Data path analysis for dynamic circuit specialisation

Dynamic Circuit Specialisation (DCS) is a method that exploits the reconfigurability of modern FPGAs to allow the specialisation of FPGA circuits at run-time. Currently, it is only explored as part of Register-transfer level design. However, at the Register-transfer level (RTL), a large part of the design is already locked in. Therefore, maximally exploiting the opportunities of DCS could require a costly redesign. It would be interesting to already have insight in the opportunities for DCS from the higher abstraction level. Moreover, the general design trend in FPGA design is to work on higher abstraction levels and let tool(s) translate this higher level description to RTL. This paper presents the first profiler that, based on the high-level description of an application, estimates the benefits of an implementation using DCS. This allows a designer to determine much earlier in the design cycle whether or not DCS would be interesting. The high-level profiling methodology was implemented and tested on a set of PID designs

Identifying opportunities for dynamic circuit specialization

This work describes the identification of designs that benefit from a Dynamic Circuit Specialization (DCS) implementation on FPGAs. In DCS, the circuit is specialized for slowly changing inputs, called parameters. For certain applications or cores, a DCS implementation is faster and smaller than the original implementation. However, the best DCS implementation can be hard to identify, as it requires the designer to be familiar with both the design and DCS. In this paper, we present a profiling tool to aid the designer in analyzing the feasibility of a DCS implementation. It automatically provides a functional density estimate for the most interesting DCS implementations

A dynamically reconfigurable pattern matcher for regular expressions on FPGA

In this article we describe how to expand a partially dynamic reconfig- urable pattern matcher for regular expressions presented in previous work by Di- vyasree and Rajashekar [2]. The resulting, extended, pattern matcher is fully dynamically reconfigurable. First, the design is adapted for use with parameterisable configurations, a method for Dynamic Circuit Specialization. Using parameteris- able configurations allows us to achieve the same area gains as the hand crafted reconfigurable design, with the benefit that parameterisable configurations can be applied automatically. This results in a design that is more easily adaptable to spe- cific applications and allows for an easier design exploration. Additionally, the pa- rameterisable configuration implementation is also generated automatically, which greatly reduces the design overhead of using dynamic reconfiguration. Secondly, we propose a number of expansions to the original design to overcome several limitations in the original design that constrain the dynamic reconfigurability of the pattern matcher. We propose two different solutions to dynamically change the character that is matched in a certain block. The resulting pattern matcher, after these changes, is fully dynamically reconfigurable, all aspects of the implemented regular expression can be changed at run-time

Turning on the alarm: the neural mechanisms of the transition from innocuous to painful sensation

The experience of pain occurs when the level of a stimulus is sufficient to elicit a marked affective response, putatively to warn the organism of potential danger and motivate appropriate behavioral responses. Understanding the biological mechanisms of the transition from innocuous to painful levels of sensation is essential to understanding pain perception as well as clinical conditions characterized by abnormal relationships between stimulation and pain response. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to characterize the neural response associated with this transition and the correspondence between that response and subjective reports of pain. Towards this goal, this study examined BOLD response profiles across a range of temperatures spanning the pain threshold. 14 healthy adults underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while a range of thermal stimuli (44-49oC) were applied. BOLD responses showed a sigmoidal profile along the range of temperatures in a network of brain regions including insula and mid- cingulate, as well as a number of regions associated with motor responses including ventral lateral nuclei of the thalamus, globus pallidus and premotor cortex. A sigmoid function fit to the BOLD responses in these regions explained up to 85% of the variance in individual pain ratings, and yielded an estimate of the temperature of steepest transition from non-painful to painful heat that was nearly identical to that generated by subjective ratings. These results demonstrate a precise characterization of the relationship between objective levels of stimulation, resulting neural activation, and subjective experience of pain and provide direct evidence for a neural mechanism supporting the nonlinear transition from innocuous to painful levels along the sensory continuum

Manual-assisted cognitive therapy for self-harm in personality disorder and substance misuse: a feasibility trial

<b>Aims and method</b> To assess the feasibility of conducting a larger, definitive randomised controlled trial of manual-assisted cognitive therapy (MACT), a brief focused therapy to address self-harm and promote engagement in services. We established recruitment, randomisation and assessment of outcome within a sample of these complex patients admitted to a general hospital following self-harm. We assessed symptoms of depressed mood, anxiety and suicidality at baseline and at 3 months’ follow-up.<p></p> <b>Results</b> Twenty patients were randomised to the trial following an index episode of self-harm, and those allocated to MACT demonstrated improvement in anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation.<p></p> <b>Clinical implications</b> It is feasible to recruit a sample of these complex patients to a randomised controlled trial of MACT following an index episode of self-harm. There is preliminary support that MACT could be an acceptable and effective intervention in patients with personality disorder and substance misuse

Productivity pathways: climate-adjusted production frontiers for the Australian broadacre cropping industry

This study introduces two advances to the aggregate productivity index methodology typically employed by ABARES. First, it accounts for the effects of climate variability on measured productivity by matching spatial climate data to individual farms in the ABARES farm surveys database. Second, a farm-level production frontier estimation technique is employed to facilitate the decomposition of productivity change into several key components, including technical change and technical efficiency change. The study makes use of farm-level data from the ABARES Australian agricultural and grazing industries survey database. An unbalanced panel dataset is constructed containing 13 430 observations (4255 farms) over the period 1977–78 to 2007–08. Spatial climate data, including winter and summer seasonal rainfall and average maximum and minimum temperatures, were obtained via the Australian Water Availability Project. These data were mapped to individual farms using Geographic Information System methods. The study employed stochastic frontier analysis methods to estimate a production frontier with time varying technical efficiency effects of the form proposed by Battese and Coelli (1992). Production frontiers are estimated for each of the three major Grains Research and Development Corporation regions: southern, northern and western. Selected climate variables are shown to display a high degree of explanatory power over farm output. The results confirm that deterioration in average climate conditions has contributed significantly to the decline in estimated productivity over the post-2000 period. Technical change is shown to be the primary driver of productivity growth in the industry in the long run, offset by a gradual decline in technical efficiency. After controlling for climate variability, a gradual decline in the rate of technical change is still observed.Productivity Analysis,

What Is Important In Reading In Middle Level Classrooms: A Survey of Classroom Teachers\u27 Perceptions

Should reading instruction in middle level schools be aimed at helping youngsters to acquire more specific, isolated skills of how to read? Or should the focus of reading in middle level schools be on assisting learners to become readers? An answer to both of these critical questions might be — yes. Middle level learners (10 to 14 years old) should grow both in their skillfulness as readers and in the process of becoming readers. Research data and current instructional practices can be found to support both of these positions

Failure to regulate: counterproductive recruitment of top-down prefrontal-subcortical circuitry in major depression

Although depressed mood is a normal occurrence in response to adversity in all individuals, what distinguishes those who are vulnerable to major depressive disorder (MDD) is their inability to effectively regulate negative mood when it arises. Investigating the neural underpinnings of adaptive emotion regulation and the extent to which such processes are compromised in MDD may be helpful in understanding the pathophysiology of depression. We report results from a functional magnetic resonance imaging study demonstrating left-lateralized activation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) when downregulating negative affect in nondepressed individuals, whereas depressed individuals showed bilateral PFC activation. Furthermore, during an effortful affective reappraisal task, nondepressed individuals showed an inverse relationship between activation in left ventrolateral PFC and the amygdala that is mediated by the ventromedial PFC (VMPFC). No such relationship was found for depressed individuals, who instead show a positive association between VMPFC and amygdala. Pupil dilation data suggest that those depressed patients who expend more effort to reappraise negative stimuli are characterized by accentuated activation in the amygdala, insula, and thalamus, whereas nondepressed individuals exhibit the opposite pattern. These findings indicate that a key feature underlying the pathophysiology of major depression is the counterproductive engagement of right prefrontal cortex and the lack of engagement of left lateral-ventromedial prefrontal circuitry important for the downregulation of amygdala responses to negative stimuli

Out of a trade, into a profession: auto-ethnographic research exploring how paramedics learn to become lecturers

When I am asked by my family and friends what I do for a living my answer differs every time. When I started as a lecturer I would say; ‘I am a paramedic that teaches’ or ‘I am a paramedic who works in a university’. The word ‘paramedic’ always came first, and the fact that I work at a university was always disguised or not given prominence. I feel after nearly 5 years in higher education I am starting to feel comfortable stating that I am a ‘lecturer’. Is this reluctance due to my practitioner background? does my professional identity sit within paramedics or academia? Have I fully transitioned out of practice and into education? I want to explore my experiences of this transition and see how this compares to my colleague’s experiences. Wengers (1998) Communities of Practice (CoP) Theory will be used to look at the inhibiting and enabling factors that support participation within social group. As social interaction involves communication between individuals (Illeris, 2007), understanding the individual’s identity Is key to this process. Therefore, the topic of identity will be used as a metric to this transition, to gain a better understanding of how practitioners develop into educators