An Efficient Cache Organization for On-Chip Multiprocessor Networks

To meet the growing computation-intensive applications and the needs of low-power, high-performance systems, the number of computing resources in single-chip has enormously increased. By adding many computing resources to build a system in System-on-Chip, its interconnection between each other becomes another challenging issue. In most System-on-Chip applications, a shared bus interconnection which needs an arbitration logic to serialize several bus access requests, is adopted to communicate with each integrated processing unit because of its low-cost and simple control characteristics. This paper focuses on the interconnection design issues of area, power and performance of chip multi-processors with shared cache memory. It shows that having shared cache memory contributes to the performance improvement, however, typical interconnection between cores and the shared cache using crossbar occupies most of the chip area, consumes a lot of power and does not scale efficiently with increased number of cores. New interconnection mechanisms are needed to address these issues. This paper proposes an architectural paradigm in an attempt to gain the advantages of having shared cache with the avoidance of penalty imposed by the crossbar interconnect. The proposed architecture achieves smaller area occupation allowing more space to add additional cache memory. It also reduces power consumption compared to the existing crossbar architecture. Furthermore, the paper presents a modified cache coherence algorithm called Tuned-MESI. It is based on the typical MESI cache coherence algorithm however it is tuned and tailored for the suggested architecture. The achieved results of the conducted simulated experiments show that the developed architecture produces less broadcast operations compared to the typical algorithm

Predator efficacy and attraction to herbivore- induced volatiles determine insect pest selection of inferior host plant

Unlike mammals, most invertebrates provide no direct parental care for their progeny, which makes a well-selected oviposition site crucial. However, little is known about the female evaluation of opportunities and threats during host selection. Leveraging the wide range of host plants used by the polyphagous pest, Spodoptera littoralis, we investigate oviposition choice between two plants of different nutritional quality. Females prefer to lay their eggs on the host plant, which has inferior larval development and more natural enemies but provides lower predation rates. On the superior host plant, a major predator shows more successful search behavior and is more attracted to herbivore-induced volatiles. Our findings show that predator efficacy and odor-guided attraction, rather than predator abundance, determine enemy free space. We postulate that predators’ behaviors contribute to the weak correlation between preference and performance during host plant selection in S. littoralis and in polyphagous insects in general

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

Antifeedant and toxic activity of Adhatoda vasica leaf extract against Spodoptera littoralis (Lep., Noctuidae)

The effect of crude methanolic extracts of Adhatoda vasica leaves on the feeding and performance of Spodoptera littoralis larvae was investigated in the laboratory. Feeding on fresh leaves resulted in 100% mortality of larvae after 26 days of unsubstantial growth. The extract exhibited strong antifeedant and toxic activity against the larvae when applied either on leaf discs or incorporated into artificial diet. Under choice conditions the antifeedant index calculated over 72 h for neonate larvae increased significantly (from 71.5+/-3.2 to 92.1+/-4.2) as the concentration of extract in the treated diet increased from 200 to 1000 ppm. Consumption by the sixth instar larvae of leaf discs dipped in 0.01, 0.1 and 0.2% extract solutions was significantly lower than consumption of control discs in both choice and no-choice tests. The latter two concentrations deterred feeding by 63.4 and 90.4%, respectively, under choice conditions, while only the 0.2% extract solution deterred feeding by 56.8% in the no-choice test. Toxicity of the extracts was manifested by a high mortality, reduced growth rates, and low weight gain by larvae fed on diets containing 200-2000 ppm of the extract. No larvae survived to pupation under the latter concentration. The time to pupation increased from 15.8+/-0.4 to 37.9+/-4.1 days as the extract concentration in diet increased from 0 to 1000 ppm. When fed to the fifth instar larvae, the crude extract significantly reduced consumption, growth, utilization of ingested and digested food, and approximate digestibility. The consumption-dependent growth efficiency of animals fed on extract-free diet was significantly higher than the growth efficiency of animals fed on extract-containing diets, suggesting both antifeedant and toxic activities of the extract

Spiking neural network-based control chart pattern recognition

Due to an increasing competition in products, consumers have become more critical in choosing products. The quality of products has become more important. Statistical Process Control (SPC) is usually used to improve the quality of products. Control charting plays the most important role in SPC. Control charts help to monitor the behavior of the process to determine whether it is stable or not. Unnatural patterns in control charts mean that there are some unnatural causes for variations in SPC. Spiking neural networks (SNNs) are the third generation of artificial neural networks that consider time as an important feature for information representation and processing. In this paper, a spiking neural network architecture is proposed to be used for control charts pattern recognition (CCPR). Furthermore, enhancements to the SpikeProp learning algorithm are proposed. These enhancements provide additional learning rules for the synaptic delays, time constants and for the neurons thresholds. Simulated experiments have been conducted and the achieved results show a remarkable improvement in the overall performance compared with artificial neural networks

Attraction modulated by spacing of pheromone components and anti-attractants in a bark beetle and a moth

Orientation for insects in olfactory landscapes with high semiochemical diversity may be a challenging task. The partitioning of odor plumes into filaments that are interspersed with pockets of ‘clean air’ may help filament discrimination and upwind flight to attractive sources in the face of inhibitory signals. We studied the effect of distance between odor sources on trap catches of the beetle, Ips typographus, and the moth, Spodoptera littoralis. Insects were tested both to spatially separated pheromone components [cis-verbenol and 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol for Ips; (Z,E)- 9,11-tetradecadienyl acetate and (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadienyl acetate for Spodoptera], and to separated pheromone and anti-attractant sources [non-host volatile (NHV) blend for Ips; (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate for Spodoptera]. Trap catch data were complemented with simulations of plume structure and plume overlap from two separated sources using a photo ionization detector and soap bubble generators. Trap catches of the beetle and the moth were both affected when odor sources in the respective traps were increasingly separated. However, this effect on trap catch occurred at smaller (roughly by an order of magnitude) odor source separation distances for the moth than for the beetle. This may reflect differences between the respective olfactory systems and central processing. For both species, the changes in trap catches in response to separation of pheromone components occurred at similar spacing distances as for separation of pheromone and anti-attractant sources. Overlap between two simulated plumes depended on distance between the two sources. In addition, the number of detected filaments and their concentration decreased with downwind distance. This implies that the response to separated odor sources in the two species might take place under different olfactory conditions. Deploying multiple sources of anti-attractant around a pheromone trap indicated long-distance (meter scale) effects of NHVon the beetle and a potential use for NHV in forest protection

Glomerular representation of plant volatiles and sex pheromone components in the antennal lobe of the female Spodoptera littoralis.

We studied the projection patterns of antennal lobe (AL) interneurones sensitive to plant volatiles and female-produced sex pheromone components in the female moth, Spodoptera littoralis. Ten compounds (eight plant-derived compounds and two sex pheromone components) were singly applied to the antenna and, using intracellular recording and staining techniques, the physiological and morphological characteristics of responding neurones were investigated. In addition, ALs stained with a synapsin antibody were optically sectioned using confocal microscopy, and a three-dimensional map of glomeruli in the anterior aspect of the AL was reconstructed. We used the map as a reference for identification of glomeruli innervated by projection neurones (PNs) that respond to plant volatiles and/or pheromone components. Nineteen PNs, responding to one to seven compounds of the ten tested stimuli, were stained with neurobiotin. These neurones each arborised in a single glomerulus in the frontal side of the AL. PNs responding to the same compound arborised in different glomeruli and PNs arborising in the same glomerulus responded to different compounds. Accordingly, glomeruli harbouring the dendritic arborisations of PNs responding to each of the tested compounds constituted a unique array of glomeruli that were not necessarily adjacent. It was thus clear that, at the output level, a single plant volatile or a sex pheromone component was not represented within a single glomerulus in the AL. We expect complex patterns of glomeruli to be involved in the coding of plant-derived compounds, as well as sex pheromone components, in female S. littoralis

Modulation of the temporal pattern of calling behavior of female Spodoptera littoralis by exposure to sex pheromone

We have examined the timing of calling behavior in the female Egyptian cotton leafworm, Spodoptera littoralis and its modification by exposure to sex pheromone. The calling rhythm of the female moth was found to be circadian, persistent for at least 4days once it has been entrained, and could be phase shifted by altering the light:dark regime. We also found that female exposure to pheromone affected the rate and duration of calling. A brief exposure to pheromone gland extract increased the proportion of females calling in a constant dim light and this effect persisted for at least 2days. In response to pheromone exposure, significantly more females also called late into scotophase when most unexposed control females had ceased calling. The adaptive significance of responding to conspecific sex pheromone is discussed