Parallel Implementation of the Accelerated Integer GCD Algorithm

AbstractThe accelerated integer greatest common divisor (GCD) algorithm has been shown to be one of the most efficient in practice. This paper describes a parallel implementation of the accelerated algorithm for the Sequent Balance, a shared-memory multiprocessor. For input of roughly 10 000 digits, it displays speed-ups of 1.6, 2.5, 3.4 and 4.0 using 2, 4, 8 and 16 processors, respectively

Seven Strategies for Successfully Marketing and Stabilizing the Occupancy of Mixed-Income/Mixed-Race Properties - Summary Report

Mixed-Income rental properties that include extremely low-income households (below 30 percent of AMI) are a valuable strategy for community health. They simultaneously address two critical challenges: housing for those most in need and desegregating poverty. Understanding how to operate mixed-income apartments profitably is important to increase the development and underwriting of these properties.With the generous support of the Ford Foundation, NeighborWorks America undertook this study of management and marketing practices of successful mixed-income properties that have served extremely low-income families while maintaining positive cash flow for at least five years.This report describes seven strategies used by these properties to stabilize and maintain high occupancy rates with healthy operating budgets. For each strategy, we provide concrete implementation examples

Choosing to Serve? An Exploration of Student Self-Selection of Service Learning Projects

This study explores student selection of service learning projects in lieu of traditional library research projects. One hundred fifty-four strategic management students completed surveys exploring their tolerance of ambiguity, time pressure, attitudes toward civic participation, self-efficacy toward service, political conservatism, and the role business school’s should play in civic education. The study examined their responses to survey questions in light of their project selection. The study identified factors important for faculty in designing and developing service learning projects as well as key areas for future research

Priorities for research in trauma care: creating a bucket list

Trauma represents a major global health burden, yet receives disproportionally less funding compared to other medical conditions. One report found that injury research constituted only 6% of all research grants provided by major funders. Alas, if only there was an endless funding resource for trauma and critical care research. Indeed, only those who have tried to get past the high doors of the federal and institutional research funding programmes (where these even exist) can tell of the intricacies involved, the frustration and pain of rejections, the hard work and relentless hours of tedious reporting to reach an even remotely slim chance for a well-funded research programme on a perceived valuable theme and a well-designed project. Clearly, there is a need to prioritize. The critical questions are what to investigate, what to fund and, what are the clinical implications and for whom? And, hence, how to strengthen the trauma chain of survival?publishedVersio

Involvement of the default mode network under varying levels of cognitive effort

Everyday cognitive functioning is characterized by constant alternations between different modes of information processing, driven by constant fluctuations in environmental demands. At the neural level, this is realized through corresponding dynamic shifts in functional activation and network connectivity. A distinction is often made between resting and task processing and between task-negative and task-positive functional networks. The Default Mode Network (DMN) is classically considered as a resting state (i.e. task-negative) network, upregulated in the absence of cognitive demands. In contrast, task-positive networks have been labelled the Extrinsic Mode Network (EMN). We investigated changes in brain activation and functional network connectivity in an experimental situation of repeated alterations between levels of cognitive effort, following a block-design. Using fMRI and a classic Stroop paradigm, participants switched back and forth between periods of no effort (resting), low effort (word reading, i.e. automatic processing based on learned internal representations and rules) and high effort (color naming, i.e. cognitively controlled perceptual processing of specific features of external stimuli). Results showed an expected EMN-activation for task versus resting contrasts, and DMN-activation for rest versus task contrasts. The DMN was in addition more strongly activated during periods of low effort contrasted with high effort, suggesting a gradual up- and down-regulation of the DMN network, depending on the level of demand and the type of processing required. The often reported “anti-correlation” between DMN and EMN was strongest during periods of low effort, indicating intermittent contributions of both networks. Taken together, these results challenge the traditional view of the DMN as solely a task-negative network. Instead, both the EMN and DMN may contribute to low-effort cognitive processing. In contrast, periods of resting and high effort are dominated by the DMN and EMN, respectively.publishedVersio

Priorities for research in trauma care: creating a bucket list

publishedVersio

A Modular Integer GCD Algorithm

This paper describes the first algorithm to compute the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two n-bit integers using a modular representation for intermediate values U, V and also for the result. It is based on a reduction step, similar to one used in the accelerated algorithm [T. Jebelean, A generalization of the binary GCD algorithm, in: ISSAC \u2793: International Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation, Kiev, Ukraine, 1993, pp. 111–116; K. Weber, The accelerated integer GCD algorithm, ACM Trans. Math. Softw. 21 (1995) 111–122] when U and V are close to the same size, that replaces U by (U-bV)/p, where p is one of the prime moduli and b is the unique integer in the interval (-p/2,p/2) such that b=UV ^-1(mod p) . When the algorithm is executed on a bit common CRCW PRAM with O(n log n log log log n) processors, it takes O(n) time in the worst case. A heuristic model of the average case yields O(n/log n) time on the same number of processors

Human Robot Interface for Assistive Grasping

This work describes a new human-in-the-loop (HitL) assistive grasping system for individuals with varying levels of physical capabilities. We investigated the feasibility of using four potential input devices with our assistive grasping system interface, using able-bodied individuals to define a set of quantitative metrics that could be used to assess an assistive grasping system. We then took these measurements and created a generalized benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of any arbitrary input device into a HitL grasping system. The four input devices were a mouse, a speech recognition device, an assistive switch, and a novel sEMG device developed by our group that was connected either to the forearm or behind the ear of the subject. These preliminary results provide insight into how different interface devices perform for generalized assistive grasping tasks and also highlight the potential of sEMG based control for severely disabled individuals.Comment: 8 pages, 21 figure