GPU NTC Process Variation Compensation with Voltage Stacking

Near-threshold computing (NTC) has the potential to significantly improve efficiency in high throughput architectures, such as general-purpose computing on graphic processing unit (GPGPU). Nevertheless, NTC is more sensitive to process variation (PV) as it complicates power delivery. We propose GPU stacking, a novel method based on voltage stacking, to manage the effects of PV and improve the power delivery simultaneously. To evaluate our methodology, we first explore the design space of GPGPUs in the NTC to find a suitable baseline configuration and then apply GPU stacking to mitigate the effects of PV. When comparing with an equivalent NTC GPGPU without PV management, we achieve 37% more performance on average. When considering high production volume, our approach shifts all the chips closer to the nominal non-PV case, delivering on average (across chips) ˜80 % of the performance of nominal NTC GPGPU, whereas when not using our technique, chips would have ˜50 % of the nominal performance. We also show that our approach can be applied on top of multifrequency domain designs, improving the overall performance

Inflammatory biomarkers and brain health indicators in children with overweight and obesity: The ActiveBrains project

INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammation plays an important role on the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, as well as on brain function and behaviour. The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between inflammatory biomarkers and a wide range of brain health indicators (i.e., academic performance, executive function, behavioural and emotional functioning, and brain volume) in children with overweight/obesity. METHODS: A total of 107 children (10.0 ± 1.1 years, 41% girls) from the ActiveBrains project were included in the analysis. Five inflammatory biomarkers were analysed in plasma: white blood cell (WBC) count, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Academic performance was assessed by Woodcock-Munoz Tests of Achievement. Executive function was assessed through the Design Fluency Test for cognitive flexibility, the Stroop test for cognitive inhibition, and the Delayed Non-Match-to-Sample task for working memory. Behavioural and emotional functioning was evaluated through the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) questionnaire. Total and regional brain volume was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: IL-6 was inversely associated with adaptive skills (beta = -0.228; p = 0.030), while TNF-alpha was related to mathematics (beta = -0.198; p = 0.034). In addition, CRP was positively associated with externalizing (beta = 0.246; p = 0.046) and internalizing problems (beta = 0.234; p = 0.039), as well as the behavioural symptoms index (beta = 0.236; p = 0.047). However, these significant associations disappeared after multiple comparisons correction. Inflammatory biomarkers were not associated with executive function and total brain volumes. Regarding regional brain analyses, WBC was positively associated with gray matter volume in the left middle temporal gyrus (beta = 0.387; p < 0.001, k = 44), and CRP was positively associated with gray matter volume in the right superior temporal gyrus (beta = 0.439; p < 0.001, k = 29). Additionally, when adjusting by total brain volume, CRP was positively associated with gray matter volume in the right supplementary motor cortex (beta = 0.453; p < 0.001, k = 51). Moreover, both, IL-6 (beta = 0.366; p < 0.001, k = 81) and TNF-alpha (beta = 0.368; p < 0.001, k = 62) were positively associated with white matter volume around the right inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis, while CRP was inversely associated with white matter volume around the left superior frontal gyrus (beta = -0.482; p < 0.001, k = 82). After adjusting by total brain volume, CRP was also inversely associated with white matter volume in 3 additional clusters (beta ranging from -0.473 to -0.404; p < 0.001, k = 87). CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation was slightly associated with brain health (i.e., academic performance, behavioural and emotional functioning and regional brain volume) in children with overweight or obesity. Further larger longitudinal and interventional studies are warranted to elucidate the short-term and long-term effect of systemic low-grade inflammation on children's brain health

Inflammatory markers and bone mass in children with overweight/obesity: the role of muscular fitness

Objectives To examine which inflammatory markers are associated with bone mass and whether this association varies according to muscular fitness in children with overweight/obesity. Methods Plasma interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), epidermal growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF), and C-reactive protein were analyzed in 55 children aged 8–11 years. A muscular fitness score was computed. Bone mineral content (BMC) of the total body-less head (TBLH) and lumbar spine (LS) were assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Results IL-6 (β = −0.136) and VEGF (β = −0.099) were associated with TBLH BMC, while TNF-α (β = −0.345) and IL-1β (β = 0.212) were associated with LS BMC (P < 0.05). The interaction effect of muscular fitness showed a trend in the association of VEGF with TBLH BMC (P = 0.122) and TNF-α with LS BMC (P = 0.057). Stratified analyses by muscular fitness levels showed an inverse association of VEGF with TBLH BMC (β = −0.152) and TNF-α with LS BMC (β = −0.491) in the low-fitness group, while no association was found in the high-fitness group. Conclusion IL-6, VEGF, TNF-α, and IL-1β are significantly associated with bone mass. Higher muscular fitness may attenuate the adverse effect of high VEGF and TNF-α on bone mass

PsPMEP, a pollen specific pectin methylesterase of pea (Pisum sativum L.)

[EN] Pectin methylesterases (PMEs) are a family of enzymes involved in plant reproductive processes such as pollen development and pollen tube growth. We have isolated and characterized PsPMEP, a pea (Pisum sativum L.) pollen-specific gene that encodes a protein with homology to PMEs. Sequence analysis showed that PsPMEP belongs to group 2 PMEs, which are characterized by the presence of a processable amino-terminal PME inhibitor domain followed by the catalytic PME domain. Moreover, PsPMEP contains several motifs highly conserved among PMEs with the essential amino acid residues involved in enzyme substrate binding and catalysis. Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses showed that PsPMEP is expressed in pollen grains from 4 days before anthesis till anther dehiscence and in pollinated carpels. In the PsPMEP promoter region, we have identified several conserved cis-regulatory elements that have been associated with gene pollen-specific expression. Expression analysis of PsPMEP promoter fused to the uidA reporter gene in Arabidopsis thaliana plants showed a similar expression pattern when compared with pea, indicating that this promoter is also functional in a non-leguminous plant. GUS expression was detected in mature pollen grains, during pollen germination, during pollen tube elongation along the transmitting tract, and when the pollen tube reaches the embryo sac in the ovule.This work was funded by grants BIO2006-09374 and BIO2009-08134 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). The collaboration and assistance of Julia Marin-Navarro in the catalytic activity assays of PsPMEP in yeast and Rafael Martinez-Pardo in the greenhouse is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank the HAPRECI consortium (COST Action FA0903) to bring us the opportunity to collaborate with other European research groups working in the field of Plant Reproduction and to select our manuscript to be published in this special issue.Gómez Jiménez, MD.; Renau Morata, B.; Roque Mesa, EM.; Polaina, J.; Beltran Porter, JP.; Cañas Clemente, LA. (2013). PsPMEP, a pollen specific pectin methylesterase of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Plant Reproduction. 26(3):245-254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-013-0220-0S245254263Bate N, Twell D (1998) Functional architecture of a late pollen promoter: pollen specific transcription is developmentally regulated by multiple stage-specific and co-dependent activator elements. Plant Mol Biol 37:859–869Bechtold N, Ellis J, Pelletier G (1993) In planta Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer by infiltration of adult Arabidopsis thaliana plants. 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The Arabidopsis Transcription Factor CDF3 Is Involved in Nitrogen Responses and Improves Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Tomato

Nitrate is an essential macronutrient and a signal molecule that regulates the expression of multiple genes involved in plant growth and development. Here, we describe the participation of Arabidopsis DNA binding with one finger (DOF) transcription factor CDF3 in nitrate responses and shows that CDF3 gene is induced under nitrate starvation. Moreover, knockout cdf3 mutant plants exhibit nitrate-dependent lateral and primary root modifications, whereas CDF3 overexpression plants show increased biomass and enhanced root development under both nitrogen poor and rich conditions. Expression analyses of 35S::CDF3 lines reveled that CDF3 regulates the expression of an important set of nitrate responsive genes including, glutamine synthetase-1, glutamate synthase-2, nitrate reductase-1, and nitrate transporters NRT2.1, NRT2.4, and NRT2.5 as well as carbon assimilation genes like PK1 and PEPC1 in response to N availability. Consistently, metabolite profiling disclosed that the total amount of key N metabolites like glutamate, glutamine, and asparagine were higher in CDF3-overexpressing plants, but lower in cdf3-1 in N limiting conditions. Moreover, overexpression of CDF3 in tomato increased N accumulation and yield efficiency under both optimum and limiting N supply. These results highlight CDF3 as an important regulatory factor for the nitrate response, and its potential for improving N use efficiency in crops

The Mediating Role of Brown Fat and Skeletal Muscle Measured by 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose in the Thermoregulatory System in Young Adults

The authors would like to thank all the participants who took part in this investigation. This study is part of a PhD thesis conducted in the Biomedicine Doctoral Studies of the University of Granada, Spain. We are grateful to Alberto Quesada-Aranda for helping with the development of the Temperatus software (free trial at http://profith.ugr.es/ temperatus?lang=en). We are grateful to Ms Carmen Sainz-Quinn for assistance with English-language editingObjective: This study aimed to examine whether brown adipose tissue (BAT) or skeletal muscle activity mediates the relationship between personal level of environmental temperature (Personal-ET) and wrist skin temperature (WT). Moreover, we examined whether BAT and skeletal muscle have a mediating role between Personal-ET and WT (as a proxy of peripheral vasoconstriction/vasodilation). Methods: The levels of BAT were quantified by cold-induced 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose–positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan and measured the Personal-ET and WT by using iButtons (Maxim Integrated, Dallas, Texas) in 75 participants (74.6% women). Results: The study found that BAT volume and metabolic activity played a positive and significant role (up to 25.4%) in the association between Personal-ET and WT. In addition, at the coldest temperatures, the participants with lower levels of WT (inducing higher peripheral vasoconstriction) had higher levels of BAT outcomes, whereas in warm temperatures, participants with higher levels of WT (inducing higher peripheral vasodilation) had lower levels of BAT outcomes. The study did not find any mediating role of skeletal muscle activity. Conclusions: BAT volume and metabolic activity play a role in the relationship between Personal-ET and WT. Moreover, the data suggest that there are two distinct phenotypes: individuals who respond better to the cold, both through nonshivering thermogenesis and peripheral vasoconstriction, and individuals who respond better to the heat.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393), Retos de la Sociedad (DEP2016‐79512‐R), and Fondos Estructurales de la Unión Europea (FEDER); by the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU 13/04365); by the Fundación Iberoamericana de Nutrición; by the Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMID RD16/0022); by AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation; by the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigación 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES); and by the Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR, Programa Contratos‐Puente. MAR is supported by a predoctoral research grant from University Jaume I (PREDOC/2015/13). AMN was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CB16/10/00239), and grant 19899/GERM/15 (cofinanced by FEDER)

Multifaceted role of cycling DOF factor 3 (CDF3) in the regulation of flowering time and abiotic stress responses in Arabidopsis

[EN] DNA-binding with one finger (DOF)-type transcription factors are involved in many fundamental processes in higher plants, from responses to light and phytohormones to flowering time and seed maturation, but their relation with abiotic stress tolerance is largely unknown. Here, we identify the roles of CDF3, an Arabidopsis DOF gene in abiotic stress responses and developmental processes like flowering time. CDF3 is highly induced by drought, extreme temperatures and abscisic acid treatment. The CDF3 T-DNA insertion mutant cdf3-1 is much more sensitive to drought and low temperature stress, whereas CDF3 overexpression enhances the tolerance of transgenic plants to drought, cold and osmotic stress and promotes late flowering. Transcriptome analysis revealed that CDF3 regulates a set of genes involved in cellular osmoprotection and oxidative stress, including the stress tolerance transcription factors CBFs, DREB2A and ZAT12, which involve both gigantea-dependent and independent pathways. Consistently, metabolite profiling disclosed that the total amount of some protective metabolites including -aminobutyric acid, proline, glutamine and sucrose were higher in CDF3-overexpressing plants. Taken together, these results indicate that CDF3 plays a multifaceted role acting on both flowering time and abiotic stress tolerance, in part by controlling the CBF/DREB2A-CRT/DRE and ZAT10/12 modules.We thank Dr Pablo Gonzalez-Melendi and Dr Jan Zouhar for technical handling of the confocal microscope and Dr Rafael Catala for the assistance with the low temperature stress assays. This work was supported by grants from Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA; projects 2009-0004-C01, 2012-0008-C01), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (projects BIO2010-1487, BFU2013-49665-EXP). A.R.C. and J.D.F. were supported by INIA pre-doctoral fellowshipsCorrales, AR.; Carrillo, L.; Lasierra, P.; Nebauer, SG.; Dominguez-Figueroa, J.; Renau-Morata, B.; Pollmann, S.... (2017). Multifaceted role of cycling DOF factor 3 (CDF3) in the regulation of flowering time and abiotic stress responses in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell & Environment. 40(5):748-764. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12894S748764405Achard, P., Gong, F., Cheminant, S., Alioua, M., Hedden, P., & Genschik, P. (2008). The Cold-Inducible CBF1 Factor–Dependent Signaling Pathway Modulates the Accumulation of the Growth-Repressing DELLA Proteins via Its Effect on Gibberellin Metabolism. The Plant Cell, 20(8), 2117-2129. doi:10.1105/tpc.108.058941Ahuja, I., de Vos, R. C. H., Bones, A. M., & Hall, R. D. (2010). Plant molecular stress responses face climate change. Trends in Plant Science, 15(12), 664-674. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2010.08.002Alonso, R., Oñate-Sánchez, L., Weltmeier, F., Ehlert, A., Diaz, I., Dietrich, K., … Dröge-Laser, W. (2009). A Pivotal Role of the Basic Leucine Zipper Transcription Factor bZIP53 in the Regulation of Arabidopsis Seed Maturation Gene Expression Based on Heterodimerization and Protein Complex Formation. The Plant Cell, 21(6), 1747-1761. doi:10.1105/tpc.108.062968BEUVE, N., RISPAIL, N., LAINE, P., CLIQUET, J.-B., OURRY, A., & LE DEUNFF, E. (2004). Putative role of gamma -aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a long-distance signal in up-regulation of nitrate uptake in Brassica napus L. Plant, Cell and Environment, 27(8), 1035-1046. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3040.2004.01208.xBlümel, M., Dally, N., & Jung, C. (2015). Flowering time regulation in crops — what did we learn from Arabidopsis? 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