Combined Time and Information Redundancy for SEU-Tolerance in Energy-Efficient Real-Time Systems

Recently the trade-off between energy consumption and fault-tolerance in real-time systems has been highlighted. These works have focused on dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) to reduce dynamic energy dissipation and on time redundancy to achieve transient-fault tolerance. While the time redundancy technique exploits the available slack time to increase the fault-tolerance by performing recovery executions, DVS exploits slack time to save energy. Therefore we believe there is a resource conflict between the time-redundancy technique and DVS. The first aim of this paper is to propose the usage of information redundancy to solve this problem. We demonstrate through analytical and experimental studies that it is possible to achieve both higher transient fault-tolerance (tolerance to single event upsets (SEU)) and less energy using a combination of information and time redundancy when compared with using time redundancy alone. The second aim of this paper is to analyze the interplay of transient-fault tolerance (SEU-tolerance) and adaptive body biasing (ABB) used to reduce static leakage energy, which has not been addressed in previous studies. We show that the same technique (i.e. the combination of time and information redundancy) is applicable to ABB-enabled systems and provides more advantages than time redundancy alone

Structure of Acculturation Attitudes and their Relationships with Personality and Psychological Adaptation: A Study with Immigrant and National Samples in Germany

This contribution deals with the structure of acculturation attitudes and their relationship with personality dimensions and psychological adaptation. Based on two German samples—an immigrant and a national one— evidence suggests that four independent factors are underlying acculturation styles as assessed with the Acculturation Attitudes Styles (AAS). Integration, Assimilation, Separation, and Marginalization are independent, lowly correlated constructs and represent distinct modes of coping with acculturation demands. Analyses also demonstrate that each acculturation factor shows a specific pattern of personality characteristics, including basic temperament dimensions, cognitive styles, coping, and components of emotional intelligence. Finally, the four acculturation styles can predict psychological adaptation such as wellbeing, happiness, etc. Integration is the most adaptive acculturation strategy, whereas Separation and Marginalization most strongly predict negative outcomes

Acinetobacter baumannii from Samples of Commercially Reared Turkeys: Genomic Relationships, Antimicrobial and Biocide Susceptibility

Acinetobacter baumannii is especially known as a cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. It shows intrinsic and acquired resistances to numerous antimicrobial agents, which can render the treatment difficult. In contrast to the situation in human medicine, there are only few studies focusing on A. baumannii among livestock. In this study, we have examined 643 samples from turkeys reared for meat production, including 250 environmental and 393 diagnostic samples, for the presence of A. baumannii. In total, 99 isolates were identified, confirmed to species level via MALDI-TOF-MS and characterised with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Antimicrobial and biocide susceptibility was tested by broth microdilution methods. Based on the results, 26 representative isolates were selected and subjected to whole-genome sequencing (WGS). In general, A. baumannii was detected at a very low prevalence, except for a high prevalence of 79.7% in chick-box-papers (n = 118) of one-day-old turkey chicks. The distributions of the minimal inhibitory concentration values were unimodal for the four biocides and for most of the antimicrobial agents tested. WGS revealed 16 Pasteur and 18 Oxford sequence types, including new ones. Core genome MLST highlighted the diversity of most isolates. In conclusion, the isolates detected were highly diverse and still susceptible to many antimicrobial agents

Feasibility Study of a Nuclear-Stirling Plant for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

NASA is undertaking the design of a new spacecraft to explore the planet Jupiter and its three moons Calisto, Ganymede and Europa. This proposed mission, known as Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) would use a nuclear reactor and an associated electrical generation system (Reactor Power Plant-RPP) to provide power to the spacecraft. The JIMO spacecraft is envisioned to use this power for science and communications as well as Electric Propulsion (EP). Among other potential power-generating concepts, previous studies have considered Thermoelectric and Brayton Power conversion systems, coupled to a liquid metal reactor for the JIMO mission. This paper will explore trades in system mass and radiator area for a nuclear reactor power conversion system, however this study will focus on Stirling power conversion. The Stirling convertor modeled in this study is based upon the Component Test Power Convertor design that was designed and operated successfully under the Civil Space Technology Initiative for use with the SP-100 nuclear reactor i the 1980's and early 1990's. The study design is such that two of the four convertors would operate at any time to generate the 100 kWe while the others are held in reserve. For this study the Stirling convertors hot-side temperature is 1050 K, would operate at a temperature ratio of 2.4 for a minimum mass system and would have a system efficiency of 29%. The Stirling convertor would generate high voltage (400 volt), 100 Hz single phase AC that is supplied to the Power Management and Distribution system. The waste hear is removed from the Stirling convertors by a flowing liquid sodium-potassium eutectic and then rejected by a shared radiator. The radiator consists of two coplanar wings, which would be deployed after the reactor is in space. System trades were performed to vary cycle state point temperatures and convertor design as well as power output. Other redundancy combinations were considered to understand the affects of convertor size and number of spares to the system mass

Development of a GEM-TPC prototype

The use of GEM foils for the amplification stage of a TPC instead of a con- ventional MWPC allows one to bypass the necessity of gating, as the backdrift is suppressed thanks to the asymmetric field configuration. This way, a novel continuously running TPC, which represents one option for the PANDA central tracker, can be realized. A medium sized prototype with a diameter of 300 mm and a length of 600 mm will be tested inside the FOPI spectrometer at GSI using a carbon or lithium beam at intermediate energies (E = 1-3AGeV). This detector test under realistic experimental conditions should allow us to verify the spatial resolution for single tracks and the reconstruction capability for displaced vertexes. A series of physics measurement implying pion beams is scheduled with the FOPI spectrometer together with the GEM-TPC as well.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings for 11th ICATTP conference in como (italy

Investigation of Visual System Involvement in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 14

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA-PRKCG, formerly SCA14) is a rare, slowly progressive disorder caused by conventional mutations in protein kinase Cγ (PKCγ). The disease usually manifests with ataxia, but previous reports suggested PRKCG variants in retinal pathology. To systematically investigate for the first time visual function and retinal morphology in patients with SCA-PRKCG. Seventeen patients with PRKCG variants and 17 healthy controls were prospectively recruited, of which 12 genetically confirmed SCA-PRKCG patients and 14 matched controls were analyzed. We enquired a structured history for visual symptoms. Vision-related quality of life was obtained with the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) including the Neuro-Ophthalmic Supplement (NOS). Participants underwent testing of visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual fields, and retinal morphology with optical coherence tomography (OCT). Measurements of the SCA-PRKCG group were analyzed for their association with clinical parameters (ataxia rating and disease duration). SCA-PRKCG patients rate their vision-related quality of life in NEI-VFQ significantly worse than controls. Furthermore, binocular visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were worse in SCA-PRKCG patients compared with controls. Despite this, none of the OCT measurements differed between groups. NEI-VFQ and NOS composite scores were related to ataxia severity. Additionally, we describe one patient with a genetic variant of uncertain significance in the catalytic domain of PKCγ who, unlike all confirmed SCA-PRKCG, presented with a clinically silent epitheliopathy. SCA-PRKCG patients had reduced binocular vision and vision-related quality of life. Since no structural retinal damage was found, the pathomechanism of these findings remains unclear

Functionally Relevant Maculopathy and Optic Atrophy in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1

Background: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA-ATXN1) is an inherited progressive ataxia disorder characterized by an adult-onset cerebellar syndrome combined with nonataxia signs. Retinal or optic nerve affection are not systematically described. Objectives: To describe a retinal phenotype and its functional relevance in SCA-ATXN1. Methods: We applied optical coherence tomography (OCT) in 20 index cases with SCA-ATXN1 and 22 healthy controls (HCs), investigating qualitative changes and quantifying the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness and combined ganglion cell and inner plexiform layer (GCIP) volume as markers of optic atrophy and outer retinal layers as markers of maculopathy. Visual function was assessed by high- (HC-VA) and low-contrast visual acuity (LC-VA) and the Hardy-Rand-Rittler pseudoisochromatic test for color vision. Results: Five patients (25%) showed distinct maculopathies in the ellipsoid zone (EZ). Furthermore, pRNFL (P < 0.001) and GCIP (P = 0.002) were reduced in patients (pRNFL, 80.86 ± 9.49 μm; GCIP, 1.84 ± 0.16 mm3) compared with HCs (pRNFL, 97.02 ± 8.34 μm; GCIP, 1.98 ± 0.12 mm3). Outer macular layers were similar between groups, but reduced in patients with maculopathies. HC-VA (P = 0.002) and LC-VA (P < 0.001) were reduced in patients (HC-VA [logMAR]: 0.01 ± 010; LC-VA [logMAR]: 0.44 ± 0.16) compared with HCs (HC-VA [logMAR]: –0.12 ± 0.08; LC-VA [logMAR]: 0.25 ± 0.05). Color vision was abnormal in 2 patients with maculopathies. Conclusions: A distinct maculopathy, termed EZ disruption, as well as optic atrophy add to the known nonataxia features in SCA-ATXN1. Whereas optic atrophy may be understood as part of a widespread neurodegeneration, EZ disruption may be explained by effects of ataxin-1 gene or protein on photoreceptors. Our findings extend the spectrum of nonataxia signs in SCA-ATXN1 with potential relevance for diagnosis and monitoring

Measurement of the Eta Production in Proton Proton Collisions with the COSY Time of Flight Spectrometer

The reaction pp -> pp eta was measured at excess energies of 15 and 41 MeV at an external target of the Juelich Cooler Synchrotron COSY with the Time of Flight Spectrometer. About 25000 events were measured for the excess energy of 15 MeV and about 8000 for 41 MeV. Both protons of the process pp eta were detected with an acceptance of nearly 100% and the eta was reconstructed by the missing mass technique. For both excess energies the angular distributions are found to be nearly isotropic. In the invariant mass distributions strong deviations from the pure phase space distributions are seen.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, 4 table

Retinal ganglion cell loss is associated with future disability worsening in early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Background and purpose: Thinning of the retinal combined ganglion cell and inner plexiform layer (GCIP) as measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a common finding in patients with multiple sclerosis. This study aimed to investigate whether a single retinal OCT analysis allows prediction of future disease activity after a first demyelinating event.Methods: This observational cohort study included 201 patients with recently diagnosed clinically isolated syndrome or relapsing- remitting multiple sclerosis from two German tertiary referral centers. Individuals underwent neurological examination, magnetic resonance imaging, and OCT at baseline and at yearly follow- up visits.Results: Patients were included at a median disease duration of 2.0 months. During a me- dian follow- up of 59 (interquartile range = 43- 71) months, 82% of patients had ongoing disease activity as demonstrated by failing the no evidence of disease activity 3 (NEDA-3) criteria, and 19% presented with confirmed disability worsening. A GCIP threshold of <= 77 mu m at baseline identified patients with a high risk for NEDA- 3 failure (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1- 2.8, p = 0.04), and GCIP measures of <= 69 mu m predicted disability worsening (HR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.2-4.3, p = 0.01). Higher rates of annualized GCIP loss increased the risk for disability worsening (HR = 2.5 per 1 mu m/year increase of GCIP loss, p = 0.03).Conclusions: Ganglion cell thickness as measured by OCT after the initial manifestation of multiple sclerosis may allow early risk stratification as to future disease activity and progression

Refactoring software development process terminology through the use of ontology

peer-reviewedIn work that is ongoing, the authors are examining the extent of software development process terminology drift. Initial findings suggest there is a degree of term confusion, with the mapping of concepts to terms lacking precision in some instances. Ontologies are concerned with identifying the concepts of relevance to a field of endeavour and mapping those concepts to terms such that term confusion is reduced. In this paper, we discuss how ontologies are developed. We also identify various sources of software process terminology. Our work to date indicates that the systematic development of a software development process ontology would be of benefit to the entire software development community. The development of such an ontology would in effect represent a systematic refactoring of the terminology and concepts produced over four decades of software process innovation