A hybrid transport/control operation triggered architecture

We present an approach to a scalable and extensible processor architecture with inherent parallelism named synZEN. One aim was to create a synthesizable application specific processor which can be mapped to an FPGA. Besides architectural features like the interconnection network for flexible data transport and synZEN units with communication managing interface we give an overview of the programming model, show basic operation design and depict assembler notations to program these architecture. The paper closes with a brief toolchain overview and some synthesis results that support our design decisions

Longterm Optical Monitoring of Bright BL Lacertae Objects with ATOM: Spectral Variability and Multiwavelength Correlations

Blazars are the established sources of an intense and variable non-thermal radiation extending from radio wavelengths up to HE and VHE gamma-rays. Understanding the spectral evolution of blazars in selected frequency ranges, as well as multi-frequency correlations in various types of blazar sources, is of a primary importance for constraining the blazar physics. Here we present the results of a long-term optical monitoring of a sample of 30 blazars of the BL Lac type. We study the optical color-magnitude correlation patterns emerging in the analyzed sample, and compare the optical properties of the targets with the high-energy gamma-ray and high-frequency radio data. The optical observations were carried out in R and B filters using ATOM telescope. Each object was observed during at least 20 nights in the period 2007-2012. We find significant global color-magnitude correlations in 40 % of the sample. The sources which do not display any clear chromatism often do exhibit bluer-when-brighter (bwb) behavior but only in isolated shorter time intervals. We also discovered spectral state transitions at optical wavelengths in several sources. Finally, we find that the radio, optical, and gamma-ray luminosities of the sources obey almost linear correlations, which seem however induced, at least partly, by the redshift dependance, and may be also affected by non-simultaneousness of the analyzed dataset. We argue that the observed bwb behavior is intrinsic to the jet emission regions, at least for some of the analyzed blazars, rather than resulting from the contamination of the measured flux by the starlight of host galaxies. We also conclude that the significance of color-magnitude scalings does not correlate with the optical color, but instead seems to depend on the source luminosity, in a sense that these are the lowest-luminosity BL Lac objects which display the strongest correlations.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

SynZEN: a hybrid TTA/VLIW architecture with a distributed register file

The quest for higher performance within a certain power budget in the fields of embedded computing demands unconventional architectural approaches. To this end, in this paper we present synZEN (sZ): a (micro-)architecture that combines features of very long instruction word (VLIW) and transport triggered architectures (TTAs) to cover the needs of different applications. SynZEN features a distributed register file (RF) (i.e., each functional unit (FU) has its own RF) and a wide memory connection to exploit spatial data locality. FPGA synthesis results demonstrate that due to the distributed RF the sZ design can be implemented in less area (in terms of FPGA slices) than existing TTA and VLIW designs. Furthermore, using two micro-benchmarks we show that because of the wide memory connection, sZ outperforms both the TTA as well as the VLIW design

Scoliosis correction with pedicle screws in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

This report describes the spinal fixation with pedicle-screw-alone constructs for the posterior correction of scoliosis in patients suffering from Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD). Twenty consecutive patients were prospectively followed up for an average of 5.2years (min 2years). All patients were instrumented from T3/T4 to the pelvis. Pelvic fixation was done with iliac screws similar to Galveston technique. The combination of L5 pedicle screws and iliac screws provided a stable caudal foundation. An average of 16 pedicle screws was used per patient. The mean total blood loss was 3.7l, stay at the intensive care unit was 77h and hospital stay was 19days. Rigid stabilisation allowed immediate mobilisation of the patient in the wheel chair. Cobb angle improved 77% from 44° to 10°, pelvic tilt improved 65% from 14° to 3°. Lumbar lordosis improved significantly from 20° to 49°, thoracic kyphosis remained unchanged. No problems related to iliac fixation, no pseudarthrosis or implant failures were observed. The average percentage of predicted forced vital capacity (%FVC) of the patients was 55% (22-94%) preoperatively and decreased to 44% at the last follow-up. There were no pulmonary complications. One patient with a known cardiomyopathy died intraoperatively due to a sudden cardiac arrest. The rigid primary stability with pedicle screws allowed early mobilisation of the patients, which helped to avoid pulmonary complication

Synthesis and cation-receptor properties of macrocyclic imines of anthraquinone

At the present study a series of crown-containing imines of 1-hydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone with donor and acceptor substituents at the anthraquinone nucleus were synthesized. Compounds were prepared photochemically from the corresponding photoactive 1-phenoxyanthraquinones and 4-aminobenzo-15-crown-5 ether. It was established spectrophotometrically that for crown-containing anthraquinone imines that are characterized by "imine-enamine" prototropic tautomerism, the insertion of acceptor substituents shifts the equilibrium to the "enamine" form. This shift leads to essential spectral changes in complexing chlor- and nitrocontaining macrocyclic imines of anthraquinone with alkali and alkaline-earth metal cations

Simple method for sub-diffraction resolution imaging of cellular structures on standard confocal microscopes by three-photon absorption of quantum dots

This study describes a simple technique that improves a recently developed 3D sub-diffraction imaging method based on three-photon absorption of commercially available quantum dots. The method combines imaging of biological samples via tri-exciton generation in quantum dots with deconvolution and spectral multiplexing, resulting in a novel approach for multi-color imaging of even thick biological samples at a 1.4 to 1.9-fold better spatial resolution. This approach is realized on a conventional confocal microscope equipped with standard continuous-wave lasers. We demonstrate the potential of multi-color tri-exciton imaging of quantum dots combined with deconvolution on viral vesicles in lentivirally transduced cells as well as intermediate filaments in three-dimensional clusters of mouse-derived neural stem cells (neurospheres) and dense microtubuli arrays in myotubes formed by stacks of differentiated C2C12 myoblasts