating and maintenance costs, the ability to adapt to existing airport infrastructures and compliance with international regulations will be key to the success of the business. In addition, today’s companies will have to face the new challenges of today’s mobility, such as efficiency and sustainability. This study provides an overview, as well as a subsequent global comparison, of the different solutions presented by the various companies that are expected to enter the market in the coming years, consisting of supersonic and hypersonic aircraft capable of delivering performances that were unthinkable just a few years ago, such as being able to travel from London to New York in just 90 minutes in a safe, comfortable and sustainable manner. On the other hand, the study later focuses on a much deeper analysis of the world’s first commercial spaceline, Virgin Galactic, and the business model it is intended to implement for the commercial supersonic transport market. This analysis provides an overview of the company that enables to see how, although Virgin Galactic currently focuses the vast majority of its technological, human and economic resources on the space travel business, the company could take advantage of the capabilities, technologies and expertise developed within this business to be capable of successfully implementing its business model for the supersonic commercial travel market, the Supersonic 2.0 business model. The detailed study of this business model using the Business Model Canvas tool allows to identify the key aspects for its operation, as well as the differential features that the company should enhance. Finally, it is observed that Virgin Galactic, as well as most of its competitors, will have to be able to overcome the many risks inherent in the passenger supersonic transport market. For this reason, the company’s ability to demonstrate the safety, efficiency and sustainability of its design will be crucial to gaining consumer confidence

A Transgenic Mouse Model for Studying the Role of the Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein System in Renal Injury

Parathyroid hormone- (PTH-) related protein (PTHrP) and its receptor, the PTH1 receptor (PTH1R), are widely expressed in the kidney, where PTHrP exerts a modulatory action on renal function. PTHrP is known to be upregulated in several experimental nephropathies such as acute renal failure (ARF), obstructive nephropathy (ON) as well as diabetic nephropathy (DN). In this paper, we will discuss the functional consequences of chronic PTHrP overexpression in the damaged kidney using a transgenic mouse strain overexpressing PTHrP in the renal proximal tubule. In both ARF and ON, PTHrP displays proinflammatory and profibrogenic actions including the induction of epithelia to mesenquima transition. Moreover, PTHrP participates in the mechanisms of renal hypertrophy as well as proteinuria in experimental DN. Angiotensin II (Ang II), a critical factor in the progression of renal injury, appears to be, at least in part, responsible for endogenous PTHrP upregulation in these pathophysiological settings. These findings provide novel insights into the well-known protective effects of Ang II antagonists in renal diseases, paving the way for new therapeutic approaches.Comunidad de MadridMinisterio de Educación y CulturaMinisterio de Ciencia e InnovaciónInstituto de Salud Carlos II

Cognitive and learning outcomes in late preterm infants at school age: a systematic review

Late preterm children born between 340/7 and 366/7 weeks' gestation account for ≈70% of prematurely born infants. There is growing concern about this population at risk of mild neurodevelopmental problems, learning disabilities and lower academic performance. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement, this paper analyzes recent published evidence from 16selected studies involving late preterm children and control group assessments at preschool and/or school age, mainly focusing on cognitive functioning, language learning and academic achievement. The review identifies the assessment tools used in these studies (standardized tests, parental questionnaires and laboratory tasks) and the areas being evaluated from preschool (age 3 years) to primary school levels. Results reveal the presence of mild difficulties, pointing to suboptimal outcomes in areas such as executive function, short term verbal memory, literacy skills, attention and processing speed. Some difficulties are transient, but others persist, possibly compromising academic achievement, as suggested by the few studies reporting on higher risk for poor school performance. Given the increasing number of late preterm children in our society the review highlights the need to implement screening strategies to facilitate early risk detection and minimize the negative effects of this morbidity in childhood

Performance analysis of a hardware accelerator of dependence management for taskbased dataflow programming models

Along with the popularity of multicore and manycore, task-based dataflow programming models obtain great attention for being able to extract high parallelism from applications without exposing the complexity to programmers. One of these pioneers is the OpenMP Superscalar (OmpSs). By implementing dynamic task dependence analysis, dataflow scheduling and out-of-order execution in runtime, OmpSs achieves high performance using coarse and medium granularity tasks. In theory, for the same application, the more parallel tasks can be exposed, the higher possible speedup can be achieved. Yet this factor is limited by task granularity, up to a point where the runtime overhead outweighs the performance increase and slows down the application. To overcome this handicap, Picos was proposed to support task-based dataflow programming models like OmpSs as a fast hardware accelerator for fine-grained task and dependence management, and a simulator was developed to perform design space exploration. This paper presents the very first functional hardware prototype inspired by Picos. An embedded system based on a Zynq 7000 All-Programmable SoC is developed to study its capabilities and possible bottlenecks. Initial scalability and hardware consumption studies of different Picos designs are performed to find the one with the highest performance and lowest hardware cost. A further thorough performance study is employed on both the prototype with the most balanced configuration and the OmpSs software-only alternative. Results show that our OmpSs runtime hardware support significantly outperforms the software-only implementation currently available in the runtime system for finegrained tasks.This work is supported by the Spanish Government through Programa Severo Ochoa (SEV-2015-0493), by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology through TIN2015-65316-P project, by the Generalitat de Catalunya (contracts 2014-SGR-1051 and 2014-SGR-1272) and by the European Research Council RoMoL Grant Agreement number 321253. We also thank the Xilinx University Program for its hardware and software donations.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Sistema distribuido de tiempo real

[spa] En este artículo se presenta la implementación de un sistema de básculas distribuido de tiempo real. El sistema se compone de 2 básculas, una base de datos de cotizaciones que se encarga de devolver el precio de los productos seleccionados y un supervisor de ventas. Cada uno de estos componentes es instalado sobre un microcontrolador dsPIC4011 con el soporte de un sistema operativo de tiempo real (SOTR) llamado SALVO OS. A su vez, se utiliza el protocolo de comunicaciones CAN para el envío y recepción de los mensajes entre los diferentes nodos del sistema

Guia per a l’elaboració de projectes en un centre educatiu. Exemples d´indicadors d’avaluació

Els centres educatius, en el marc de l’autonomia de centre, disposen d’unes eines organitzatives i de gestió que han de permetre posar en pràctica el Projecte Educatiu del Centre (PEC) per tal de contribuir als objectius marcats en el sistema educatiu català, que són l’èxit escolar i l’excel·lència educativa en un marc d’escola inclusiva. Per desenvolupar les línies del PEC, els centres dissenyen diferents projectes concebuts com un conjunt d’activitats, planificades com un procés, interrelacionades i coordinades entre si que es porten a terme per satisfer una necessitat o un problem