A Convolve-And-MErge Approach for Exact Computations on High-Performance Reconfigurable Computers

This work presents an approach for accelerating arbitrary-precision arithmetic on high-performance reconfigurable computers (HPRCs). Although faster and smaller, fixed-precision arithmetic has inherent rounding and overflow problems that can cause errors in scientific or engineering applications. This recurring phenomenon is usually referred to as numerical nonrobustness. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in the paradigm of exact computation, based on arbitrary-precision arithmetic. There are a number of libraries and/or languages supporting this paradigm, for example, the GNU multiprecision (GMP) library. However, the performance of computations is significantly reduced in comparison to that of fixed-precision arithmetic. In order to reduce this performance gap, this paper investigates the acceleration of arbitrary-precision arithmetic on HPRCs. A Convolve-And-MErge approach is proposed, that implements virtual convolution schedules derived from the formal representation of the arbitrary-precision multiplication problem. Additionally, dynamic (nonlinear) pipeline techniques are also exploited in order to achieve speedups ranging from 5x (addition) to 9x (multiplication), while keeping resource usage of the reconfigurable device low, ranging from 11% to 19%

Management and restoration of pastures and rangelands in the mediterranean basin from the northern and the southern perspective

Pastoralism is a traditional land use in the Mediterranean region lasting for several thousands of years, where vegetation and animal communities are adapted to deal with summer drought periods and grazing pressure. There is a difference between the two shores of the Mediterranean in terms of pastoralism, it is more a mode of subsistence in the South, whereas in the North is a complementary activity each time less profitable. In addition, there is a clear North-South climatic gradient that determines rangelands productivity, carrying capacity, sustainable management and resilience. The environmental and socio-economical differences among the Northern and the Southern shores of the basin determine separated trends in both shores, leading to different management and future perspectives of rangelands. In addition to climate, differences in demographic pressure and socio-economical context influence rangeland status across the Mediterranean basin. Abandonment of grazing activities in North Mediterranean region vs. grazing intensification or even sedentarization in South Mediterranean region are the main socio-economical drivers, with important consequences on rangeland conservation. Despite regional differences, global warming affects the Mediterranean rangelands as a whole, increasing the shortage of water availability and the summer stress. These common perspective should promote that northern and southern rangeland managers and researchers learn from each other to deal with rangeland conservation, management and restoration. The latest research address pastoral production systems as a whole, and considers pastoral improvement techniques as a component in a holistic approach

Influence of Light and Heavy Thresholds on SUSY Unification

In this paper we study and compare susy unification using two different approaches in order to take into account the effect of light particle thresholds on the evolution of gauge couplings: the step--function approximation, on the one hand, and a mass dependent procedure, which gives a more accurate description of the dependence of the results on the masses, on the other. We also include the effect of heavy thresholds, when $SU(5)$ is chosen as the unifying group. We find that the mass--dependent procedure excludes scenarios where all susy masses are below $1\;TeV$, and favors a value of $\alpha_3(m_Z)$ near its upper experimental bound, contrary to the results obtained with the step--function approximation. We underline the dependence of the results on the procedure chosen to deal with light thresholds.Comment: 18 pages,LAEFF-93/014,REVTEX-2.1, 5 figures not included, available upon request (include FAX number)

Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have elicited a great clinical interest, particularly in the areas of regenerative medicine and induction of tolerance in allogeneic transplantation. Previous reports demonstrated the feasibility of transplanting MSCs, which generates new prospects in cellular therapy. Recently, injection of MSCs induced remission of steroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). This review summarizes the knowledge and possible future clinical uses of MSCs

A parameterized scheme of metaheuristics with exact methods for determining the Principle of Least Action in Data Envelopment Analysis

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric methodology for estimating technical efficiency of a set of Decision Making Units (DMUs) from a dataset of inputs and outputs. This paper is devoted to computational aspects of DEA models under the application of the Principle of Least Action. This principle guarantees that the efficient closest targets are determined as benchmarks for each assessed unit. Usually, these models have been addressed in the literature by applying unsatisfactory techniques, based fundamentally on combinatorial NPhard problems. Recently, some heuristics have been developed to partially solve these DEA models. This paper improves the heuristic methods used in previous works by applying a combination of metaheuristics and an exact method. Also, a parameterized scheme of metaheuristics is developed in order to implement metaheuristics and hybridations/combinations, adapting them to the particular problem proposed here. In this scheme, some parameters are used to study several types of metaheuristics, like Greedy Random Adaptative Search Procedure, Genetic Algorithms or Scatter Search. The exact method is included inside the metaheuristic to solve the particular model presented in this paper. A hyperheuristic is used on top of the parameterized scheme in order to search, in the space of metaheuristics, for metaheuristics that provide solutions close to the optimum. The method is competitive with exact methods, obtaining fitness close to the optimum with low computational timeJ. Aparicio and M. González thank the financial support from the Spanish ‘Ministerio de Economa, Industria y Competitividad’ (MINECO), the ‘Agencia Estatal de Investigacion’ and the ‘Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional’ under grant MTM2016-79765-P (AEI/FEDER, UE).Additionally, D. Giméenez thanks the financial support from the Spanish MINECO, as well as by European Commission FEDER funds, under grant TIN2015-66972-C5-3-R

Delta Baryon Magnetic Moments From Lattice QCD

Theoretical predictions for the magnetic moments of the physical Delta baryons are extracted from lattice QCD calculations. We utilize finite-range regulated effective field theory that is constructed to have the correct Dirac moment mass dependence in the region where the up and down quark masses are heavy. Of particular interest is the chiral nonanalytic behaviour encountered as the nucleon-pion decay channel opens. We find a Delta^++ magnetic moment (at the Delta pole) of 4.99 \pm 0.56 \mu_N. This result is within the Particle Data Group range of 3.7-7.5 \mu_N and compares well with the experimental result of Bosshard et al. of 4.52 \pm 0.51 \pm 0.45 \mu_N. The interplay between the different pion-loop contributions to the Delta^+ magnetic moment leads to the surprising result that the proton moment may exceed that of the Delta^+, contrary to conventional expectations.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, RevTex 4; Updated to include a recent experimental resul

The First Model-Based Geostatistical Map of Anaemia

Abdisalan Noor discusses new research in <i>PLoS Medicine<I> that used model-based geostatistics to investigate the risks of anemia among preschool-aged children in West Africa that were attributable to malnutrition, malaria, and helminth infections

Capnocytophaga species and preterm birth: case series and review of the literature

AbstractCapnocytophaga, a genus of Gram-negative anaerobes that inhabit the oral cavity, has been reported to be an unusual cause of chorioamnionitis and neonatal infection. We report five cases of Capnocytophaga spp. infections in preterm infants (one proven infection and four probable infections) and review 14 previously reported cases. We suggest that Capnocytophaga sp. may be responsible for some occult causes of chorioamnionitis or preterm birth, and that the prevalence of this infection may be higher than previously reported

Study of CdI2{\rm CdI_2} nanocrystals dispersed in amorphous Sb2S3{\rm Sb_2S_3} matrix

Crystalline nanoparticles of cadmium iodide where suspended in the amorphous matrix of antimony trisulphide. Both materials are layered structured and have large band-gaps however cadmium iodide exhibits polytypism, i.e. it exists in various different crystalline states. Different crystalline states are marked by wholely different dielectric constants which give rise to sharp surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks in the UV-visible. The manuscript details the variation in SPR's with heat-treatment of the films.Comment: 10 pages 8 figures submitted to PR