High resolution FPGA DPWM based on variable clock phase shifting

Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. A. de Castro, "High resolution FPGA DPWM based on variable clock phase shifting" IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics – Letters section, vol.25, no.5, pp.1115 - 1119, mayo 2010This paper proposes a very high resolution DPWM architecture that takes advantage of an FPGA advanced clock management capability: the fine phase shifting of the clock. This feature is available in almost every FPGA nowadays, allowing very small and programmable delays between the input and output clocks. An original use of this fine phaseshifting pushes the limits of DPWM resolution. The experimental results show a time resolution of 19.5 ps in a Virtex-5 FPGA

Impact of the hardened floating-point cores on HIL technology

The Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) technique is increasingly used for testing power electronics. FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Array) are becoming usual in this kind of emulation due to their acceleration capabilities. But even using FPGAs, it has not been possible to reach real time simulations when small integration steps are necessary (around 100 ns or lower) if floating-point representation is used. Fixed-point has been the solution, but at a high design effort cost. With the release of FPGAs with HFP (Hardened Floating-Point) cores – dedicated floating-point blocks implemented in silicon – the minimum achievable simulation step decreases significantly. This paper presents a comparison between HFP cores, floating-point in programmable logic and fixed-point for HIL models. Results show that both HFP-based and fixed-point arithmetic achieve a simulation step around 10 ns for a full-bridge converter model. A comparison regarding resolution and accuracy is also presented, because acceleration is not the only issue when decreasing the integration step. Numerical resolution also plays an important role, and 32-bit floating-point representation finds a double barrier: acceleration marked by technology, and numerical resolution. Both are explored in this paperThis work has been supported by the Spanish Ministerio deEconomía y Competitividad under project TEC2013-43017-

Hardware/software co-design for real time embedded image processing: A case study

Many image processing applications need real time performance, while having restrictions of size, weight and power consumption. These include a wide range of embedded systems from remote sensing applications to mobile phones. FPGA-based solutions are common for these applications, their main drawback being long development time. In this work a co-design methodology for processor-centric embedded systems with hardware acceleration using FPGAs is applied to an image processing method for localization of multiple robots. The goal of the methodology is to achieve a real-time embedded solution using hardware acceleration, but with development time similar to software projects. The final embedded co-designed solution processes 1600×1200 pixel images at a rate of 25 fps, achieving a 12.6× acceleration from the original software solution. This solution runs with a comparable speed as up-to-date PC-based systems, and it is smaller, cheaper and demands less power. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.Fil:Pedre, S. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

Estimación estadística de consumo en FPGAs

Tesis doctoral inédita. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Escuela Politécnica Superior, junio de 200

Elevated T-box 2 in infantile hemangioma stem cells maintains an adipogenic differentiation-competent state

Infantile hemangioma is a benign vascular tumor that affects 4 to 10% of neonates. A unique feature of hemangiomas is the natural lifecycle, whereby the tumor rapidly grows and then spontaneously regresses to a fibrofatty residuum. We have shown that hemangiomas are derived from multipotential stem cells (hemSCs), which differentiate into endothelial cells during the early proliferating phase and into adipocytes during the later involutive phase. T-box 2 (TBX2) is a transcription factor involved in controlling cell-fate decisions, and is highly expressed during the proliferating phase of hemangioma development. We hypothesize that TBX2 expression would be high in hemSCs derived from human hemangiomas and inhibiting TBX2 would result in changes in hemSC differentiation potential. To test our hypothesis, we analyzed hemSCs for TBX2 mRNA and protein expression. We then used RNA interference and TBX2 overexpression to determine the effect of altering TBX2 levels on hemSC growth and differentiation. Our studies show that TBX2 is highly expressed in hemSCs compared with a panel of normal stem/progenitor cells and mature vascular cells. TBX2 knockdown completely abolished adipogenic differentiation of hemSCs without significantly altering growth. Furthermore, overexpression of TBX2 led to enhanced adipogenic differentiation ability possibly through induction of C/EBPβ. From these findings, we believe that TBX2 is active in hemSCs and that TBX2 maintains an adipogenic differentiation-competent state of hemSCs. These findings may be important in the development of better treatment options for hemangiomas to accelerate involution. © 2013 Landes Bioscience

La matemática y la teoría del conocimiento en la ficción de Jorge Luis Borges

For many of us, connecting math and literature seems very bizarre since we think that it is very hard to use numbers to express our literary thoughts. Yet, we forget that first mathematicians were philosophers (or is it the other way around?) who wanted to explain nature and events around them in simple mathematical findings. Somehow throughout human history, as our knowledge was expanding and it became increasingly harder and harder to be well rounded like the Greeks, we became specialized and detached from other sciences. Nevertheless, math stayed in the core of each new science that would branch throughout history. With his powerful symbols and fascinating metaphors, Borges takes us on a journey through the labyrinths of many seeking to achieve that original unity, elemental One. We gaze through the mirrors into the infinity of aleph, walk on endless lines of paradoxes, and find beauty and mathematical rhythm in infinite fractals and cosmic possibilities. My thesis will be based on Borges’ fiction and significant mathematical findings throughout the history of thought that Borges uses to express his philosophical perspectives. I will simultaneously explore both scientific conclusions and Borges’ literal expression and show the connection that he strives to ascertain looking for a bridge between the two worlds: numerical and philosophical. This search will happen on three levels: formal, structural and essential. On the formal level, through geometric figures and numbers, I will show how he establishes the connection between ancient Greek philosophy and math on one side and his own literal expression. On the structural level, using , harmony and mathematical symmetry I will explore his philosophical point of view on disharmony and chaos. On the essential level, I\u27ll open up the door to infinity: I’ll start with Zeno’s linear paradox and how Georg Cantor used theory of sets to find solution; through Pascal and his perception of spherical God we’ll walk into Fibonnacci’s number theory which will take us to a final part of this work, to fractals and probability. Although continuously concerned with infinity, I’ll show how Borges uses fractals to create simultaneous possibilities and modem theory on probability that can offer some order to the random world of luck

Case 13 : Chikungunya in the Americas: Estimating the Burden of Disease and Cost of Illness

An intern at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington, DC is conducting an economic impact assessment of a Chikungunya epidemic in the Caribbean. PAHO would like to promote preparedness amongst PAHO member states and forecasting the economic impact may encourage governments to increase disease mitigation efforts. Chikungunya had been spreading through the Caribbean for several months and concerns about the impact of an epidemic in Jamaica were heightened by its reliance on tourism. The intern must incorporate information from a variety of sources to forecast the burden of disease and cost of illness of a Chikungunya outbreak in Jamaica

Introducing Programmable Logic to Undergraduate Engineering Students in a Digital Electronics Course

Due to significant technological advances andindustry requirements, many universities have introduced programmable logic and hardware description languages into undergraduate engineering curricula. This has led to a number of logistical and didactical challenges, in particular for computer science students. In this paper, the integration of some programmable logic concepts into an introductory digital electronics course is presented. The proposed optional lab develops a printed circuit board that implements a programmable logic block. Another contribution is the collaborative problem-solving methodology used to achieve this goal. Surveys completed by the students, and their final grades, show that the lab has improved the quality of their education and has contributed to a successful integration of programmable logic concepts in an introductory digital electronics course. Because of its demands on students? time and effort, the lab favors the most motivated students. This suggests future research on a proposal for a lab that would be feasible within the time constraints for even the least motivated students.Fil: Todorovich, Elías. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Informática Avanzada; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; ArgentinaFil: Marone, José Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Informática Avanzada; ArgentinaFil: Vazquez, Martin Osvaldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnología Informática Avanzada; Argentin

Legitimate Physical Education - Emphasis on the Education

Many educators and members of the lay public have differing definitions and understandings of school physical education. Based largely on personal experience or perception, many believe that school physical education should merely be a time during the day where children and adolescents are physically active in an effort to produce healthy outcomes. However, this is not only an improbable outcome, it greatly limits opportunities for children to become proficient within the psychomotor learning domain. Because school physical education is the only subject area where the physical domain is strictly addressed, the purpose of this essay is to define, affirm, and depict an alternative to merely providing a fun and active curriculum in physical education for students. This alternative is known as “legitimate physical education,” and provides children with a true learning experience that can produce physically educated adults who have the skills, knowledge, and desire to engage in healthy and active lifestyles