Parallel Computing for Probabilistic Response Analysis of High Temperature Composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sues, R. H.; Lua, Y. J.; Smith, M. D.

1994-01-01

The objective of this Phase I research was to establish the required software and hardware strategies to achieve large scale parallelism in solving PCM problems. To meet this objective, several investigations were conducted. First, we identified the multiple levels of parallelism in PCM and the computational strategies to exploit these parallelisms. Next, several software and hardware efficiency investigations were conducted. These involved the use of three different parallel programming paradigms and solution of two example problems on both a shared-memory multiprocessor and a distributed-memory network of workstations.

Parallel basal ganglia circuits for voluntary and automatic behaviour to reach rewards

PubMed Central

Hikosaka, Okihide

2015-01-01

The basal ganglia control body movements, value processing and decision-making. Many studies have shown that the inputs and outputs of each basal ganglia structure are topographically organized, which suggests that the basal ganglia consist of separate circuits that serve distinct functions. A notable example is the circuits that originate from the rostral (head) and caudal (tail) regions of the caudate nucleus, both of which target the superior colliculus. These two caudate regions encode the reward values of visual objects differently: flexible (short-term) values by the caudate head and stable (long-term) values by the caudate tail. These value signals in the caudate guide the orienting of gaze differently: voluntary saccades by the caudate head circuit and automatic saccades by the caudate tail circuit. Moreover, separate groups of dopamine neurons innervate the caudate head and tail and may selectively guide the flexible and stable learning/memory in the caudate regions. Studies focusing on manual handling of objects also suggest that rostrocaudally separated circuits in the basal ganglia control the action differently. These results suggest that the basal ganglia contain parallel circuits for two steps of goal-directed behaviour: finding valuable objects and manipulating the valuable objects. These parallel circuits may underlie voluntary behaviour and automatic skills, enabling animals (including humans) to adapt to both volatile and stable environments. This understanding of the functions and mechanisms of the basal ganglia parallel circuits may inform the differential diagnosis and treatment of basal ganglia disorders. PMID:25981958

Effects of parallel planning on agreement production.

PubMed

Veenstra, Alma; Meyer, Antje S; Acheson, Daniel J

2015-11-01

An important issue in current psycholinguistics is how the time course of utterance planning affects the generation of grammatical structures. The current study investigated the influence of parallel activation of the components of complex noun phrases on the generation of subject-verb agreement. Specifically, the lexical interference account (Gillespie & Pearlmutter, 2011b; Solomon & Pearlmutter, 2004) predicts more agreement errors (i.e., attraction) for subject phrases in which the head and local noun mismatch in number (e.g., the apple next to the pears) when nouns are planned in parallel than when they are planned in sequence. We used a speeded picture description task that yielded sentences such as the apple next to the pears is red. The objects mentioned in the noun phrase were either semantically related or unrelated. To induce agreement errors, pictures sometimes mismatched in number. In order to manipulate the likelihood of parallel processing of the objects and to test the hypothesized relationship between parallel processing and the rate of agreement errors, the pictures were either placed close together or far apart. Analyses of the participants' eye movements and speech onset latencies indicated slower processing of the first object and stronger interference from the related (compared to the unrelated) second object in the close than in the far condition. Analyses of the agreement errors yielded an attraction effect, with more errors in mismatching than in matching conditions. However, the magnitude of the attraction effect did not differ across the close and far conditions. Thus, spatial proximity encouraged parallel processing of the pictures, which led to interference of the associated conceptual and/or lexical representation, but, contrary to the prediction, it did not lead to more attraction errors. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On the costs of parallel processing in dual-task performance: The case of lexical processing in word production.

PubMed

Paucke, Madlen; Oppermann, Frank; Koch, Iring; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2015-12-01

Previous dual-task picture-naming studies suggest that lexical processes require capacity-limited processes and prevent other tasks to be carried out in parallel. However, studies involving the processing of multiple pictures suggest that parallel lexical processing is possible. The present study investigated the specific costs that may arise when such parallel processing occurs. We used a novel dual-task paradigm by presenting 2 visual objects associated with different tasks and manipulating between-task similarity. With high similarity, a picture-naming task (T1) was combined with a phoneme-decision task (T2), so that lexical processes were shared across tasks. With low similarity, picture-naming was combined with a size-decision T2 (nonshared lexical processes). In Experiment 1, we found that a manipulation of lexical processes (lexical frequency of T1 object name) showed an additive propagation with low between-task similarity and an overadditive propagation with high between-task similarity. Experiment 2 replicated this differential forward propagation of the lexical effect and showed that it disappeared with longer stimulus onset asynchronies. Moreover, both experiments showed backward crosstalk, indexed as worse T1 performance with high between-task similarity compared with low similarity. Together, these findings suggest that conditions of high between-task similarity can lead to parallel lexical processing in both tasks, which, however, does not result in benefits but rather in extra performance costs. These costs can be attributed to crosstalk based on the dual-task binding problem arising from parallel processing. Hence, the present study reveals that capacity-limited lexical processing can run in parallel across dual tasks but only at the expense of extraordinary high costs. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Parallel and Serial Grouping of Image Elements in Visual Perception

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houtkamp, Roos; Roelfsema, Pieter R.

2010-01-01

The visual system groups image elements that belong to an object and segregates them from other objects and the background. Important cues for this grouping process are the Gestalt criteria, and most theories propose that these are applied in parallel across the visual scene. Here, we find that Gestalt grouping can indeed occur in parallel in some…

Three-dimensional Finite Element Formulation and Scalable Domain Decomposition for High Fidelity Rotor Dynamic Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Datta, Anubhav; Johnson, Wayne R.

2009-01-01

This paper has two objectives. The first objective is to formulate a 3-dimensional Finite Element Model for the dynamic analysis of helicopter rotor blades. The second objective is to implement and analyze a dual-primal iterative substructuring based Krylov solver, that is parallel and scalable, for the solution of the 3-D FEM analysis. The numerical and parallel scalability of the solver is studied using two prototype problems - one for ideal hover (symmetric) and one for a transient forward flight (non-symmetric) - both carried out on up to 48 processors. In both hover and forward flight conditions, a perfect linear speed-up is observed, for a given problem size, up to the point of substructure optimality. Substructure optimality and the linear parallel speed-up range are both shown to depend on the problem size as well as on the selection of the coarse problem. With a larger problem size, linear speed-up is restored up to the new substructure optimality. The solver also scales with problem size - even though this conclusion is premature given the small prototype grids considered in this study.

Parallel Implementation of the Discontinuous Galerkin Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baggag, Abdalkader; Atkins, Harold; Keyes, David

1999-01-01

This paper describes a parallel implementation of the discontinuous Galerkin method. Discontinuous Galerkin is a spatially compact method that retains its accuracy and robustness on non-smooth unstructured grids and is well suited for time dependent simulations. Several parallelization approaches are studied and evaluated. The most natural and symmetric of the approaches has been implemented in all object-oriented code used to simulate aeroacoustic scattering. The parallel implementation is MPI-based and has been tested on various parallel platforms such as the SGI Origin, IBM SP2, and clusters of SGI and Sun workstations. The scalability results presented for the SGI Origin show slightly superlinear speedup on a fixed-size problem due to cache effects.

Parallel grid population

DOEpatents

Wald, Ingo; Ize, Santiago

2015-07-28

Parallel population of a grid with a plurality of objects using a plurality of processors. One example embodiment is a method for parallel population of a grid with a plurality of objects using a plurality of processors. The method includes a first act of dividing a grid into n distinct grid portions, where n is the number of processors available for populating the grid. The method also includes acts of dividing a plurality of objects into n distinct sets of objects, assigning a distinct set of objects to each processor such that each processor determines by which distinct grid portion(s) each object in its distinct set of objects is at least partially bounded, and assigning a distinct grid portion to each processor such that each processor populates its distinct grid portion with any objects that were previously determined to be at least partially bounded by its distinct grid portion.

WFIRST: Science from the Guest Investigator and Parallel Observation Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Postman, Marc; Nataf, David; Furlanetto, Steve; Milam, Stephanie; Robertson, Brant; Williams, Ben; Teplitz, Harry; Moustakas, Leonidas; Geha, Marla; Gilbert, Karoline; Dickinson, Mark; Scolnic, Daniel; Ravindranath, Swara; Strolger, Louis; Peek, Joshua; Marc Postman

2018-01-01

The Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission will provide an extremely rich archival dataset that will enable a broad range of scientific investigations beyond the initial objectives of the proposed key survey programs. The scientific impact of WFIRST will thus be significantly expanded by a robust Guest Investigator (GI) archival research program. We will present examples of GI research opportunities ranging from studies of the properties of a variety of Solar System objects, surveys of the outer Milky Way halo, comprehensive studies of cluster galaxies, to unique and new constraints on the epoch of cosmic re-ionization and the assembly of galaxies in the early universe.WFIRST will also support the acquisition of deep wide-field imaging and slitless spectroscopic data obtained in parallel during campaigns with the coronagraphic instrument (CGI). These parallel wide-field imager (WFI) datasets can provide deep imaging data covering several square degrees at no impact to the scheduling of the CGI program. A competitively selected program of well-designed parallel WFI observation programs will, like the GI science above, maximize the overall scientific impact of WFIRST. We will give two examples of parallel observations that could be conducted during a proposed CGI program centered on a dozen nearby stars.

Performance Evaluation of Parallel Branch and Bound Search with the Intel iPSC (Intel Personal SuperComputer) Hypercube Computer.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-01

17 III. Analysis of Parallel Design ................................................ 18 Parallel Abstract Data ...Types ........................................... 18 Abstract Data Type .................................................. 19 Parallel ADT...22 Data -Structure Design ........................................... 23 Object-Oriented Design

Cooperative storage of shared files in a parallel computing system with dynamic block size

DOEpatents

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary

2015-11-10

Improved techniques are provided for parallel writing of data to a shared object in a parallel computing system. A method is provided for storing data generated by a plurality of parallel processes to a shared object in a parallel computing system. The method is performed by at least one of the processes and comprises: dynamically determining a block size for storing the data; exchanging a determined amount of the data with at least one additional process to achieve a block of the data having the dynamically determined block size; and writing the block of the data having the dynamically determined block size to a file system. The determined block size comprises, e.g., a total amount of the data to be stored divided by the number of parallel processes. The file system comprises, for example, a log structured virtual parallel file system, such as a Parallel Log-Structured File System (PLFS).

Parallel and serial grouping of image elements in visual perception.

PubMed

Houtkamp, Roos; Roelfsema, Pieter R

2010-12-01

The visual system groups image elements that belong to an object and segregates them from other objects and the background. Important cues for this grouping process are the Gestalt criteria, and most theories propose that these are applied in parallel across the visual scene. Here, we find that Gestalt grouping can indeed occur in parallel in some situations, but we demonstrate that there are also situations where Gestalt grouping becomes serial. We observe substantial time delays when image elements have to be grouped indirectly through a chain of local groupings. We call this chaining process incremental grouping and demonstrate that it can occur for only a single object at a time. We suggest that incremental grouping requires the gradual spread of object-based attention so that eventually all the object's parts become grouped explicitly by an attentional labeling process. Our findings inspire a new incremental grouping theory that relates the parallel, local grouping process to feedforward processing and the serial, incremental grouping process to recurrent processing in the visual cortex.

Parallel checksumming of data chunks of a shared data object using a log-structured file system

DOEpatents

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary

2016-09-06

Checksum values are generated and used to verify the data integrity. A client executing in a parallel computing system stores a data chunk to a shared data object on a storage node in the parallel computing system. The client determines a checksum value for the data chunk; and provides the checksum value with the data chunk to the storage node that stores the shared object. The data chunk can be stored on the storage node with the corresponding checksum value as part of the shared object. The storage node may be part of a Parallel Log-Structured File System (PLFS), and the client may comprise, for example, a Log-Structured File System client on a compute node or burst buffer. The checksum value can be evaluated when the data chunk is read from the storage node to verify the integrity of the data that is read.

Continuous development of schemes for parallel computing of the electrostatics in biological systems: implementation in DelPhi.

PubMed

Li, Chuan; Petukh, Marharyta; Li, Lin; Alexov, Emil

2013-08-15

Due to the enormous importance of electrostatics in molecular biology, calculating the electrostatic potential and corresponding energies has become a standard computational approach for the study of biomolecules and nano-objects immersed in water and salt phase or other media. However, the electrostatics of large macromolecules and macromolecular complexes, including nano-objects, may not be obtainable via explicit methods and even the standard continuum electrostatics methods may not be applicable due to high computational time and memory requirements. Here, we report further development of the parallelization scheme reported in our previous work (Li, et al., J. Comput. Chem. 2012, 33, 1960) to include parallelization of the molecular surface and energy calculations components of the algorithm. The parallelization scheme utilizes different approaches such as space domain parallelization, algorithmic parallelization, multithreading, and task scheduling, depending on the quantity being calculated. This allows for efficient use of the computing resources of the corresponding computer cluster. The parallelization scheme is implemented in the popular software DelPhi and results in speedup of several folds. As a demonstration of the efficiency and capability of this methodology, the electrostatic potential, and electric field distributions are calculated for the bovine mitochondrial supercomplex illustrating their complex topology, which cannot be obtained by modeling the supercomplex components alone. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Time Course of Name Retrieval during Multiple-Object Naming: Evidence from Extrafoveal-on-Foveal Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malpass, Debra; Meyer, Antje S.

2010-01-01

The goal of the study was to examine whether speakers naming pairs of objects would retrieve the names of the objects in parallel or in sequence. To this end, we recorded the speakers' eye movements and determined whether the difficulty of retrieving the name of the 2nd object affected the duration of the gazes to the 1st object. Two experiments,…

Parallel Computation of the Jacobian Matrix for Nonlinear Equation Solvers Using MATLAB

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rose, Geoffrey K.; Nguyen, Duc T.; Newman, Brett A.

2017-01-01

Demonstrating speedup for parallel code on a multicore shared memory PC can be challenging in MATLAB due to underlying parallel operations that are often opaque to the user. This can limit potential for improvement of serial code even for the so-called embarrassingly parallel applications. One such application is the computation of the Jacobian matrix inherent to most nonlinear equation solvers. Computation of this matrix represents the primary bottleneck in nonlinear solver speed such that commercial finite element (FE) and multi-body-dynamic (MBD) codes attempt to minimize computations. A timing study using MATLAB's Parallel Computing Toolbox was performed for numerical computation of the Jacobian. Several approaches for implementing parallel code were investigated while only the single program multiple data (spmd) method using composite objects provided positive results. Parallel code speedup is demonstrated but the goal of linear speedup through the addition of processors was not achieved due to PC architecture.

ADHydro: A Parallel Implementation of a Large-scale High-Resolution Multi-Physics Distributed Water Resources Model Using the Charm++ Run Time System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinke, R. C.; Ogden, F. L.; Lai, W.; Moreno, H. A.; Pureza, L. G.

2014-12-01

Physics-based watershed models are useful tools for hydrologic studies, water resources management and economic analyses in the contexts of climate, land-use, and water-use changes. This poster presents a parallel implementation of a quasi 3-dimensional, physics-based, high-resolution, distributed water resources model suitable for simulating large watersheds in a massively parallel computing environment. Developing this model is one of the objectives of the NSF EPSCoR RII Track II CI-WATER project, which is joint between Wyoming and Utah EPSCoR jurisdictions. The model, which we call ADHydro, is aimed at simulating important processes in the Rocky Mountain west, including: rainfall and infiltration, snowfall and snowmelt in complex terrain, vegetation and evapotranspiration, soil heat flux and freezing, overland flow, channel flow, groundwater flow, water management and irrigation. Model forcing is provided by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, and ADHydro is coupled with the NOAH-MP land-surface scheme for calculating fluxes between the land and atmosphere. The ADHydro implementation uses the Charm++ parallel run time system. Charm++ is based on location transparent message passing between migrateable C++ objects. Each object represents an entity in the model such as a mesh element. These objects can be migrated between processors or serialized to disk allowing the Charm++ system to automatically provide capabilities such as load balancing and checkpointing. Objects interact with each other by passing messages that the Charm++ system routes to the correct destination object regardless of its current location. This poster discusses the algorithms, communication patterns, and caching strategies used to implement ADHydro with Charm++. The ADHydro model code will be released to the hydrologic community in late 2014.

Developing Parallel Career and Occupational Development Objectives and Exercise (Test) Items in Spanish for Assessment and Evaluation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muratti, Jose E.; And Others

A parallel Spanish edition was developed of released objectives and objective-referenced items used in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the field of Career and Occupational Development (COD). The Spanish edition was designed to assess the identical skills, attitudes, concepts, and knowledge of Spanish-dominant students…

Applications of New Surrogate Global Optimization Algorithms including Efficient Synchronous and Asynchronous Parallelism for Calibration of Expensive Nonlinear Geophysical Simulation Models.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shoemaker, C. A.; Pang, M.; Akhtar, T.; Bindel, D.

2016-12-01

New parallel surrogate global optimization algorithms are developed and applied to objective functions that are expensive simulations (possibly with multiple local minima). The algorithms can be applied to most geophysical simulations, including those with nonlinear partial differential equations. The optimization does not require simulations be parallelized. Asynchronous (and synchronous) parallel execution is available in the optimization toolbox "pySOT". The parallel algorithms are modified from serial to eliminate fine grained parallelism. The optimization is computed with open source software pySOT, a Surrogate Global Optimization Toolbox that allows user to pick the type of surrogate (or ensembles), the search procedure on surrogate, and the type of parallelism (synchronous or asynchronous). pySOT also allows the user to develop new algorithms by modifying parts of the code. In the applications here, the objective function takes up to 30 minutes for one simulation, and serial optimization can take over 200 hours. Results from Yellowstone (NSF) and NCSS (Singapore) supercomputers are given for groundwater contaminant hydrology simulations with applications to model parameter estimation and decontamination management. All results are compared with alternatives. The first results are for optimization of pumping at many wells to reduce cost for decontamination of groundwater at a superfund site. The optimization runs with up to 128 processors. Superlinear speed up is obtained for up to 16 processors, and efficiency with 64 processors is over 80%. Each evaluation of the objective function requires the solution of nonlinear partial differential equations to describe the impact of spatially distributed pumping and model parameters on model predictions for the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater contaminants. The second application uses an asynchronous parallel global optimization for groundwater quality model calibration. The time for a single objective function evaluation varies unpredictably, so efficiency is improved with asynchronous parallel calculations to improve load balancing. The third application (done at NCSS) incorporates new global surrogate multi-objective parallel search algorithms into pySOT and applies it to a large watershed calibration problem.

Objects and events as determinants of parallel processing in dual tasks: evidence from the backward compatibility effect.

PubMed

Ellenbogen, Ravid; Meiran, Nachshon

2011-02-01

The backward-compatibility effect (BCE) is a major index of parallel processing in dual tasks and is related to the dependency of Task 1 performance on Task 2 response codes (Hommel, 1998). The results of four dual-task experiments showed that a BCE occurs when the stimuli of both tasks are included in the same visual object (Experiments 1 and 2) or belong to the same perceptual event (Experiments 3 and 4). Thus, the BCE may be modulated by factors that influence whether both task stimuli are included in the same perceptual event (objects, as studied in cognitive experiments, being special cases of events). As with objects, drawing attention to a (selected) event results in the processing of its irrelevant features and may interfere with task execution. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Cloud object store for checkpoints of high performance computing applications using decoupling middleware

DOEpatents

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary

2016-04-19

Cloud object storage is enabled for checkpoints of high performance computing applications using a middleware process. A plurality of files, such as checkpoint files, generated by a plurality of processes in a parallel computing system are stored by obtaining said plurality of files from said parallel computing system; converting said plurality of files to objects using a log structured file system middleware process; and providing said objects for storage in a cloud object storage system. The plurality of processes may run, for example, on a plurality of compute nodes. The log structured file system middleware process may be embodied, for example, as a Parallel Log-Structured File System (PLFS). The log structured file system middleware process optionally executes on a burst buffer node.

[Eye movement study in multiple object search process].

PubMed

Xu, Zhaofang; Liu, Zhongqi; Wang, Xingwei; Zhang, Xin

2017-04-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the search time regulation of objectives and eye movement behavior characteristics in the multi-objective visual search. The experimental task was accomplished with computer programming and presented characters on a 24 inch computer display. The subjects were asked to search three targets among the characters. Three target characters in the same group were of high similarity degree while those in different groups of target characters and distraction characters were in different similarity degrees. We recorded the search time and eye movement data through the whole experiment. It could be seen from the eye movement data that the quantity of fixation points was large when the target characters and distraction characters were similar. There were three kinds of visual search patterns for the subjects including parallel search, serial search, and parallel-serial search. In addition, the last pattern had the best search performance among the three search patterns, that is, the subjects who used parallel-serial search pattern spent shorter time finding the target. The order that the targets presented were able to affect the search performance significantly; and the similarity degree between target characters and distraction characters could also affect the search performance.

A parallel approach of COFFEE objective function to multiple sequence alignment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zafalon, G. F. D.; Visotaky, J. M. V.; Amorim, A. R.; Valêncio, C. R.; Neves, L. A.; de Souza, R. C. G.; Machado, J. M.

2015-09-01

The computational tools to assist genomic analyzes show even more necessary due to fast increasing of data amount available. With high computational costs of deterministic algorithms for sequence alignments, many works concentrate their efforts in the development of heuristic approaches to multiple sequence alignments. However, the selection of an approach, which offers solutions with good biological significance and feasible execution time, is a great challenge. Thus, this work aims to show the parallelization of the processing steps of MSA-GA tool using multithread paradigm in the execution of COFFEE objective function. The standard objective function implemented in the tool is the Weighted Sum of Pairs (WSP), which produces some distortions in the final alignments when sequences sets with low similarity are aligned. Then, in studies previously performed we implemented the COFFEE objective function in the tool to smooth these distortions. Although the nature of COFFEE objective function implies in the increasing of execution time, this approach presents points, which can be executed in parallel. With the improvements implemented in this work, we can verify the execution time of new approach is 24% faster than the sequential approach with COFFEE. Moreover, the COFFEE multithreaded approach is more efficient than WSP, because besides it is slightly fast, its biological results are better.

Efficient Parallel Algorithm For Direct Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moitra, Stuti; Gatski, Thomas B.

1997-01-01

A distributed algorithm for a high-order-accurate finite-difference approach to the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of transition and turbulence in compressible flows is described. This work has two major objectives. The first objective is to demonstrate that parallel and distributed-memory machines can be successfully and efficiently used to solve computationally intensive and input/output intensive algorithms of the DNS class. The second objective is to show that the computational complexity involved in solving the tridiagonal systems inherent in the DNS algorithm can be reduced by algorithm innovations that obviate the need to use a parallelized tridiagonal solver.

Synchronous parallel system for emulation and discrete event simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steinman, Jeffrey S. (Inventor)

1992-01-01

A synchronous parallel system for emulation and discrete event simulation having parallel nodes responds to received messages at each node by generating event objects having individual time stamps, stores only the changes to state variables of the simulation object attributable to the event object, and produces corresponding messages. The system refrains from transmitting the messages and changing the state variables while it determines whether the changes are superseded, and then stores the unchanged state variables in the event object for later restoral to the simulation object if called for. This determination preferably includes sensing the time stamp of each new event object and determining which new event object has the earliest time stamp as the local event horizon, determining the earliest local event horizon of the nodes as the global event horizon, and ignoring the events whose time stamps are less than the global event horizon. Host processing between the system and external terminals enables such a terminal to query, monitor, command or participate with a simulation object during the simulation process.

Synchronous Parallel System for Emulation and Discrete Event Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steinman, Jeffrey S. (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A synchronous parallel system for emulation and discrete event simulation having parallel nodes responds to received messages at each node by generating event objects having individual time stamps, stores only the changes to the state variables of the simulation object attributable to the event object and produces corresponding messages. The system refrains from transmitting the messages and changing the state variables while it determines whether the changes are superseded, and then stores the unchanged state variables in the event object for later restoral to the simulation object if called for. This determination preferably includes sensing the time stamp of each new event object and determining which new event object has the earliest time stamp as the local event horizon, determining the earliest local event horizon of the nodes as the global event horizon, and ignoring events whose time stamps are less than the global event horizon. Host processing between the system and external terminals enables such a terminal to query, monitor, command or participate with a simulation object during the simulation process.

The core legion object model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lewis, M.; Grimshaw, A.

1996-12-31

The Legion project at the University of Virginia is an architecture for designing and building system services that provide the illusion of a single virtual machine to users, a virtual machine that provides secure shared object and shared name spaces, application adjustable fault-tolerance, improved response time, and greater throughput. Legion targets wide area assemblies of workstations, supercomputers, and parallel supercomputers, Legion tackles problems not solved by existing workstation based parallel processing tools; the system will enable fault-tolerance, wide area parallel processing, inter-operability, heterogeneity, a single global name space, protection, security, efficient scheduling, and comprehensive resource management. This paper describes themore » core Legion object model, which specifies the composition and functionality of Legion`s core objects-those objects that cooperate to create, locate, manage, and remove objects in the Legion system. The object model facilitates a flexible extensible implementation, provides a single global name space, grants site autonomy to participating organizations, and scales to millions of sites and trillions of objects.« less

The Acquisition of Pronouns by French Children: A Parallel Study of Production and Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zesiger, Pascal; Zesiger, Laurence Chillier; Arabatzi, Marina; Baranzini, Lara; Cronel-Ohayon, Stephany; Franck, Julie; Frauenfelder, Ulrich Hans; Hamann, Cornelia; Rizzi, Luigi

2010-01-01

This study examines syntactic and morphological aspects of the production and comprehension of pronouns by 99 typically developing French-speaking children aged 3 years, 5 months to 6 years, 5 months. A fine structural analysis of subject, object, and reflexive clitics suggests that whereas the object clitic chain crosses the subject chain, the…

Concurrent extensions to the FORTRAN language for parallel programming of computational fluid dynamics algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weeks, Cindy Lou

1986-01-01

Experiments were conducted at NASA Ames Research Center to define multi-tasking software requirements for multiple-instruction, multiple-data stream (MIMD) computer architectures. The focus was on specifying solutions for algorithms in the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The program objectives were to allow researchers to produce usable parallel application software as soon as possible after acquiring MIMD computer equipment, to provide researchers with an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use parallel software language which could be implemented on several different MIMD machines, and to enable researchers to list preferred design specifications for future MIMD computer architectures. Analysis of CFD algorithms indicated that extensions of an existing programming language, adaptable to new computer architectures, provided the best solution to meeting program objectives. The CoFORTRAN Language was written in response to these objectives and to provide researchers a means to experiment with parallel software solutions to CFD algorithms on machines with parallel architectures.

Bistatic scattering from a three-dimensional object above a two-dimensional randomly rough surface modeled with the parallel FDTD approach.

PubMed

Guo, L-X; Li, J; Zeng, H

2009-11-01

We present an investigation of the electromagnetic scattering from a three-dimensional (3-D) object above a two-dimensional (2-D) randomly rough surface. A Message Passing Interface-based parallel finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) approach is used, and the uniaxial perfectly matched layer (UPML) medium is adopted for truncation of the FDTD lattices, in which the finite-difference equations can be used for the total computation domain by properly choosing the uniaxial parameters. This makes the parallel FDTD algorithm easier to implement. The parallel performance with different number of processors is illustrated for one rough surface realization and shows that the computation time of our parallel FDTD algorithm is dramatically reduced relative to a single-processor implementation. Finally, the composite scattering coefficients versus scattered and azimuthal angle are presented and analyzed for different conditions, including the surface roughness, the dielectric constants, the polarization, and the size of the 3-D object.

Scaling device for photographic images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rivera, Jorge E. (Inventor); Youngquist, Robert C. (Inventor); Cox, Robert B. (Inventor); Haskell, William D. (Inventor); Stevenson, Charles G. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A scaling device projects a known optical pattern into the field of view of a camera, which can be employed as a reference scale in a resulting photograph of a remote object, for example. The device comprises an optical beam projector that projects two or more spaced, parallel optical beams onto a surface of a remotely located object to be photographed. The resulting beam spots or lines on the object are spaced from one another by a known, predetermined distance. As a result, the size of other objects or features in the photograph can be determined through comparison of their size to the known distance between the beam spots. Preferably, the device is a small, battery-powered device that can be attached to a camera and employs one or more laser light sources and associated optics to generate the parallel light beams. In a first embodiment of the invention, a single laser light source is employed, but multiple parallel beams are generated thereby through use of beam splitting optics. In another embodiment, multiple individual laser light sources are employed that are mounted in the device parallel to one another to generate the multiple parallel beams.

Cloud object store for archive storage of high performance computing data using decoupling middleware

DOEpatents

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary

2015-06-30

Cloud object storage is enabled for archived data, such as checkpoints and results, of high performance computing applications using a middleware process. A plurality of archived files, such as checkpoint files and results, generated by a plurality of processes in a parallel computing system are stored by obtaining the plurality of archived files from the parallel computing system; converting the plurality of archived files to objects using a log structured file system middleware process; and providing the objects for storage in a cloud object storage system. The plurality of processes may run, for example, on a plurality of compute nodes. The log structured file system middleware process may be embodied, for example, as a Parallel Log-Structured File System (PLFS). The log structured file system middleware process optionally executes on a burst buffer node.

Multiprocessor smalltalk: Implementation, performance, and analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pallas, J.I.

1990-01-01

Multiprocessor Smalltalk demonstrates the value of object-oriented programming on a multiprocessor. Its implementation and analysis shed light on three areas: concurrent programming in an object oriented language without special extensions, implementation techniques for adapting to multiprocessors, and performance factors in the resulting system. Adding parallelism to Smalltalk code is easy, because programs already use control abstractions like iterators. Smalltalk's basic control and concurrency primitives (lambda expressions, processes and semaphores) can be used to build parallel control abstractions, including parallel iterators, parallel objects, atomic objects, and futures. Language extensions for concurrency are not required. This implementation demonstrates that it is possiblemore » to build an efficient parallel object-oriented programming system and illustrates techniques for doing so. Three modification tools-serialization, replication, and reorganization-adapted the Berkeley Smalltalk interpreter to the Firefly multiprocessor. Multiprocessor Smalltalk's performance shows that the combination of multiprocessing and object-oriented programming can be effective: speedups (relative to the original serial version) exceed 2.0 for five processors on all the benchmarks; the median efficiency is 48%. Analysis shows both where performance is lost and how to improve and generalize the experimental results. Changes in the interpreter to support concurrency add at most 12% overhead; better access to per-process variables could eliminate much of that. Changes in the user code to express concurrency add as much as 70% overhead; this overhead could be reduced to 54% if blocks (lambda expressions) were reentrant. Performance is also lost when the program cannot keep all five processors busy.« less

Is a bear white in the woods? Parallel representation of implied object color during language comprehension.

PubMed

Connell, Louise; Lynott, Dermot

2009-06-01

Color is undeniably important to object representations, but so too is the ability of context to alter the color of an object. The present study examined how implied perceptual information about typical and atypical colors is represented during language comprehension. Participants read sentences that implied a (typical or atypical) color for a target object and then performed a modified Stroop task in which they named the ink color of the target word (typical, atypical, or unrelated). Results showed that color naming was facilitated both when ink color was typical for that object (e.g., bear in brown ink) and when it matched the color implied by the previous sentence (e.g., bear in white ink following Joe was excited to see a bear at the North Pole). These findings suggest that unusual contexts cause people to represent in parallel both typical and scenario-specific perceptual information, and these types of information are discussed in relation to the specialization of perceptual simulations.

Perception Of "Features" And "Objects": Applications To The Design Of Instrument Panel Displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poynter, Douglas; Czarnomski, Alan J.

1988-10-01

An experiment was conducted to determine whether socalled feature displays allow for faster and more accurate processing compared to object displays. Previous psychological studies indicate that features can be processed in parallel across the visual field, whereas objects must be processed one at a time with the aid of attentional focus. Numbers and letters are examples of objects; line orientation and color are examples of features. In this experiment, subjects were asked to search displays composed of up to 16 elements for the presence of specific elements. The ability to detect, localize, and identify targets was influenced by display format. Digital errors increased with the number of elements, the number of targets, and the distance of the target from the fixation point. Line orientation errors increased only with the number of targets. Several other display types were evaluated, and each produced a pattern of errors similar to either digital or line orientation format. Results of the study were discussed in terms of Feature Integration Theory, which distinguishes between elements that are processed with parallel versus serial mechanisms.

Using parallel computing for the display and simulation of the space debris environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Möckel, M.; Wiedemann, C.; Flegel, S.; Gelhaus, J.; Vörsmann, P.; Klinkrad, H.; Krag, H.

2011-07-01

Parallelism is becoming the leading paradigm in today's computer architectures. In order to take full advantage of this development, new algorithms have to be specifically designed for parallel execution while many old ones have to be upgraded accordingly. One field in which parallel computing has been firmly established for many years is computer graphics. Calculating and displaying three-dimensional computer generated imagery in real time requires complex numerical operations to be performed at high speed on a large number of objects. Since most of these objects can be processed independently, parallel computing is applicable in this field. Modern graphics processing units (GPUs) have become capable of performing millions of matrix and vector operations per second on multiple objects simultaneously. As a side project, a software tool is currently being developed at the Institute of Aerospace Systems that provides an animated, three-dimensional visualization of both actual and simulated space debris objects. Due to the nature of these objects it is possible to process them individually and independently from each other. Therefore, an analytical orbit propagation algorithm has been implemented to run on a GPU. By taking advantage of all its processing power a huge performance increase, compared to its CPU-based counterpart, could be achieved. For several years efforts have been made to harness this computing power for applications other than computer graphics. Software tools for the simulation of space debris are among those that could profit from embracing parallelism. With recently emerged software development tools such as OpenCL it is possible to transfer the new algorithms used in the visualization outside the field of computer graphics and implement them, for example, into the space debris simulation environment. This way they can make use of parallel hardware such as GPUs and Multi-Core-CPUs for faster computation. In this paper the visualization software will be introduced, including a comparison between the serial and the parallel method of orbit propagation. Ways of how to use the benefits of the latter method for space debris simulation will be discussed. An introduction to OpenCL will be given as well as an exemplary algorithm from the field of space debris simulation.

Using parallel computing for the display and simulation of the space debris environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moeckel, Marek; Wiedemann, Carsten; Flegel, Sven Kevin; Gelhaus, Johannes; Klinkrad, Heiner; Krag, Holger; Voersmann, Peter

Parallelism is becoming the leading paradigm in today's computer architectures. In order to take full advantage of this development, new algorithms have to be specifically designed for parallel execution while many old ones have to be upgraded accordingly. One field in which parallel computing has been firmly established for many years is computer graphics. Calculating and displaying three-dimensional computer generated imagery in real time requires complex numerical operations to be performed at high speed on a large number of objects. Since most of these objects can be processed independently, parallel computing is applicable in this field. Modern graphics processing units (GPUs) have become capable of performing millions of matrix and vector operations per second on multiple objects simultaneously. As a side project, a software tool is currently being developed at the Institute of Aerospace Systems that provides an animated, three-dimensional visualization of both actual and simulated space debris objects. Due to the nature of these objects it is possible to process them individually and independently from each other. Therefore, an analytical orbit propagation algorithm has been implemented to run on a GPU. By taking advantage of all its processing power a huge performance increase, compared to its CPU-based counterpart, could be achieved. For several years efforts have been made to harness this computing power for applications other than computer graphics. Software tools for the simulation of space debris are among those that could profit from embracing parallelism. With recently emerged software development tools such as OpenCL it is possible to transfer the new algorithms used in the visualization outside the field of computer graphics and implement them, for example, into the space debris simulation environment. This way they can make use of parallel hardware such as GPUs and Multi-Core-CPUs for faster computation. In this paper the visualization software will be introduced, including a comparison between the serial and the parallel method of orbit propagation. Ways of how to use the benefits of the latter method for space debris simulation will be discussed. An introduction of OpenCL will be given as well as an exemplary algorithm from the field of space debris simulation.

A general purpose wideband optical spatial frequency spectrum analyzer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ballard, G. S.; Mellor, F. A.

1972-01-01

The light scattered at various angles by a transparent media is studied. An example of these applications is the optical Fourier spectrum measurement resulting from various spatial frequencies which were recorded on a photographic emulsion. A method for obtaining these measurements consists of illuminating the test object with parallel monochromatic light. A stationary lens, placed in the resulting wavefield at a distance of one focal length from the object, will focus parallel waves emanating from the test object at a point lying in the focal plane of the lens. A light detector with a small filtering aperture is then used to measure the intensity variation of the light in the focal or transform plane of the lens. Such measurements require the use of a lens which is highly corrected for all of the common aberrations except chromatic aberration.

Parallel architecture for rapid image generation and analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nerheim, R.J.

1987-01-01

A multiprocessor architecture inspired by the Disney multiplane camera is proposed. For many applications, this approach produces a natural mapping of processors to objects in a scene. Such a mapping promotes parallelism and reduces the hidden-surface work with minimal interprocessor communication and low-overhead cost. Existing graphics architectures store the final picture as a monolithic entity. The architecture here stores each object's image separately. It assembles the final composite picture from component images only when the video display needs to be refreshed. This organization simplifies the work required to animate moving objects that occlude other objects. In addition, the architecture hasmore » multiple processors that generate the component images in parallel. This further shortens the time needed to create a composite picture. In addition to generating images for animation, the architecture has the ability to decompose images.« less

Parallel Flux Tensor Analysis for Efficient Moving Object Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-07-01

computing as well as parallelization to enable real time performance in analyzing complex video [3, 4 ]. There are a number of challenging computer vision... 4 . TITLE AND SUBTITLE Parallel Flux Tensor Analysis for Efficient Moving Object Detection 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...We use the trace of the flux tensor matrix, referred to as Tr JF , that is defined below, Tr JF = ∫ Ω W (x− y)(I2xt(y) + I2yt(y) + I2tt(y))dy ( 4 ) as

Innovative Language-Based & Object-Oriented Structured AMR Using Fortran 90 and OpenMP

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norton, C.; Balsara, D.

1999-01-01

Parallel adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) is an important numerical technique that leads to the efficient solution of many physical and engineering problems. In this paper, we describe how AMR programing can be performed in an object-oreinted way using the modern aspects of Fortran 90 combined with the parallelization features of OpenMP.

Design of object-oriented distributed simulation classes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoeffler, James D. (Principal Investigator)

1995-01-01

Distributed simulation of aircraft engines as part of a computer aided design package is being developed by NASA Lewis Research Center for the aircraft industry. The project is called NPSS, an acronym for 'Numerical Propulsion Simulation System'. NPSS is a flexible object-oriented simulation of aircraft engines requiring high computing speed. It is desirable to run the simulation on a distributed computer system with multiple processors executing portions of the simulation in parallel. The purpose of this research was to investigate object-oriented structures such that individual objects could be distributed. The set of classes used in the simulation must be designed to facilitate parallel computation. Since the portions of the simulation carried out in parallel are not independent of one another, there is the need for communication among the parallel executing processors which in turn implies need for their synchronization. Communication and synchronization can lead to decreased throughput as parallel processors wait for data or synchronization signals from other processors. As a result of this research, the following have been accomplished. The design and implementation of a set of simulation classes which result in a distributed simulation control program have been completed. The design is based upon MIT 'Actor' model of a concurrent object and uses 'connectors' to structure dynamic connections between simulation components. Connectors may be dynamically created according to the distribution of objects among machines at execution time without any programming changes. Measurements of the basic performance have been carried out with the result that communication overhead of the distributed design is swamped by the computation time of modules unless modules have very short execution times per iteration or time step. An analytical performance model based upon queuing network theory has been designed and implemented. Its application to realistic configurations has not been carried out.

Design of Object-Oriented Distributed Simulation Classes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoeffler, James D.

1995-01-01

Distributed simulation of aircraft engines as part of a computer aided design package being developed by NASA Lewis Research Center for the aircraft industry. The project is called NPSS, an acronym for "Numerical Propulsion Simulation System". NPSS is a flexible object-oriented simulation of aircraft engines requiring high computing speed. It is desirable to run the simulation on a distributed computer system with multiple processors executing portions of the simulation in parallel. The purpose of this research was to investigate object-oriented structures such that individual objects could be distributed. The set of classes used in the simulation must be designed to facilitate parallel computation. Since the portions of the simulation carried out in parallel are not independent of one another, there is the need for communication among the parallel executing processors which in turn implies need for their synchronization. Communication and synchronization can lead to decreased throughput as parallel processors wait for data or synchronization signals from other processors. As a result of this research, the following have been accomplished. The design and implementation of a set of simulation classes which result in a distributed simulation control program have been completed. The design is based upon MIT "Actor" model of a concurrent object and uses "connectors" to structure dynamic connections between simulation components. Connectors may be dynamically created according to the distribution of objects among machines at execution time without any programming changes. Measurements of the basic performance have been carried out with the result that communication overhead of the distributed design is swamped by the computation time of modules unless modules have very short execution times per iteration or time step. An analytical performance model based upon queuing network theory has been designed and implemented. Its application to realistic configurations has not been carried out.

Dynamic Binding of Identity and Location Information: A Serial Model of Multiple Identity Tracking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oksama, Lauri; Hyona, Jukka

2008-01-01

Tracking of multiple moving objects is commonly assumed to be carried out by a fixed-capacity parallel mechanism. The present study proposes a serial model (MOMIT) to explain performance accuracy in the maintenance of multiple moving objects with distinct identities. A serial refresh mechanism is postulated, which makes recourse to continuous…

Are changes in objective working hour characteristics associated with changes in work-life conflict among hospital employees working shifts? A 7-year follow-up

PubMed Central

Karhula, Kati; Koskinen, Aki; Ojajärvi, Anneli; Puttonen, Sampsa; Kivimäki, Mika; Härmä, Mikko

2018-01-01

Objective To investigate whether changes in objective working hour characteristics are associated with parallel changes in work-life conflict (WLC) among hospital employees. Methods Survey responses from three waves of the Finnish Public Sector study (2008, 2012 and 2015) were combined with payroll data from 91 days preceding the surveys (n=2 482, 93% women). Time-dependent fixed effects regression models adjusted for marital status, number of children and stressfulness of the life situation were used to investigate whether changes in working hour characteristics were associated with parallel change in WLC. The working hour characteristics were dichotomised with cut-points in less than or greater than 10% or less than or greater than25% occurrence) and WLC to frequent versus seldom/none. Results Change in proportion of evening and night shifts and weekend work was significantly associated with parallel change in WLC (adjusted OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.96; OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.21 to 2.44; OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.194 to 2.22, respectively). Similarly, increase or decrease in proportion of quick returns (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.89) and long work weeks (adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.52) was associated with parallel increase or decrease in WLC. Single days off and very long work weeks showed no association with WLC. Conclusions Changes in unsocial working hour characteristics, especially in connection with evening shifts, are consistently associated with parallel changes in WLC. PMID:29367350

Parallel-quadrature phase-shifting digital holographic microscopy using polarization beam splitter

PubMed Central

Das, Bhargab; Yelleswarapu, Chandra S; Rao, DVGLN

2012-01-01

We present a digital holography microscopy technique based on parallel-quadrature phase-shifting method. Two π/2 phase-shifted holograms are recorded simultaneously using polarization phase-shifting principle, slightly off-axis recording geometry, and two identical CCD sensors. The parallel phase-shifting is realized by combining circularly polarized object beam with a 45° degree polarized reference beam through a polarizing beam splitter. DC term is eliminated by subtracting the two holograms from each other and the object information is reconstructed after selecting the frequency spectrum of the real image. Both amplitude and phase object reconstruction results are presented. Simultaneous recording eliminates phase errors caused by mechanical vibrations and air turbulences. The slightly off-axis recording geometry with phase-shifting allows a much larger dimension of the spatial filter for reconstruction of the object information. This leads to better reconstruction capability than traditional off-axis holography. PMID:23109732

Enabling Object Storage via shims for Grid Middleware

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cadellin Skipsey, Samuel; De Witt, Shaun; Dewhurst, Alastair; Britton, David; Roy, Gareth; Crooks, David

2015-12-01

The Object Store model has quickly become the basis of most commercially successful mass storage infrastructure, backing so-called ”Cloud” storage such as Amazon S3, but also underlying the implementation of most parallel distributed storage systems. Many of the assumptions in Object Store design are similar, but not identical, to concepts in the design of Grid Storage Elements, although the requirement for ”POSIX-like” filesystem structures on top of SEs makes the disjunction seem larger. As modern Object Stores provide many features that most Grid SEs do not (block level striping, parallel access, automatic file repair, etc.), it is of interest to see how easily we can provide interfaces to typical Object Stores via plugins and shims for Grid tools, and how well experiments can adapt their data models to them. We present evaluation of, and first-deployment experiences with, (for example) Xrootd-Ceph interfaces for direct object-store access, as part of an initiative within GridPP[1] hosted at RAL. Additionally, we discuss the tradeoffs and experience of developing plugins for the currently-popular Ceph parallel distributed filesystem for the GFAL2 access layer, at Glasgow.

High-speed volume measurement system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lane, Michael H.; Doyle, Jr., James L.; Brinkman, Michael J.

2018-01-30

Disclosed is a volume sensor having a first axis, a second axis, and a third axis, each axis including a laser source configured to emit a beam; a parallel beam generating assembly configured to receive the beam and split the beam into a first parallel beam and a second parallel beam, a beam-collimating assembly configured to receive the first parallel beam and the second parallel beam and output a first beam sheet and a second beam sheet, the first beam sheet and the second beam sheet being configured to traverse the object aperture; a first collecting lens and a secondmore » collecting lens; and a first photodetector and a second photodetector, the first photodetector and the second photodetector configured to output an electrical signal proportional to the object; wherein the first axis, the second axis, and the third axis are arranged at an angular offset with respect to each other.« less

Parallel Domain Decomposition Formulation and Software for Large-Scale Sparse Symmetrical/Unsymmetrical Aeroacoustic Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, D. T.; Watson, Willie R. (Technical Monitor)

2005-01-01

The overall objectives of this research work are to formulate and validate efficient parallel algorithms, and to efficiently design/implement computer software for solving large-scale acoustic problems, arised from the unified frameworks of the finite element procedures. The adopted parallel Finite Element (FE) Domain Decomposition (DD) procedures should fully take advantages of multiple processing capabilities offered by most modern high performance computing platforms for efficient parallel computation. To achieve this objective. the formulation needs to integrate efficient sparse (and dense) assembly techniques, hybrid (or mixed) direct and iterative equation solvers, proper pre-conditioned strategies, unrolling strategies, and effective processors' communicating schemes. Finally, the numerical performance of the developed parallel finite element procedures will be evaluated by solving series of structural, and acoustic (symmetrical and un-symmetrical) problems (in different computing platforms). Comparisons with existing "commercialized" and/or "public domain" software are also included, whenever possible.

Parallels between Objective Indicators and Subjective Perceptions of Quality of Life: A Study of Metropolitan and County Areas in Taiwan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liao, Pei-shan

2009-01-01

This study explores the consistency between objective indicators and subjective perceptions of quality of life in a ranking of survey data for cities and counties in Taiwan. Data used for analysis included the Statistical Yearbook of Hsiens and Municipalities and the Survey on Living Conditions of Citizens in Taiwan, both given for the year 2000.…

Biology and therapy of fibromyalgia. Evidence-based biomarkers for fibromyalgia syndrome

PubMed Central

Dadabhoy, Dina; Crofford, Leslie J; Spaeth, Michael; Russell, I Jon; Clauw, Daniel J

2008-01-01

Researchers studying fibromyalgia strive to identify objective, measurable biomarkers that may identify susceptible individuals, may facilitate diagnosis, or that parallel activity of the disease. Candidate objective measures range from sophisticated functional neuroimaging to office-ready measures of the pressure pain threshold. A systematic literature review was completed to assess highly investigated, objective measures used in fibromyalgia studies. To date, only experimental pain testing has been shown to coincide with improvements in clinical status in a longitudinal study. Concerted efforts to systematically evaluate additional objective measures in research trials will be vital for ongoing progress in outcome research and translation into clinical practice. PMID:18768089

Pigeons acquire multiple categories in parallel via associative learning: A parallel to human word learning?

PubMed Central

Wasserman, Edward A.; Brooks, Daniel I.; McMurray, Bob

2014-01-01

Might there be parallels between category learning in animals and word learning in children? To examine this possibility, we devised a new associative learning technique for teaching pigeons to sort 128 photographs of objects into 16 human language categories. We found that pigeons learned all 16 categories in parallel, they perceived the perceptual coherence of the different object categories, and they generalized their categorization behavior to novel photographs from the training categories. More detailed analyses of the factors that predict trial-by-trial learning implicated a number of factors that may shape learning. First, we found considerable trial-by-trial dependency of pigeons’ categorization responses, consistent with several recent studies that invoke this dependency to claim that humans acquire words via symbolic or inferential mechanisms; this finding suggests that such dependencies may also arise in associative systems. Second, our trial-by-trial analyses divulged seemingly irrelevant aspects of the categorization task, like the spatial location of the report responses, which influenced learning. Third, those trial-by-trial analyses also supported the possibility that learning may be determined both by strengthening correct stimulus-response associations and by weakening incorrect stimulus-response associations. The parallel between all these findings and important aspects of human word learning suggests that associative learning mechanisms may play a much stronger part in complex human behavior than is commonly believed. PMID:25497520

Using Coarrays to Parallelize Legacy Fortran Applications: Strategy and Case Study

DOE PAGES

Radhakrishnan, Hari; Rouson, Damian W. I.; Morris, Karla; ...

2015-01-01

This paper summarizes a strategy for parallelizing a legacy Fortran 77 program using the object-oriented (OO) and coarray features that entered Fortran in the 2003 and 2008 standards, respectively. OO programming (OOP) facilitates the construction of an extensible suite of model-verification and performance tests that drive the development. Coarray parallel programming facilitates a rapid evolution from a serial application to a parallel application capable of running on multicore processors and many-core accelerators in shared and distributed memory. We delineate 17 code modernization steps used to refactor and parallelize the program and study the resulting performance. Our initial studies were donemore » using the Intel Fortran compiler on a 32-core shared memory server. Scaling behavior was very poor, and profile analysis using TAU showed that the bottleneck in the performance was due to our implementation of a collective, sequential summation procedure. We were able to improve the scalability and achieve nearly linear speedup by replacing the sequential summation with a parallel, binary tree algorithm. We also tested the Cray compiler, which provides its own collective summation procedure. Intel provides no collective reductions. With Cray, the program shows linear speedup even in distributed-memory execution. We anticipate similar results with other compilers once they support the new collective procedures proposed for Fortran 2015.« less

Basic research planning in mathematical pattern recognition and image analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryant, J.; Guseman, L. F., Jr.

1981-01-01

Fundamental problems encountered while attempting to develop automated techniques for applications of remote sensing are discussed under the following categories: (1) geometric and radiometric preprocessing; (2) spatial, spectral, temporal, syntactic, and ancillary digital image representation; (3) image partitioning, proportion estimation, and error models in object scene interference; (4) parallel processing and image data structures; and (5) continuing studies in polarization; computer architectures and parallel processing; and the applicability of "expert systems" to interactive analysis.

Parallel processing for nonlinear dynamics simulations of structures including rotating bladed-disk assemblies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hsieh, Shang-Hsien

1993-01-01

The principal objective of this research is to develop, test, and implement coarse-grained, parallel-processing strategies for nonlinear dynamic simulations of practical structural problems. There are contributions to four main areas: finite element modeling and analysis of rotational dynamics, numerical algorithms for parallel nonlinear solutions, automatic partitioning techniques to effect load-balancing among processors, and an integrated parallel analysis system.

Information Processing Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-03

structure of instances. Opal provides special graphical objects called "Ag- greGadgets" which are used to hold a collection of other objects (either...available in classes of expert systems tasks, re- late this to the structure of parallel production systems, and incorporate parallel-decomposition...Anantharaman et al. 88]. We designed a new pawn structure algorithm and upgraded the king-safety pattern recog- nizers, which contributed significantly

Parallel phase-shifting self-interference digital holography with faithful reconstruction using compressive sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Yuhong; Man, Tianlong; Wu, Fan; Kim, Myung K.; Wang, Dayong

2016-11-01

We present a new self-interference digital holographic approach that allows single-shot capturing three-dimensional intensity distribution of the spatially incoherent objects. The Fresnel incoherent correlation holographic microscopy is combined with parallel phase-shifting technique to instantaneously obtain spatially multiplexed phase-shifting holograms. The compressive-sensing-based reconstruction algorithm is implemented to reconstruct the original object from the under sampled demultiplexed holograms. The scheme is verified with simulations. The validity of the proposed method is experimentally demonstrated in an indirectly way by simulating the use of specific parallel phase-shifting recording device.

Performance Evaluation in Network-Based Parallel Computing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dezhgosha, Kamyar

1996-01-01

Network-based parallel computing is emerging as a cost-effective alternative for solving many problems which require use of supercomputers or massively parallel computers. The primary objective of this project has been to conduct experimental research on performance evaluation for clustered parallel computing. First, a testbed was established by augmenting our existing SUNSPARCs' network with PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine) which is a software system for linking clusters of machines. Second, a set of three basic applications were selected. The applications consist of a parallel search, a parallel sort, a parallel matrix multiplication. These application programs were implemented in C programming language under PVM. Third, we conducted performance evaluation under various configurations and problem sizes. Alternative parallel computing models and workload allocations for application programs were explored. The performance metric was limited to elapsed time or response time which in the context of parallel computing can be expressed in terms of speedup. The results reveal that the overhead of communication latency between processes in many cases is the restricting factor to performance. That is, coarse-grain parallelism which requires less frequent communication between processes will result in higher performance in network-based computing. Finally, we are in the final stages of installing an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switch and four ATM interfaces (each 155 Mbps) which will allow us to extend our study to newer applications, performance metrics, and configurations.

Parallel Architectures and Parallel Algorithms for Integrated Vision Systems. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhary, Alok Nidhi

1989-01-01

Computer vision is regarded as one of the most complex and computationally intensive problems. An integrated vision system (IVS) is a system that uses vision algorithms from all levels of processing to perform for a high level application (e.g., object recognition). An IVS normally involves algorithms from low level, intermediate level, and high level vision. Designing parallel architectures for vision systems is of tremendous interest to researchers. Several issues are addressed in parallel architectures and parallel algorithms for integrated vision systems.

Real-time simultaneous and proportional myoelectric control using intramuscular EMG

PubMed Central

Kuiken, Todd A; Hargrove, Levi J

2014-01-01

Objective Myoelectric prostheses use electromyographic (EMG) signals to control movement of prosthetic joints. Clinically available myoelectric control strategies do not allow simultaneous movement of multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs); however, the use of implantable devices that record intramuscular EMG signals could overcome this constraint. The objective of this study was to evaluate the real-time simultaneous control of three DOFs (wrist rotation, wrist flexion/extension, and hand open/close) using intramuscular EMG. Approach We evaluated task performance of five able-bodied subjects in a virtual environment using two control strategies with fine-wire EMG: (i) parallel dual-site differential control, which enabled simultaneous control of three DOFs and (ii) pattern recognition control, which required sequential control of DOFs. Main Results Over the course of the experiment, subjects using parallel dual-site control demonstrated increased use of simultaneous control and improved performance in a Fitts' Law test. By the end of the experiment, performance using parallel dual-site control was significantly better (up to a 25% increase in throughput) than when using sequential pattern recognition control for tasks requiring multiple DOFs. The learning trends with parallel dual-site control suggested that further improvements in performance metrics were possible. Subjects occasionally experienced difficulty in performing isolated single-DOF movements with parallel dual-site control but were able to accomplish related Fitts' Law tasks with high levels of path efficiency. Significance These results suggest that intramuscular EMG, used in a parallel dual-site configuration, can provide simultaneous control of a multi-DOF prosthetic wrist and hand and may outperform current methods that enforce sequential control. PMID:25394366

Real-time simultaneous and proportional myoelectric control using intramuscular EMG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Lauren H.; Kuiken, Todd A.; Hargrove, Levi J.

2014-12-01

Objective. Myoelectric prostheses use electromyographic (EMG) signals to control movement of prosthetic joints. Clinically available myoelectric control strategies do not allow simultaneous movement of multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs); however, the use of implantable devices that record intramuscular EMG signals could overcome this constraint. The objective of this study was to evaluate the real-time simultaneous control of three DOFs (wrist rotation, wrist flexion/extension, and hand open/close) using intramuscular EMG. Approach. We evaluated task performance of five able-bodied subjects in a virtual environment using two control strategies with fine-wire EMG: (i) parallel dual-site differential control, which enabled simultaneous control of three DOFs and (ii) pattern recognition control, which required sequential control of DOFs. Main results. Over the course of the experiment, subjects using parallel dual-site control demonstrated increased use of simultaneous control and improved performance in a Fitts’ Law test. By the end of the experiment, performance using parallel dual-site control was significantly better (up to a 25% increase in throughput) than when using sequential pattern recognition control for tasks requiring multiple DOFs. The learning trends with parallel dual-site control suggested that further improvements in performance metrics were possible. Subjects occasionally experienced difficulty in performing isolated single-DOF movements with parallel dual-site control but were able to accomplish related Fitts’ Law tasks with high levels of path efficiency. Significance. These results suggest that intramuscular EMG, used in a parallel dual-site configuration, can provide simultaneous control of a multi-DOF prosthetic wrist and hand and may outperform current methods that enforce sequential control.

Planning and Resource Management in an Intelligent Automated Power Management System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morris, Robert A.

1991-01-01

Power system management is a process of guiding a power system towards the objective of continuous supply of electrical power to a set of loads. Spacecraft power system management requires planning and scheduling, since electrical power is a scarce resource in space. The automation of power system management for future spacecraft has been recognized as an important R&D goal. Several automation technologies have emerged including the use of expert systems for automating human problem solving capabilities such as rule based expert system for fault diagnosis and load scheduling. It is questionable whether current generation expert system technology is applicable for power system management in space. The objective of the ADEPTS (ADvanced Electrical Power management Techniques for Space systems) is to study new techniques for power management automation. These techniques involve integrating current expert system technology with that of parallel and distributed computing, as well as a distributed, object-oriented approach to software design. The focus of the current study is the integration of new procedures for automatically planning and scheduling loads with procedures for performing fault diagnosis and control. The objective is the concurrent execution of both sets of tasks on separate transputer processors, thus adding parallelism to the overall management process.

Decomposition method for fast computation of gigapixel-sized Fresnel holograms on a graphics processing unit cluster.

PubMed

Jackin, Boaz Jessie; Watanabe, Shinpei; Ootsu, Kanemitsu; Ohkawa, Takeshi; Yokota, Takashi; Hayasaki, Yoshio; Yatagai, Toyohiko; Baba, Takanobu

2018-04-20

A parallel computation method for large-size Fresnel computer-generated hologram (CGH) is reported. The method was introduced by us in an earlier report as a technique for calculating Fourier CGH from 2D object data. In this paper we extend the method to compute Fresnel CGH from 3D object data. The scale of the computation problem is also expanded to 2 gigapixels, making it closer to real application requirements. The significant feature of the reported method is its ability to avoid communication overhead and thereby fully utilize the computing power of parallel devices. The method exhibits three layers of parallelism that favor small to large scale parallel computing machines. Simulation and optical experiments were conducted to demonstrate the workability and to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed technique. A two-times improvement in computation speed has been achieved compared to the conventional method, on a 16-node cluster (one GPU per node) utilizing only one layer of parallelism. A 20-times improvement in computation speed has been estimated utilizing two layers of parallelism on a very large-scale parallel machine with 16 nodes, where each node has 16 GPUs.

Fast l₁-SPIRiT compressed sensing parallel imaging MRI: scalable parallel implementation and clinically feasible runtime.

PubMed

Murphy, Mark; Alley, Marcus; Demmel, James; Keutzer, Kurt; Vasanawala, Shreyas; Lustig, Michael

2012-06-01

We present l₁-SPIRiT, a simple algorithm for auto calibrating parallel imaging (acPI) and compressed sensing (CS) that permits an efficient implementation with clinically-feasible runtimes. We propose a CS objective function that minimizes cross-channel joint sparsity in the wavelet domain. Our reconstruction minimizes this objective via iterative soft-thresholding, and integrates naturally with iterative self-consistent parallel imaging (SPIRiT). Like many iterative magnetic resonance imaging reconstructions, l₁-SPIRiT's image quality comes at a high computational cost. Excessively long runtimes are a barrier to the clinical use of any reconstruction approach, and thus we discuss our approach to efficiently parallelizing l₁-SPIRiT and to achieving clinically-feasible runtimes. We present parallelizations of l₁-SPIRiT for both multi-GPU systems and multi-core CPUs, and discuss the software optimization and parallelization decisions made in our implementation. The performance of these alternatives depends on the processor architecture, the size of the image matrix, and the number of parallel imaging channels. Fundamentally, achieving fast runtime requires the correct trade-off between cache usage and parallelization overheads. We demonstrate image quality via a case from our clinical experimentation, using a custom 3DFT spoiled gradient echo (SPGR) sequence with up to 8× acceleration via Poisson-disc undersampling in the two phase-encoded directions.

Fast ℓ1-SPIRiT Compressed Sensing Parallel Imaging MRI: Scalable Parallel Implementation and Clinically Feasible Runtime

PubMed Central

Murphy, Mark; Alley, Marcus; Demmel, James; Keutzer, Kurt; Vasanawala, Shreyas; Lustig, Michael

2012-01-01

We present ℓ1-SPIRiT, a simple algorithm for auto calibrating parallel imaging (acPI) and compressed sensing (CS) that permits an efficient implementation with clinically-feasible runtimes. We propose a CS objective function that minimizes cross-channel joint sparsity in the Wavelet domain. Our reconstruction minimizes this objective via iterative soft-thresholding, and integrates naturally with iterative Self-Consistent Parallel Imaging (SPIRiT). Like many iterative MRI reconstructions, ℓ1-SPIRiT’s image quality comes at a high computational cost. Excessively long runtimes are a barrier to the clinical use of any reconstruction approach, and thus we discuss our approach to efficiently parallelizing ℓ1-SPIRiT and to achieving clinically-feasible runtimes. We present parallelizations of ℓ1-SPIRiT for both multi-GPU systems and multi-core CPUs, and discuss the software optimization and parallelization decisions made in our implementation. The performance of these alternatives depends on the processor architecture, the size of the image matrix, and the number of parallel imaging channels. Fundamentally, achieving fast runtime requires the correct trade-off between cache usage and parallelization overheads. We demonstrate image quality via a case from our clinical experimentation, using a custom 3DFT Spoiled Gradient Echo (SPGR) sequence with up to 8× acceleration via poisson-disc undersampling in the two phase-encoded directions. PMID:22345529

Computer model of a reverberant and parallel circuit coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalil, Camila de Andrade; de Castro, Maria Clícia Stelling; Cortez, Célia Martins

2017-11-01

The objective of the present study was to deepen the knowledge about the functioning of the neural circuits by implementing a signal transmission model using the Graph Theory in a small network of neurons composed of an interconnected reverberant and parallel circuit, in order to investigate the processing of the signals in each of them and the effects on the output of the network. For this, a program was developed in C language and simulations were done using neurophysiological data obtained in the literature.

Research on Multi - Person Parallel Modeling Method Based on Integrated Model Persistent Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, MingCheng; Wu, XiangHu; Tao, YongChao; Liu, Ying

2018-03-01

This paper mainly studies the multi-person parallel modeling method based on the integrated model persistence storage. The integrated model refers to a set of MDDT modeling graphics system, which can carry out multi-angle, multi-level and multi-stage description of aerospace general embedded software. Persistent storage refers to converting the data model in memory into a storage model and converting the storage model into a data model in memory, where the data model refers to the object model and the storage model is a binary stream. And multi-person parallel modeling refers to the need for multi-person collaboration, the role of separation, and even real-time remote synchronization modeling.

Multitasking domain decomposition fast Poisson solvers on the Cray Y-MP

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, Tony F.; Fatoohi, Rod A.

1990-01-01

The results of multitasking implementation of a domain decomposition fast Poisson solver on eight processors of the Cray Y-MP are presented. The object of this research is to study the performance of domain decomposition methods on a Cray supercomputer and to analyze the performance of different multitasking techniques using highly parallel algorithms. Two implementations of multitasking are considered: macrotasking (parallelism at the subroutine level) and microtasking (parallelism at the do-loop level). A conventional FFT-based fast Poisson solver is also multitasked. The results of different implementations are compared and analyzed. A speedup of over 7.4 on the Cray Y-MP running in a dedicated environment is achieved for all cases.

Balancing Exploration, Uncertainty Representation and Computational Time in Many-Objective Reservoir Policy Optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zatarain-Salazar, J.; Reed, P. M.; Quinn, J.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.

2016-12-01

As we confront the challenges of managing river basin systems with a large number of reservoirs and increasingly uncertain tradeoffs impacting their operations (due to, e.g. climate change, changing energy markets, population pressures, ecosystem services, etc.), evolutionary many-objective direct policy search (EMODPS) solution strategies will need to address the computational demands associated with simulating more uncertainties and therefore optimizing over increasingly noisy objective evaluations. Diagnostic assessments of state-of-the-art many-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) to support EMODPS have highlighted that search time (or number of function evaluations) and auto-adaptive search are key features for successful optimization. Furthermore, auto-adaptive MOEA search operators are themselves sensitive to having a sufficient number of function evaluations to learn successful strategies for exploring complex spaces and for escaping from local optima when stagnation is detected. Fortunately, recent parallel developments allow coordinated runs that enhance auto-adaptive algorithmic learning and can handle scalable and reliable search with limited wall-clock time, but at the expense of the total number of function evaluations. In this study, we analyze this tradeoff between parallel coordination and depth of search using different parallelization schemes of the Multi-Master Borg on a many-objective stochastic control problem. We also consider the tradeoff between better representing uncertainty in the stochastic optimization, and simplifying this representation to shorten the function evaluation time and allow for greater search. Our analysis focuses on the Lower Susquehanna River Basin (LSRB) system where multiple competing objectives for hydropower production, urban water supply, recreation and environmental flows need to be balanced. Our results provide guidance for balancing exploration, uncertainty, and computational demands when using the EMODPS framework to discover key tradeoffs within the LSRB system.

Real-Time Laser Ultrasound Tomography for Profilometry of Solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarubin, V. P.; Bychkov, A. S.; Karabutov, A. A.; Simonova, V. A.; Kudinov, I. A.; Cherepetskaya, E. B.

2018-01-01

We studied the possibility of applying laser ultrasound tomography for profilometry of solids. The proposed approach provides high spatial resolution and efficiency, as well as profilometry of contaminated objects or objects submerged in liquids. The algorithms for the construction of tomograms and recognition of the profiles of studied objects using the parallel programming technology NDIVIA CUDA are proposed. A prototype of the real-time laser ultrasound profilometer was used to obtain the profiles of solid surfaces of revolution. The proposed method allows the real-time determination of the surface position for cylindrical objects with an approximation accuracy of up to 16 μm.

Parallel computation of GA search for the artery shape determinants with CFD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Himeno, M.; Noda, S.; Fukasaku, K.; Himeno, R.

2010-06-01

We studied which factors play important role to determine the shape of arteries at the carotid artery bifurcation by performing multi-objective optimization with computation fluid dynamics (CFD) and the genetic algorithm (GA). To perform it, the most difficult problem is how to reduce turn-around time of the GA optimization with 3D unsteady computation of blood flow. We devised two levels of parallel computation method with the following features: level 1: parallel CFD computation with appropriate number of cores; level 2: parallel jobs generated by "master", which finds quickly available job cue and dispatches jobs, to reduce turn-around time. As a result, the turn-around time of one GA trial, which would have taken 462 days with one core, was reduced to less than two days on RIKEN supercomputer system, RICC, with 8192 cores. We performed a multi-objective optimization to minimize the maximum mean WSS and to minimize the sum of circumference for four different shapes and obtained a set of trade-off solutions for each shape. In addition, we found that the carotid bulb has the feature of the minimum local mean WSS and minimum local radius. We confirmed that our method is effective for examining determinants of artery shapes.

Multi-Objective and Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation (MDO) of UAV Systems using Hierarchical Asynchronous Parallel Evolutionary Algorithms

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-17

been proposed; these include a combination of variable fidelity models, parallelisation strategies and hybridisation techniques (Coello, Veldhuizen et...Coello et al (Coello, Veldhuizen et al. 2002). 4.4.2 HIERARCHICAL POPULATION TOPOLOGY A hierarchical population topology, when integrated into...to hybrid parallel Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (pMOEA) (Cantu-Paz 2000; Veldhuizen , Zydallis et al. 2003); it uses a master slave

Graph Partitioning for Parallel Applications in Heterogeneous Grid Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bisws, Rupak; Kumar, Shailendra; Das, Sajal K.; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The problem of partitioning irregular graphs and meshes for parallel computations on homogeneous systems has been extensively studied. However, these partitioning schemes fail when the target system architecture exhibits heterogeneity in resource characteristics. With the emergence of technologies such as the Grid, it is imperative to study the partitioning problem taking into consideration the differing capabilities of such distributed heterogeneous systems. In our model, the heterogeneous system consists of processors with varying processing power and an underlying non-uniform communication network. We present in this paper a novel multilevel partitioning scheme for irregular graphs and meshes, that takes into account issues pertinent to Grid computing environments. Our partitioning algorithm, called MiniMax, generates and maps partitions onto a heterogeneous system with the objective of minimizing the maximum execution time of the parallel distributed application. For experimental performance study, we have considered both a realistic mesh problem from NASA as well as synthetic workloads. Simulation results demonstrate that MiniMax generates high quality partitions for various classes of applications targeted for parallel execution in a distributed heterogeneous environment.

Does the sensorimotor system minimize prediction error or select the most likely prediction during object lifting?

PubMed Central

McGregor, Heather R.; Pun, Henry C. H.; Buckingham, Gavin; Gribble, Paul L.

2016-01-01

The human sensorimotor system is routinely capable of making accurate predictions about an object's weight, which allows for energetically efficient lifts and prevents objects from being dropped. Often, however, poor predictions arise when the weight of an object can vary and sensory cues about object weight are sparse (e.g., picking up an opaque water bottle). The question arises, what strategies does the sensorimotor system use to make weight predictions when one is dealing with an object whose weight may vary? For example, does the sensorimotor system use a strategy that minimizes prediction error (minimal squared error) or one that selects the weight that is most likely to be correct (maximum a posteriori)? In this study we dissociated the predictions of these two strategies by having participants lift an object whose weight varied according to a skewed probability distribution. We found, using a small range of weight uncertainty, that four indexes of sensorimotor prediction (grip force rate, grip force, load force rate, and load force) were consistent with a feedforward strategy that minimizes the square of prediction errors. These findings match research in the visuomotor system, suggesting parallels in underlying processes. We interpret our findings within a Bayesian framework and discuss the potential benefits of using a minimal squared error strategy. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Using a novel experimental model of object lifting, we tested whether the sensorimotor system models the weight of objects by minimizing lifting errors or by selecting the statistically most likely weight. We found that the sensorimotor system minimizes the square of prediction errors for object lifting. This parallels the results of studies that investigated visually guided reaching, suggesting an overlap in the underlying mechanisms between tasks that involve different sensory systems. PMID:27760821

Quantitative Image Feature Engine (QIFE): an Open-Source, Modular Engine for 3D Quantitative Feature Extraction from Volumetric Medical Images.

PubMed

Echegaray, Sebastian; Bakr, Shaimaa; Rubin, Daniel L; Napel, Sandy

2017-10-06

The aim of this study was to develop an open-source, modular, locally run or server-based system for 3D radiomics feature computation that can be used on any computer system and included in existing workflows for understanding associations and building predictive models between image features and clinical data, such as survival. The QIFE exploits various levels of parallelization for use on multiprocessor systems. It consists of a managing framework and four stages: input, pre-processing, feature computation, and output. Each stage contains one or more swappable components, allowing run-time customization. We benchmarked the engine using various levels of parallelization on a cohort of CT scans presenting 108 lung tumors. Two versions of the QIFE have been released: (1) the open-source MATLAB code posted to Github, (2) a compiled version loaded in a Docker container, posted to DockerHub, which can be easily deployed on any computer. The QIFE processed 108 objects (tumors) in 2:12 (h/mm) using 1 core, and 1:04 (h/mm) hours using four cores with object-level parallelization. We developed the Quantitative Image Feature Engine (QIFE), an open-source feature-extraction framework that focuses on modularity, standards, parallelism, provenance, and integration. Researchers can easily integrate it with their existing segmentation and imaging workflows by creating input and output components that implement their existing interfaces. Computational efficiency can be improved by parallelizing execution at the cost of memory usage. Different parallelization levels provide different trade-offs, and the optimal setting will depend on the size and composition of the dataset to be processed.

Experiments with a Parallel Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm for Scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Matthew; Johnston, Mark D.

2013-01-01

Evolutionary multi-objective algorithms have great potential for scheduling in those situations where tradeoffs among competing objectives represent a key requirement. One challenge, however, is runtime performance, as a consequence of evolving not just a single schedule, but an entire population, while attempting to sample the Pareto frontier as accurately and uniformly as possible. The growing availability of multi-core processors in end user workstations, and even laptops, has raised the question of the extent to which such hardware can be used to speed up evolutionary algorithms. In this paper we report on early experiments in parallelizing a Generalized Differential Evolution (GDE) algorithm for scheduling long-range activities on NASA's Deep Space Network. Initial results show that significant speedups can be achieved, but that performance does not necessarily improve as more cores are utilized. We describe our preliminary results and some initial suggestions from parallelizing the GDE algorithm. Directions for future work are outlined.

The adaptive parallel UKF inversion method for the shape of space objects based on the ground-based photometric data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Xiaoping; Wang, Yang; Liu, Hao

2018-04-01

The space object in highly elliptical orbit is always presented as an image point on the ground-based imaging equipment so that it is difficult to resolve and identify the shape and attitude directly. In this paper a novel algorithm is presented for the estimation of spacecraft shape. The apparent magnitude model suitable for the inversion of object information such as shape and attitude is established based on the analysis of photometric characteristics. A parallel adaptive shape inversion algorithm based on UKF was designed after the achievement of dynamic equation of the nonlinear, Gaussian system involved with the influence of various dragging forces. The result of a simulation study demonstrate the viability and robustness of the new filter and its fast convergence rate. It realizes the inversion of combination shape with high accuracy, especially for the bus of cube and cylinder. Even though with sparse photometric data, it still can maintain a higher success rate of inversion.

High-performance parallel analysis of coupled problems for aircraft propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Felippa, C. A.; Farhat, C.; Lanteri, S.; Gumaste, U.; Ronaghi, M.

1994-01-01

Applications are described of high-performance parallel, computation for the analysis of complete jet engines, considering its multi-discipline coupled problem. The coupled problem involves interaction of structures with gas dynamics, heat conduction and heat transfer in aircraft engines. The methodology issues addressed include: consistent discrete formulation of coupled problems with emphasis on coupling phenomena; effect of partitioning strategies, augmentation and temporal solution procedures; sensitivity of response to problem parameters; and methods for interfacing multiscale discretizations in different single fields. The computer implementation issues addressed include: parallel treatment of coupled systems; domain decomposition and mesh partitioning strategies; data representation in object-oriented form and mapping to hardware driven representation, and tradeoff studies between partitioning schemes and fully coupled treatment.

Synchronous Parallel Emulation and Discrete Event Simulation System with Self-Contained Simulation Objects and Active Event Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steinman, Jeffrey S. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

The present invention is embodied in a method of performing object-oriented simulation and a system having inter-connected processor nodes operating in parallel to simulate mutual interactions of a set of discrete simulation objects distributed among the nodes as a sequence of discrete events changing state variables of respective simulation objects so as to generate new event-defining messages addressed to respective ones of the nodes. The object-oriented simulation is performed at each one of the nodes by assigning passive self-contained simulation objects to each one of the nodes, responding to messages received at one node by generating corresponding active event objects having user-defined inherent capabilities and individual time stamps and corresponding to respective events affecting one of the passive self-contained simulation objects of the one node, restricting the respective passive self-contained simulation objects to only providing and receiving information from die respective active event objects, requesting information and changing variables within a passive self-contained simulation object by the active event object, and producing corresponding messages specifying events resulting therefrom by the active event objects.

Comparative study of bowtie and patient scatter in diagnostic CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prakash, Prakhar; Boudry, John M.

2017-03-01

A fast, GPU accelerated Monte Carlo engine for simulating relevant photon interaction processes over the diagnostic energy range in third-generation CT systems was developed to study the relative contributions of bowtie and object scatter to the total scatter reaching an imaging detector. Primary and scattered projections for an elliptical water phantom (major axis set to 300mm) with muscle and fat inserts were simulated for a typical diagnostic CT system as a function of anti-scatter grid (ASG) configurations. The ASG design space explored grid orientation, i.e. septa either a) parallel or b) parallel and perpendicular to the axis of rotation, as well as septa height. The septa material was Tungsten. The resulting projections were reconstructed and the scatter induced image degradation was quantified using common CT image metrics (such as Hounsfield Unit (HU) inaccuracy and loss in contrast), along with a qualitative review of image artifacts. Results indicate object scatter dominates total scatter in the detector channels under the shadow of the imaged object with the bowtie scatter fraction progressively increasing towards the edges of the object projection. Object scatter was shown to be the driving factor behind HU inaccuracy and contrast reduction in the simulated images while shading artifacts and elevated loss in HU accuracy at the object boundary were largely attributed to bowtie scatter. Because the impact of bowtie scatter could not be sufficiently mitigated with a large grid ratio ASG, algorithmic correction may be necessary to further mitigate these artifacts.

Novel approach for image skeleton and distance transformation parallel algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qing, Kent P.; Means, Robert W.

1994-05-01

Image Understanding is more important in medical imaging than ever, particularly where real-time automatic inspection, screening and classification systems are installed. Skeleton and distance transformations are among the common operations that extract useful information from binary images and aid in Image Understanding. The distance transformation describes the objects in an image by labeling every pixel in each object with the distance to its nearest boundary. The skeleton algorithm starts from the distance transformation and finds the set of pixels that have a locally maximum label. The distance algorithm has to scan the entire image several times depending on the object width. For each pixel, the algorithm must access the neighboring pixels and find the maximum distance from the nearest boundary. It is a computational and memory access intensive procedure. In this paper, we propose a novel parallel approach to the distance transform and skeleton algorithms using the latest VLSI high- speed convolutional chips such as HNC's ViP. The algorithm speed is dependent on the object's width and takes (k + [(k-1)/3]) * 7 milliseconds for a 512 X 512 image with k being the maximum distance of the largest object. All objects in the image will be skeletonized at the same time in parallel.

Integrated configurable equipment selection and line balancing for mass production with serial-parallel machining systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battaïa, Olga; Dolgui, Alexandre; Guschinsky, Nikolai; Levin, Genrikh

2014-10-01

Solving equipment selection and line balancing problems together allows better line configurations to be reached and avoids local optimal solutions. This article considers jointly these two decision problems for mass production lines with serial-parallel workplaces. This study was motivated by the design of production lines based on machines with rotary or mobile tables. Nevertheless, the results are more general and can be applied to assembly and production lines with similar structures. The designers' objectives and the constraints are studied in order to suggest a relevant mathematical model and an efficient optimization approach to solve it. A real case study is used to validate the model and the developed approach.

Proceedings of the Conference on Knowledge-Based Software Assistant (5th) Held in Liverpool, New York on 24-28 September 1990

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-01

factor which made TTL-design so powerful was the implicit knowledge that for any object in the TTL Databook, that object’s implementation and...functions as values. Thus, its reasoning power matches the descriptive power of the higher order languages in the previous section. First, the definitions...developing parallel algorithms to better utilize the power of the explicitly parallel programming language constructs. Currently, the methodologies

Haptic adaptation to slant: No transfer between exploration modes

PubMed Central

van Dam, Loes C. J.; Plaisier, Myrthe A.; Glowania, Catharina; Ernst, Marc O.

2016-01-01

Human touch is an inherently active sense: to estimate an object’s shape humans often move their hand across its surface. This way the object is sampled both in a serial (sampling different parts of the object across time) and parallel fashion (sampling using different parts of the hand simultaneously). Both the serial (moving a single finger) and parallel (static contact with the entire hand) exploration modes provide reliable and similar global shape information, suggesting the possibility that this information is shared early in the sensory cortex. In contrast, we here show the opposite. Using an adaptation-and-transfer paradigm, a change in haptic perception was induced by slant-adaptation using either the serial or parallel exploration mode. A unified shape-based coding would predict that this would equally affect perception using other exploration modes. However, we found that adaptation-induced perceptual changes did not transfer between exploration modes. Instead, serial and parallel exploration components adapted simultaneously, but to different kinaesthetic aspects of exploration behaviour rather than object-shape per se. These results indicate that a potential combination of information from different exploration modes can only occur at down-stream cortical processing stages, at which adaptation is no longer effective. PMID:27698392

Optimal Golomb Ruler Sequences Generation for Optical WDM Systems: A Novel Parallel Hybrid Multi-objective Bat Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bansal, Shonak; Singh, Arun Kumar; Gupta, Neena

2017-02-01

In real-life, multi-objective engineering design problems are very tough and time consuming optimization problems due to their high degree of nonlinearities, complexities and inhomogeneity. Nature-inspired based multi-objective optimization algorithms are now becoming popular for solving multi-objective engineering design problems. This paper proposes original multi-objective Bat algorithm (MOBA) and its extended form, namely, novel parallel hybrid multi-objective Bat algorithm (PHMOBA) to generate shortest length Golomb ruler called optimal Golomb ruler (OGR) sequences at a reasonable computation time. The OGRs found their application in optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems as channel-allocation algorithm to reduce the four-wave mixing (FWM) crosstalk. The performances of both the proposed algorithms to generate OGRs as optical WDM channel-allocation is compared with other existing classical computing and nature-inspired algorithms, including extended quadratic congruence (EQC), search algorithm (SA), genetic algorithms (GAs), biogeography based optimization (BBO) and big bang-big crunch (BB-BC) optimization algorithms. Simulations conclude that the proposed parallel hybrid multi-objective Bat algorithm works efficiently as compared to original multi-objective Bat algorithm and other existing algorithms to generate OGRs for optical WDM systems. The algorithm PHMOBA to generate OGRs, has higher convergence and success rate than original MOBA. The efficiency improvement of proposed PHMOBA to generate OGRs up to 20-marks, in terms of ruler length and total optical channel bandwidth (TBW) is 100 %, whereas for original MOBA is 85 %. Finally the implications for further research are also discussed.

Unrewarded Object Combinations in Captive Parrots

PubMed Central

Auersperg, Alice Marie Isabel; Oswald, Natalie; Domanegg, Markus; Gajdon, Gyula Koppany; Bugnyar, Thomas

2015-01-01

In primates, complex object combinations during play are often regarded as precursors of functional behavior. Here we investigate combinatory behaviors during unrewarded object manipulation in seven parrot species, including kea, African grey parrots and Goffin cockatoos, three species previously used as model species for technical problem solving. We further examine a habitually tool using species, the black palm cockatoo. Moreover, we incorporate three neotropical species, the yellow- and the black-billed Amazon and the burrowing parakeet. Paralleling previous studies on primates and corvids, free object-object combinations and complex object-substrate combinations such as inserting objects into tubes/holes or stacking rings onto poles prevailed in the species previously linked to advanced physical cognition and tool use. In addition, free object-object combinations were intrinsically structured in Goffin cockatoos and in kea. PMID:25984564

ALOX5 gene variants affect eicosanoid production and response to fish oil supplementation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The objective of this study was to determine whether 5-lipoxygenase (ALOX5) gene variants associated with cardiovascular disease affect eicosanoid production by monocytes. The study was a randomized, double-masked, parallel intervention trial with fish oil (5.0 g of fish oil daily, containing 2.0 g ...

Principle-Based Inferences in Preschoolers' Categorization of Novel Artifacts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Deborah G. Kemler; And Others

Two parallel studies investigated the influence of principle-based and attribute-based similarity relations on new category learning by preschoolers. One of two possible functions of a single novel artifact (which differed between studies) was modeled for children and practiced by children. Children then judged which test objects received the same…

Physical and mechanical properties of flakeboard reinforced with bamboo strips

Treesearch

Ge Wang; Zhehui Jiang; Chung Y. Hse; Todd F. Shupe

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the physical and mechanical performance of flakeboard reinforced with bamboo strips. The study investigated three different bamboo strip alignment patterns and an experimental control. All panels were tested in static bending both along parallel and perpendicular to the lengths of the bamboo strips. Internal bond...

Consensus Report on Impulsive Aggression as a Symptom across Diagnostic Categories in Child Psychiatry: Implications for Medication Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Peter S.; Youngstrom, Eric A.; Steiner, Hans; Findling, Robert L.; Meyer, Roger E.; Malone, Richard P.; Carlson, Gabrielle A.; Coccaro, Emil F.; Aman, Michael G.; Blair, James; Dougherty, Donald; Ferris, Craig; Flynn, Laurie; Green, Evelyn; Hoagwood, Kimberly; Hutchinson, Janice; Laughren, Tom; Leve, Leslie D.; Novins, Douglas K.; Vitiello, Benedetto

2007-01-01

Objective: To determine whether impulsive aggression (IA) is a meaningful clinical construct and to ascertain whether it is sufficiently similar across diagnostic categories, such that parallel studies across disorders might constitute appropriate evidence for pursuing indications. If so, how should IA be assessed, pharmacological studies…

Directions in parallel programming: HPF, shared virtual memory and object parallelism in pC++

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bodin, Francois; Priol, Thierry; Mehrotra, Piyush; Gannon, Dennis

1994-01-01

Fortran and C++ are the dominant programming languages used in scientific computation. Consequently, extensions to these languages are the most popular for programming massively parallel computers. We discuss two such approaches to parallel Fortran and one approach to C++. The High Performance Fortran Forum has designed HPF with the intent of supporting data parallelism on Fortran 90 applications. HPF works by asking the user to help the compiler distribute and align the data structures with the distributed memory modules in the system. Fortran-S takes a different approach in which the data distribution is managed by the operating system and the user provides annotations to indicate parallel control regions. In the case of C++, we look at pC++ which is based on a concurrent aggregate parallel model.

Aging and feature search: the effect of search area.

PubMed

Burton-Danner, K; Owsley, C; Jackson, G R

2001-01-01

The preattentive system involves the rapid parallel processing of visual information in the visual scene so that attention can be directed to meaningful objects and locations in the environment. This study used the feature search methodology to examine whether there are aging-related deficits in parallel-processing capabilities when older adults are required to visually search a large area of the visual field. Like young subjects, older subjects displayed flat, near-zero slopes for the Reaction Time x Set Size function when searching over a broad area (30 degrees radius) of the visual field, implying parallel processing of the visual display. These same older subjects exhibited impairment in another task, also dependent on parallel processing, performed over the same broad field area; this task, called the useful field of view test, has more complex task demands. Results imply that aging-related breakdowns of parallel processing over a large visual field area are not likely to emerge when required responses are simple, there is only one task to perform, and there is no limitation on visual inspection time.

Simulated parallel annealing within a neighborhood for optimization of biomechanical systems.

PubMed

Higginson, J S; Neptune, R R; Anderson, F C

2005-09-01

Optimization problems for biomechanical systems have become extremely complex. Simulated annealing (SA) algorithms have performed well in a variety of test problems and biomechanical applications; however, despite advances in computer speed, convergence to optimal solutions for systems of even moderate complexity has remained prohibitive. The objective of this study was to develop a portable parallel version of a SA algorithm for solving optimization problems in biomechanics. The algorithm for simulated parallel annealing within a neighborhood (SPAN) was designed to minimize interprocessor communication time and closely retain the heuristics of the serial SA algorithm. The computational speed of the SPAN algorithm scaled linearly with the number of processors on different computer platforms for a simple quadratic test problem and for a more complex forward dynamic simulation of human pedaling.

Electronic scraps--recovering of valuable materials from parallel wire cables.

PubMed

de Araújo, Mishene Christie Pinheiro Bezerra; Chaves, Arthur Pinto; Espinosa, Denise Crocce Romano; Tenório, Jorge Alberto Soares

2008-11-01

Every year, the number of discarded electro-electronic products is increasing. For this reason recycling is needed, to avoid wasting non-renewable natural resources. The objective of this work is to study the recycling of materials from parallel wire cable through unit operations of mineral processing. Parallel wire cables are basically composed of polymer and copper. The following unit operations were tested: grinding, size classification, dense medium separation, electrostatic separation, scrubbing, panning, and elutriation. It was observed that the operations used obtained copper and PVC concentrates with a low degree of cross contamination. It was concluded that total liberation of the materials was accomplished after grinding to less than 3 mm, using a cage mill. Separation using panning and elutriation presented the best results in terms of recovery and cross contamination.

Robot Acting on Moving Bodies (RAMBO): Interaction with tumbling objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Larry S.; Dementhon, Daniel; Bestul, Thor; Ziavras, Sotirios; Srinivasan, H. V.; Siddalingaiah, Madhu; Harwood, David

1989-01-01

Interaction with tumbling objects will become more common as human activities in space expand. Attempting to interact with a large complex object translating and rotating in space, a human operator using only his visual and mental capacities may not be able to estimate the object motion, plan actions or control those actions. A robot system (RAMBO) equipped with a camera, which, given a sequence of simple tasks, can perform these tasks on a tumbling object, is being developed. RAMBO is given a complete geometric model of the object. A low level vision module extracts and groups characteristic features in images of the object. The positions of the object are determined in a sequence of images, and a motion estimate of the object is obtained. This motion estimate is used to plan trajectories of the robot tool to relative locations rearby the object sufficient for achieving the tasks. More specifically, low level vision uses parallel algorithms for image enhancement by symmetric nearest neighbor filtering, edge detection by local gradient operators, and corner extraction by sector filtering. The object pose estimation is a Hough transform method accumulating position hypotheses obtained by matching triples of image features (corners) to triples of model features. To maximize computing speed, the estimate of the position in space of a triple of features is obtained by decomposing its perspective view into a product of rotations and a scaled orthographic projection. This allows use of 2-D lookup tables at each stage of the decomposition. The position hypotheses for each possible match of model feature triples and image feature triples are calculated in parallel. Trajectory planning combines heuristic and dynamic programming techniques. Then trajectories are created using dynamic interpolations between initial and goal trajectories. All the parallel algorithms run on a Connection Machine CM-2 with 16K processors.

Describing, using 'recognition cones'. [parallel-series model with English-like computer program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uhr, L.

1973-01-01

A parallel-serial 'recognition cone' model is examined, taking into account the model's ability to describe scenes of objects. An actual program is presented in an English-like language. The concept of a 'description' is discussed together with possible types of descriptive information. Questions regarding the level and the variety of detail are considered along with approaches for improving the serial representations of parallel systems.

Parallel ptychographic reconstruction

DOE PAGES

Nashed, Youssef S. G.; Vine, David J.; Peterka, Tom; ...

2014-12-19

Ptychography is an imaging method whereby a coherent beam is scanned across an object, and an image is obtained by iterative phasing of the set of diffraction patterns. It is able to be used to image extended objects at a resolution limited by scattering strength of the object and detector geometry, rather than at an optics-imposed limit. As technical advances allow larger fields to be imaged, computational challenges arise for reconstructing the correspondingly larger data volumes, yet at the same time there is also a need to deliver reconstructed images immediately so that one can evaluate the next steps tomore » take in an experiment. Here we present a parallel method for real-time ptychographic phase retrieval. It uses a hybrid parallel strategy to divide the computation between multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) and then employs novel techniques to merge sub-datasets into a single complex phase and amplitude image. Results are shown on a simulated specimen and a real dataset from an X-ray experiment conducted at a synchrotron light source.« less

A new method for recognizing quadric surfaces from range data and its application to telerobotics and automation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alvertos, Nicolas; Dcunha, Ivan

1992-01-01

A feature set of two dimensional curves is obtained after intersecting symmetric objects like spheres, cones, cylinders, ellipsoids, paraboloids, and parallelepipeds with two planes. After determining the location and orientation of the objects in space, these objects are aligned so as to lie on a plane parallel to a suitable coordinate system. These objects are then intersected with a horizontal and a vertical plane. Experiments were carried out with range images of sphere and cylinder. The 3-D discriminant approach was used to recognize quadric surfaces made up of simulated data. Its application to real data was also studied.

Mobile and replicated alignment of arrays in data-parallel programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chatterjee, Siddhartha; Gilbert, John R.; Schreiber, Robert

1993-01-01

When a data-parallel language like FORTRAN 90 is compiled for a distributed-memory machine, aggregate data objects (such as arrays) are distributed across the processor memories. The mapping determines the amount of residual communication needed to bring operands of parallel operations into alignment with each other. A common approach is to break the mapping into two stages: first, an alignment that maps all the objects to an abstract template, and then a distribution that maps the template to the processors. We solve two facets of the problem of finding alignments that reduce residual communication: we determine alignments that vary in loops, and objects that should have replicated alignments. We show that loop-dependent mobile alignment is sometimes necessary for optimum performance, and we provide algorithms with which a compiler can determine good mobile alignments for objects within do loops. We also identify situations in which replicated alignment is either required by the program itself (via spread operations) or can be used to improve performance. We propose an algorithm based on network flow that determines which objects to replicate so as to minimize the total amount of broadcast communication in replication. This work on mobile and replicated alignment extends our earlier work on determining static alignment.

Robot acting on moving bodies (RAMBO): Preliminary results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Larry S.; Dementhon, Daniel; Bestul, Thor; Ziavras, Sotirios; Srinivasan, H. V.; Siddalingaiah, Madju; Harwood, David

1989-01-01

A robot system called RAMBO is being developed. It is equipped with a camera, which, given a sequence of simple tasks, can perform these tasks on a moving object. RAMBO is given a complete geometric model of the object. A low level vision module extracts and groups characteristic features in images of the object. The positions of the object are determined in a sequence of images, and a motion estimate of the object is obtained. This motion estimate is used to plan trajectories of the robot tool to relative locations nearby the object sufficient for achieving the tasks. More specifically, low level vision uses parallel algorithms for image enchancement by symmetric nearest neighbor filtering, edge detection by local gradient operators, and corner extraction by sector filtering. The object pose estimation is a Hough transform method accumulating position hypotheses obtained by matching triples of image features (corners) to triples of model features. To maximize computing speed, the estimate of the position in space of a triple of features is obtained by decomposing its perspective view into a product of rotations and a scaled orthographic projection. This allows the use of 2-D lookup tables at each stage of the decomposition. The position hypotheses for each possible match of model feature triples and image feature triples are calculated in parallel. Trajectory planning combines heuristic and dynamic programming techniques. Then trajectories are created using parametric cubic splines between initial and goal trajectories. All the parallel algorithms run on a Connection Machine CM-2 with 16K processors.

Engine-start Control Strategy of P2 Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiangyang, Xu; Siqi, Zhao; Peng, Dong

2017-12-01

A smooth and fast engine-start process is important to parallel hybrid electric vehicles with an electric motor mounted in front of the transmission. However, there are some challenges during the engine-start control. Firstly, the electric motor must simultaneously provide a stable driving torque to ensure the drivability and a compensative torque to drag the engine before ignition. Secondly, engine-start time is a trade-off control objective because both fast start and smooth start have to be considered. To solve these problems, this paper first analyzed the resistance of the engine start process, and established a physic model in MATLAB/Simulink. Then a model-based coordinated control strategy among engine, motor and clutch was developed. Two basic control strategy during fast start and smooth start process were studied. Simulation results showed that the control objectives were realized by applying given control strategies, which can meet different requirement from the driver.

Geopotential Error Analysis from Satellite Gradiometer and Global Positioning System Observables on Parallel Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schutz, Bob E.; Baker, Gregory A.

1997-01-01

The recovery of a high resolution geopotential from satellite gradiometer observations motivates the examination of high performance computational techniques. The primary subject matter addresses specifically the use of satellite gradiometer and GPS observations to form and invert the normal matrix associated with a large degree and order geopotential solution. Memory resident and out-of-core parallel linear algebra techniques along with data parallel batch algorithms form the foundation of the least squares application structure. A secondary topic includes the adoption of object oriented programming techniques to enhance modularity and reusability of code. Applications implementing the parallel and object oriented methods successfully calculate the degree variance for a degree and order 110 geopotential solution on 32 processors of the Cray T3E. The memory resident gradiometer application exhibits an overall application performance of 5.4 Gflops, and the out-of-core linear solver exhibits an overall performance of 2.4 Gflops. The combination solution derived from a sun synchronous gradiometer orbit produce average geoid height variances of 17 millimeters.

Geopotential error analysis from satellite gradiometer and global positioning system observables on parallel architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, Gregory Allen

The recovery of a high resolution geopotential from satellite gradiometer observations motivates the examination of high performance computational techniques. The primary subject matter addresses specifically the use of satellite gradiometer and GPS observations to form and invert the normal matrix associated with a large degree and order geopotential solution. Memory resident and out-of-core parallel linear algebra techniques along with data parallel batch algorithms form the foundation of the least squares application structure. A secondary topic includes the adoption of object oriented programming techniques to enhance modularity and reusability of code. Applications implementing the parallel and object oriented methods successfully calculate the degree variance for a degree and order 110 geopotential solution on 32 processors of the Cray T3E. The memory resident gradiometer application exhibits an overall application performance of 5.4 Gflops, and the out-of-core linear solver exhibits an overall performance of 2.4 Gflops. The combination solution derived from a sun synchronous gradiometer orbit produce average geoid height variances of 17 millimeters.

Parallelization of an Object-Oriented Unstructured Aeroacoustics Solver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baggag, Abdelkader; Atkins, Harold; Oezturan, Can; Keyes, David

1999-01-01

A computational aeroacoustics code based on the discontinuous Galerkin method is ported to several parallel platforms using MPI. The discontinuous Galerkin method is a compact high-order method that retains its accuracy and robustness on non-smooth unstructured meshes. In its semi-discrete form, the discontinuous Galerkin method can be combined with explicit time marching methods making it well suited to time accurate computations. The compact nature of the discontinuous Galerkin method also makes it well suited for distributed memory parallel platforms. The original serial code was written using an object-oriented approach and was previously optimized for cache-based machines. The port to parallel platforms was achieved simply by treating partition boundaries as a type of boundary condition. Code modifications were minimal because boundary conditions were abstractions in the original program. Scalability results are presented for the SCI Origin, IBM SP2, and clusters of SGI and Sun workstations. Slightly superlinear speedup is achieved on a fixed-size problem on the Origin, due to cache effects.

Space shuttle system program definition. Volume 4: Cost and schedule report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The supporting cost and schedule data for the second half of the Space Shuttle System Phase B Extension Study is summarized. The major objective for this period was to address the cost/schedule differences affecting final selection of the HO orbiter space shuttle system. The contending options under study included the following booster launch configurations: (1) series burn ballistic recoverable booster (BRB), (2) parallel burn ballistic recoverable booster (BRB), (3) series burn solid rocket motors (SRM's), and (4) parallel burn solid rocket motors (SRM's). The implications of varying payload bay sizes for the orbiter, engine type for the ballistics recoverable booster, and SRM motors for the solid booster were examined.

Dose Response Effects of Lisdexamfetamine Dimesylate Treatment in Adults with ADHD: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faraone, Stephen V.; Spencer, Thomas J.; Kollins, Scott H.; Glatt, Stephen J.; Goodman, David

2012-01-01

Objective: To explore dose-response effects of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX) treatment for ADHD. Method: This was a 4-week, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, forced-dose titration study in adult participants, aged 18 to 55 years, meeting "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed., text rev.)…

Low-cost silicon solar array project environmental hail model for assessing risk to solar collectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonzalez, C.

1977-01-01

The probability of solar arrays being struck by hailstones of various sizes as a function of geographic location and service life was assessed. The study complements parallel studies of solar array sensitivity to hail damage, the final objective being an estimate of the most cost effective level for solar array hail protection.

Impacts of forest management on runoff and erosion

Treesearch

William J. Elliot; Brandon D. Glaza

2009-01-01

In a parallel study, ten small watersheds (about 5 ha) were installed in the Priest River Experimental Forest (PREF) in northern Idaho, and another ten were installed in the Boise Basin Experimental Forest (BBEF) in central Idaho. The long-term objective of the study is to compare the effects of different forest management activities on runoff and...

Foreign Area Studies: India. A Syllabus.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Emily C., Ed.

Developed for a one-semester college credit course, this syllabus encourages a cross-cultural approach to the study of Indian society. The objective is to provide students with not only a balanced view of India but also with an idea of dynamics of change. Emphasis is upon paralleling social and political issues in the United States with those of…

Interventions to Reduce Distress in Adult Victims of Rape and Sexual Violence: A Systematic Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regehr, Cheryl; Alaggia, Ramona; Dennis, Jane; Pitts, Annabel; Saini, Michael

2013-01-01

Objectives: This article presents a systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing distress in adult victims of rape and sexual violence. Method: Studies were eligible for the review if the assignment of study participants to experimental or control groups was by random allocation or parallel cohort design. Results:…

Stereo depth distortions in teleoperation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diner, Daniel B.; Vonsydow, Marika

1988-01-01

In teleoperation, a typical application of stereo vision is to view a work space located short distances (1 to 3m) in front of the cameras. The work presented here treats converged camera placement and studies the effects of intercamera distance, camera-to-object viewing distance, and focal length of the camera lenses on both stereo depth resolution and stereo depth distortion. While viewing the fronto-parallel plane 1.4 m in front of the cameras, depth errors are measured on the order of 2cm. A geometric analysis was made of the distortion of the fronto-parallel plane of divergence for stereo TV viewing. The results of the analysis were then verified experimentally. The objective was to determine the optimal camera configuration which gave high stereo depth resolution while minimizing stereo depth distortion. It is found that for converged cameras at a fixed camera-to-object viewing distance, larger intercamera distances allow higher depth resolutions, but cause greater depth distortions. Thus with larger intercamera distances, operators will make greater depth errors (because of the greater distortions), but will be more certain that they are not errors (because of the higher resolution).

Ensemble representations: effects of set size and item heterogeneity on average size perception.

PubMed

Marchant, Alexander P; Simons, Daniel J; de Fockert, Jan W

2013-02-01

Observers can accurately perceive and evaluate the statistical properties of a set of objects, forming what is now known as an ensemble representation. The accuracy and speed with which people can judge the mean size of a set of objects have led to the proposal that ensemble representations of average size can be computed in parallel when attention is distributed across the display. Consistent with this idea, judgments of mean size show little or no decrement in accuracy when the number of objects in the set increases. However, the lack of a set size effect might result from the regularity of the item sizes used in previous studies. Here, we replicate these previous findings, but show that judgments of mean set size become less accurate when set size increases and the heterogeneity of the item sizes increases. This pattern can be explained by assuming that average size judgments are computed using a limited capacity sampling strategy, and it does not necessitate an ensemble representation computed in parallel across all items in a display. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Meta analysis of parallel versus perpendicular double plating for distal humerus fracture of type C in adults].

PubMed

Li, B B; Lin, F; Cai, L H; Chen, Y; Lin, Z J

2017-08-01

Objective: To evaluate the effects of parallel versus perpendicular double plating for distal humerus fracture of type C. Methods: A standardized comprehensive literature search was performed by PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, CMB, CNKI and Medline datebase.Randomized controlled studies on comparison between parallel versus perpendicular double plating for distal humerus fracture of type C before December 2015 were enrolled in the study.All date were analyzed by the RevMan 5.2 software. Results: Six studies, including 284 patients, met the inclusion criteria.There were 155 patients in perpendicular double plating group, 129 patients in parallel double plating group.The results of Meta-analysis indicated that there were statistically significant difference between the two groups in complications ( OR =2.59, 95% CI : 1.03 to 6.53, P =0.04). There was no significant difference between the two groups in surgical duration ( MD =-1.84, 95% CI : -9.06 to 5.39, P =0.62), bone union time ( MD =0.09, 95% CI : -0.06 to 0.24, P =0.22), Mayo Elbow Performance Score ( MD =0.09, 95% CI : -0.06 to 0.24, P =0.22), Range of Motions ( MD =-0.92, 95% CI : -4.65 to 2.81, P =0.63) and the rate of excellent and good results ( OR =0.64, 95% CI : 0.27 to 1.52, P =0.31). Conclusion: Both perpendicular and parallel double plating are effective in distal humerus fracture of type C, parallel double plating has less complications.

Parallel computation of level set method for 500 Hz visual servo control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fei, Xianfeng; Igarashi, Yasunobu; Hashimoto, Koichi

2008-11-01

We propose a 2D microorganism tracking system using a parallel level set method and a column parallel vision system (CPV). This system keeps a single microorganism in the middle of the visual field under a microscope by visual servoing an automated stage. We propose a new energy function for the level set method. This function constrains an amount of light intensity inside the detected object contour to control the number of the detected objects. This algorithm is implemented in CPV system and computational time for each frame is 2 [ms], approximately. A tracking experiment for about 25 s is demonstrated. Also we demonstrate a single paramecium can be kept tracking even if other paramecia appear in the visual field and contact with the tracked paramecium.

Does Reimportation Reduce Price Differences for Prescription Drugs? Lessons from the European Union

PubMed Central

Kyle, Margaret K; Allsbrook, Jennifer S; Schulman, Kevin A

2008-01-01

Objective To examine the effect of parallel trade on patterns of price dispersion for prescription drugs in the European Union. Data Sources Longitudinal data from an IMS Midas database of prices and units sold for drugs in 36 categories in 30 countries from 1993 through 2004. Study Design The main outcome measures were mean price differentials and other measures of price dispersion within European Union countries compared with within non-European Union countries. Data Collection/Extraction Methods We identified drugs subject to parallel trade using information provided by IMS and by checking membership lists of parallel import trade associations and lists of approved parallel imports. Principal Findings Parallel trade was not associated with substantial reductions in price dispersion in European Union countries. In descriptive and regression analyses, about half of the price differentials exceeded 50 percent in both European Union and non-European Union countries over time, and price distributions among European Union countries did not show a dramatic change concurrent with the adoption of parallel trade. In regression analysis, we found that although price differentials decreased after 1995 in most countries, they decreased less in the European Union than elsewhere. Conclusions Parallel trade for prescription drugs does not automatically reduce international price differences. Future research should explore how other regulatory schemes might lead to different results elsewhere. PMID:18355258

Are changes in objective working hour characteristics associated with changes in work-life conflict among hospital employees working shifts? A 7-year follow-up.

PubMed

Karhula, Kati; Koskinen, Aki; Ojajärvi, Anneli; Ropponen, Annina; Puttonen, Sampsa; Kivimäki, Mika; Härmä, Mikko

2018-06-01

To investigate whether changes in objective working hour characteristics are associated with parallel changes in work-life conflict (WLC) among hospital employees. Survey responses from three waves of the Finnish Public Sector study (2008, 2012 and 2015) were combined with payroll data from 91 days preceding the surveys (n=2 482, 93% women). Time-dependent fixed effects regression models adjusted for marital status, number of children and stressfulness of the life situation were used to investigate whether changes in working hour characteristics were associated with parallel change in WLC. The working hour characteristics were dichotomised with cut-points in less than or greater than 10% or less than or greater than25% occurrence) and WLC to frequent versus seldom/none. Change in proportion of evening and night shifts and weekend work was significantly associated with parallel change in WLC (adjusted OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.96; OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.21 to 2.44; OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.194 to 2.22, respectively). Similarly, increase or decrease in proportion of quick returns (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.89) and long work weeks (adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.52) was associated with parallel increase or decrease in WLC. Single days off and very long work weeks showed no association with WLC. Changes in unsocial working hour characteristics, especially in connection with evening shifts, are consistently associated with parallel changes in WLC. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Parallel Implementation of Triangular Cellular Automata for Computing Two-Dimensional Elastodynamic Response on Arbitrary Domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leamy, Michael J.; Springer, Adam C.

In this research we report parallel implementation of a Cellular Automata-based simulation tool for computing elastodynamic response on complex, two-dimensional domains. Elastodynamic simulation using Cellular Automata (CA) has recently been presented as an alternative, inherently object-oriented technique for accurately and efficiently computing linear and nonlinear wave propagation in arbitrarily-shaped geometries. The local, autonomous nature of the method should lead to straight-forward and efficient parallelization. We address this notion on symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) hardware using a Java-based object-oriented CA code implementing triangular state machines (i.e., automata) and the MPI bindings written in Java (MPJ Express). We use MPJ Express to reconfigure our existing CA code to distribute a domain's automata to cores present on a dual quad-core shared-memory system (eight total processors). We note that this message passing parallelization strategy is directly applicable to computer clustered computing, which will be the focus of follow-on research. Results on the shared memory platform indicate nearly-ideal, linear speed-up. We conclude that the CA-based elastodynamic simulator is easily configured to run in parallel, and yields excellent speed-up on SMP hardware.

Working Memory Training: Improving Intelligence--Changing Brain Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jausovec, Norbert; Jausovec, Ksenija

2012-01-01

The main objectives of the study were: to investigate whether training on working memory (WM) could improve fluid intelligence, and to investigate the effects WM training had on neuroelectric (electroencephalography--EEG) and hemodynamic (near-infrared spectroscopy--NIRS) patterns of brain activity. In a parallel group experimental design,…

Seismic evaluation of the Cumberland River Bridges on I-24 in Western Kentucky.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-09-01

The main objective of this study is to assess the structural integrity of the I-24 parallel bridges at the Cumberland River crossing in western Kentucky. Due to its importance, the bridge is evaluated for the 250-year event and the maximum credible 5...

Knowledge representation into Ada parallel processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masotto, Tom; Babikyan, Carol; Harper, Richard

1990-01-01

The Knowledge Representation into Ada Parallel Processing project is a joint NASA and Air Force funded project to demonstrate the execution of intelligent systems in Ada on the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory fault-tolerant parallel processor (FTPP). Two applications were demonstrated - a portion of the adaptive tactical navigator and a real time controller. Both systems are implemented as Activation Framework Objects on the Activation Framework intelligent scheduling mechanism developed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The implementations, results of performance analyses showing speedup due to parallelism and initial efficiency improvements are detailed and further areas for performance improvements are suggested.

Aeroelasticity of wing and wing-body configurations on parallel computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byun, Chansup

1995-01-01

The objective of this research is to develop computationally efficient methods for solving aeroelasticity problems on parallel computers. Both uncoupled and coupled methods are studied in this research. For the uncoupled approach, the conventional U-g method is used to determine the flutter boundary. The generalized aerodynamic forces required are obtained by the pulse transfer-function analysis method. For the coupled approach, the fluid-structure interaction is obtained by directly coupling finite difference Euler/Navier-Stokes equations for fluids and finite element dynamics equations for structures. This capability will significantly impact many aerospace projects of national importance such as Advanced Subsonic Civil Transport (ASCT), where the structural stability margin becomes very critical at the transonic region. This research effort will have direct impact on the High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) Program of NASA in the area of parallel computing.

A scalable parallel algorithm for multiple objective linear programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiecek, Malgorzata M.; Zhang, Hong

1994-01-01

This paper presents an ADBASE-based parallel algorithm for solving multiple objective linear programs (MOLP's). Job balance, speedup and scalability are of primary interest in evaluating efficiency of the new algorithm. Implementation results on Intel iPSC/2 and Paragon multiprocessors show that the algorithm significantly speeds up the process of solving MOLP's, which is understood as generating all or some efficient extreme points and unbounded efficient edges. The algorithm gives specially good results for large and very large problems. Motivation and justification for solving such large MOLP's are also included.

Anatomically constrained neural network models for the categorization of facial expression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMenamin, Brenton W.; Assadi, Amir H.

2004-12-01

The ability to recognize facial expression in humans is performed with the amygdala which uses parallel processing streams to identify the expressions quickly and accurately. Additionally, it is possible that a feedback mechanism may play a role in this process as well. Implementing a model with similar parallel structure and feedback mechanisms could be used to improve current facial recognition algorithms for which varied expressions are a source for error. An anatomically constrained artificial neural-network model was created that uses this parallel processing architecture and feedback to categorize facial expressions. The presence of a feedback mechanism was not found to significantly improve performance for models with parallel architecture. However the use of parallel processing streams significantly improved accuracy over a similar network that did not have parallel architecture. Further investigation is necessary to determine the benefits of using parallel streams and feedback mechanisms in more advanced object recognition tasks.

Anatomically constrained neural network models for the categorization of facial expression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMenamin, Brenton W.; Assadi, Amir H.

2005-01-01

The ability to recognize facial expression in humans is performed with the amygdala which uses parallel processing streams to identify the expressions quickly and accurately. Additionally, it is possible that a feedback mechanism may play a role in this process as well. Implementing a model with similar parallel structure and feedback mechanisms could be used to improve current facial recognition algorithms for which varied expressions are a source for error. An anatomically constrained artificial neural-network model was created that uses this parallel processing architecture and feedback to categorize facial expressions. The presence of a feedback mechanism was not found to significantly improve performance for models with parallel architecture. However the use of parallel processing streams significantly improved accuracy over a similar network that did not have parallel architecture. Further investigation is necessary to determine the benefits of using parallel streams and feedback mechanisms in more advanced object recognition tasks.

Efficient multi-objective calibration of a computationally intensive hydrologic model with parallel computing software in Python

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

With enhanced data availability, distributed watershed models for large areas with high spatial and temporal resolution are increasingly used to understand water budgets and examine effects of human activities and climate change/variability on water resources. Developing parallel computing software...

Tennis Rackets and the Parallel Axis Theorem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christie, Derek

2014-01-01

This simple experiment uses an unusual graph straightening exercise to confirm the parallel axis theorem for an irregular object. Along the way, it estimates experimental values for g and the moment of inertia of a tennis racket. We use Excel to find a 95% confidence interval for the true values.

Business---Education: Parallels in Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Speer, Edgar B.

1976-01-01

Administrators of higher education are facing a challenge and opportunity that parallels those faced by managers in American business. The economic situation presents a struggle to make ends meet as well as an opportunity to sharpen its role in society, to redefine its goals. Administrators in both fields are using management-by-objective theories…

Applying Parallel Processing Techniques to Tether Dynamics Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wells, B. Earl

1996-01-01

The focus of this research has been to determine the effectiveness of applying parallel processing techniques to a sizable real-world problem, the simulation of the dynamics associated with a tether which connects two objects in low earth orbit, and to explore the degree to which the parallelization process can be automated through the creation of new software tools. The goal has been to utilize this specific application problem as a base to develop more generally applicable techniques.

Mathematical Abstraction: Constructing Concept of Parallel Coordinates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurhasanah, F.; Kusumah, Y. S.; Sabandar, J.; Suryadi, D.

2017-09-01

Mathematical abstraction is an important process in teaching and learning mathematics so pre-service mathematics teachers need to understand and experience this process. One of the theoretical-methodological frameworks for studying this process is Abstraction in Context (AiC). Based on this framework, abstraction process comprises of observable epistemic actions, Recognition, Building-With, Construction, and Consolidation called as RBC + C model. This study investigates and analyzes how pre-service mathematics teachers constructed and consolidated concept of Parallel Coordinates in a group discussion. It uses AiC framework for analyzing mathematical abstraction of a group of pre-service teachers consisted of four students in learning Parallel Coordinates concepts. The data were collected through video recording, students’ worksheet, test, and field notes. The result shows that the students’ prior knowledge related to concept of the Cartesian coordinate has significant role in the process of constructing Parallel Coordinates concept as a new knowledge. The consolidation process is influenced by the social interaction between group members. The abstraction process taken place in this group were dominated by empirical abstraction that emphasizes on the aspect of identifying characteristic of manipulated or imagined object during the process of recognizing and building-with.

How Depressive Levels Are Related to the Adults' Experiences of Lower-Limb Amputation: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Senra, Hugo

2013-01-01

The current pilot study aims to explore whether different adults' experiences of lower-limb amputation could be associated with different levels of depression. To achieve these study objectives, a convergent parallel mixed methods design was used in a convenience sample of 42 adult amputees (mean age of 61 years; SD = 13.5). All of them had…

Numerical study of the polarization effect of GPR systems on the detection of buried objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagnard, Florence

2017-04-01

This work is in line with the studies carried out in our department over the last few years on object detection in civil engineering structures and soils. In parallel to building of the second version of the Sense-City test site where several pipeline networks will be buried [1], we are developing numerical models using the FIT and the FDTD approaches to study more precisely the contribution of the polarization diversity in the detection of conductive and dielectric buried objects using the GPR technique. The simulations developed are based on a ultra-wide band SFCW GPR system that have been designed and evaluated in our laboratory. A parametric study is proposed to evaluate the influence of the antenna configurations and the antenna geometry when considering the polarization diversity in the detection and characterization of canonical objects. [1] http://www.sense-city.univ-paris-est.fr/index.php

Target objects defined by a conjunction of colour and shape can be selected independently and in parallel.

PubMed

Jenkins, Michael; Grubert, Anna; Eimer, Martin

2017-11-01

It is generally assumed that during search for targets defined by a feature conjunction, attention is allocated sequentially to individual objects. We tested this hypothesis by tracking the time course of attentional processing biases with the N2pc component in tasks where observers searched for two targets defined by a colour/shape conjunction. In Experiment 1, two displays presented in rapid succession (100 ms or 10 ms SOA) each contained a target and a colour-matching or shape-matching distractor on opposite sides. Target objects in both displays elicited N2pc components of similar size that overlapped in time when the SOA was 10 ms, suggesting that attention was allocated in parallel to both targets. Analogous results were found in Experiment 2, where targets and partially matching distractors were both accompanied by an object without target-matching features. Colour-matching and shape-matching distractors also elicited N2pc components, and the target N2pc was initially identical to the sum of the two distractor N2pcs, suggesting that the initial phase of attentional object selection was guided independently by feature templates for target colour and shape. Beyond 230 ms after display onset, the target N2pc became superadditive, indicating that attentional selection processes now started to be sensitive to the presence of feature conjunctions. Results show that independent attentional selection processes can be activated in parallel by two target objects in situations where these objects are defined by a feature conjunction.

PARALLEL ASSAY OF OXYGEN EQUILIBRIA OF HEMOGLOBIN

PubMed Central

Lilly, Laura E.; Blinebry, Sara K.; Viscardi, Chelsea M.; Perez, Luis; Bonaventura, Joe; McMahon, Tim J.

2013-01-01

Methods to systematically analyze in parallel the function of multiple protein or cell samples in vivo or ex vivo (i.e. functional proteomics) in a controlled gaseous environment have thus far been limited. Here we describe an apparatus and procedure that enables, for the first time, parallel assay of oxygen equilibria in multiple samples. Using this apparatus, numerous simultaneous oxygen equilibrium curves (OECs) can be obtained under truly identical conditions from blood cell samples or purified hemoglobins (Hbs). We suggest that the ability to obtain these parallel datasets under identical conditions can be of immense value, both to biomedical researchers and clinicians who wish to monitor blood health, and to physiologists studying non-human organisms and the effects of climate change on these organisms. Parallel monitoring techniques are essential in order to better understand the functions of critical cellular proteins. The procedure can be applied to human studies, wherein an OEC can be analyzed in light of an individual’s entire genome. Here, we analyzed intraerythrocytic Hb, a protein that operates at the organism’s environmental interface and then comes into close contact with virtually all of the organism’s cells. The apparatus is theoretically scalable, and establishes a functional proteomic screen that can be correlated with genomic information on the same individuals. This new method is expected to accelerate our general understanding of protein function, an increasingly challenging objective as advances in proteomic and genomic throughput outpace the ability to study proteins’ functional properties. PMID:23827235

The Process of Parallelizing the Conjunction Prediction Algorithm of ESA's SSA Conjunction Prediction Service Using GPGPU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fehr, M.; Navarro, V.; Martin, L.; Fletcher, E.

2013-08-01

Space Situational Awareness[8] (SSA) is defined as the comprehensive knowledge, understanding and maintained awareness of the population of space objects, the space environment and existing threats and risks. As ESA's SSA Conjunction Prediction Service (CPS) requires the repetitive application of a processing algorithm against a data set of man-made space objects, it is crucial to exploit the highly parallelizable nature of this problem. Currently the CPS system makes use of OpenMP[7] for parallelization purposes using CPU threads, but only a GPU with its hundreds of cores can fully benefit from such high levels of parallelism. This paper presents the adaptation of several core algorithms[5] of the CPS for general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) using NVIDIAs Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA).

3D motion picture of transparent gas flow by parallel phase-shifting digital holography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awatsuji, Yasuhiro; Fukuda, Takahito; Wang, Yexin; Xia, Peng; Kakue, Takashi; Nishio, Kenzo; Matoba, Osamu

2018-03-01

Parallel phase-shifting digital holography is a technique capable of recording three-dimensional (3D) motion picture of dynamic object, quantitatively. This technique can record single hologram of an object with an image sensor having a phase-shift array device and reconstructs the instantaneous 3D image of the object with a computer. In this technique, a single hologram in which the multiple holograms required for phase-shifting digital holography are multiplexed by using space-division multiplexing technique pixel by pixel. We demonstrate 3D motion picture of dynamic and transparent gas flow recorded and reconstructed by the technique. A compressed air duster was used to generate the gas flow. A motion picture of the hologram of the gas flow was recorded at 180,000 frames/s by parallel phase-shifting digital holography. The phase motion picture of the gas flow was reconstructed from the motion picture of the hologram. The Abel inversion was applied to the phase motion picture and then the 3D motion picture of the gas flow was obtained.

Multi-mode sensor processing on a dynamically reconfigurable massively parallel processor array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Paul; Butts, Mike; Budlong, Brad; Wasson, Paul

2008-04-01

This paper introduces a novel computing architecture that can be reconfigured in real time to adapt on demand to multi-mode sensor platforms' dynamic computational and functional requirements. This 1 teraOPS reconfigurable Massively Parallel Processor Array (MPPA) has 336 32-bit processors. The programmable 32-bit communication fabric provides streamlined inter-processor connections with deterministically high performance. Software programmability, scalability, ease of use, and fast reconfiguration time (ranging from microseconds to milliseconds) are the most significant advantages over FPGAs and DSPs. This paper introduces the MPPA architecture, its programming model, and methods of reconfigurability. An MPPA platform for reconfigurable computing is based on a structural object programming model. Objects are software programs running concurrently on hundreds of 32-bit RISC processors and memories. They exchange data and control through a network of self-synchronizing channels. A common application design pattern on this platform, called a work farm, is a parallel set of worker objects, with one input and one output stream. Statically configured work farms with homogeneous and heterogeneous sets of workers have been used in video compression and decompression, network processing, and graphics applications.

Refractive multiple optical tweezers for parallel biochemical analysis in micro-fluidics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merenda, Fabrice; Rohner, Johann; Pascoal, Pedro; Fournier, Jean-Marc; Vogel, Horst; Salathé, René-Paul

2007-02-01

We present a multiple laser tweezers system based on refractive optics. The system produces an array of 100 optical traps thanks to a refractive microlens array, whose focal plane is imaged into the focal plane of a high-NA microscope objective. This refractive multi-tweezers system is combined to micro-fluidics, aiming at performing simultaneous biochemical reactions on ensembles of free floating objects. Micro-fluidics allows both transporting the particles to the trapping area, and conveying biochemical reagents to the trapped particles. Parallel trapping in micro-fluidics is achieved with polystyrene beads as well as with native vesicles produced from mammalian cells. The traps can hold objects against fluid flows exceeding 100 micrometers per second. Parallel fluorescence excitation and detection on the ensemble of trapped particles is also demonstrated. Additionally, the system is capable of selectively and individually releasing particles from the tweezers array using a complementary steerable laser beam. Strategies for high-yield particle capture and individual particle release in a micro-fluidic environment are discussed. A comparison with diffractive optical tweezers enhances the pros and cons of refractive systems.

Demonstration of Numerical Equivalence of Ensemble and Spectral Averaging in Electromagnetic Scattering by Random Particulate Media

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mishchenko, Michael I.; Dlugach, Janna M.; Zakharova, Nadezhda T.

2016-01-01

The numerically exact superposition T-matrix method is used to model far-field electromagnetic scattering by two types of particulate object. Object 1 is a fixed configuration which consists of N identical spherical particles (with N 200 or 400) quasi-randomly populating a spherical volume V having a median size parameter of 50. Object 2 is a true discrete random medium (DRM) comprising the same number N of particles randomly moving throughout V. The median particle size parameter is fixed at 4. We show that if Object 1 is illuminated by a quasi-monochromatic parallel beam then it generates a typical speckle pattern having no resemblance to the scattering pattern generated by Object 2. However, if Object 1 is illuminated by a parallel polychromatic beam with a 10 bandwidth then it generates a scattering pattern that is largely devoid of speckles and closely reproduces the quasi-monochromatic pattern generated by Object 2. This result serves to illustrate the capacity of the concept of electromagnetic scattering by a DRM to encompass fixed quasi-random particulate samples provided that they are illuminated by polychromatic light.

Parallel Object Activation and Attentional Gating of Information: Evidence from Eye Movements in the Multiple Object Naming Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schotter, Elizabeth R.; Ferreira, Victor S.; Rayner, Keith

2013-01-01

Do we access information from any object we can see, or do we access information only from objects that we intend to name? In 3 experiments using a modified multiple object naming paradigm, subjects were required to name several objects in succession when previews appeared briefly and simultaneously in the same location as the target as well as at…

Developmental Stability in Gender-Typed Preferences between Infancy and Preschool Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lauer, Jillian E.; Ilksoy, Sibel D.; Lourenco, Stella F.

2018-01-01

Infants exhibit visual preferences for gender-typed objects (e.g., dolls, toy vehicles) that parallel the gender-typed play preferences of preschool-aged children, but the developmental stability of individual differences in early emerging gender-typed preferences has not yet been characterized. In the present study, we examined the longitudinal…

Students' Framing of a Reading Annotation Tool in the Context of Research-Based Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dahl, Jan Erik

2016-01-01

In the studied master's course, students participated both as research objects in a digital annotation experiment and as critical investigators of this technology in their semester projects. The students' role paralleled the researcher's role, opening an opportunity for researcher-student co-learning within what is often referred to as…

Efficacy and Safety of Dexmethylphenidate Extended-Release Capsules in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenhill, Laurence L.; Muniz, Rafael; Ball, Roberta R.; Levine, Alan; Pestreich, Linda; Jiang, Hai

2006-01-01

Objective: The efficacy and safety of dexmethylphenidate extended release (d-MPH-ER) was compared to placebo in pediatric patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, two-phase study included 97 patients (ages 6-17 years) with…

VISUAL AND AUDIO PRESENTATION IN MACHINE PROGRAMED INSTRUCTION. FINAL REPORT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ALLEN, WILLIAM H.

THIS STUDY WAS PART OF A LARGER RESEARCH PROGRAM AIMED TOWARD DEVELOPMENT OF PARADIGMS OF MESSAGE DESIGN. OBJECTIVES OF THREE PARALLEL EXPERIMENTS WERE TO EVALUATE INTERACTIONS OF PRESENTATION MODE, PROGRAM TYPE, AND CONTENT AS THEY AFFECT LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS. EACH EXPERIMENT USED 18 TREATMENTS IN A FACTORIAL DESIGN WITH RANDOMLY SELECTED…

Separation-Individuation Revisited: On the Interplay of Parent-Adolescent Relations, Identity and Emotional Adjustment in Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meeus, Wim; Iedema, Jurjen; Maassen, Gerard; Engels, Rutger

2005-01-01

The objective of this study was to test our alternative interpretation of the separation-individuation hypothesis. This interpretation states that separation from the parents is not a precondition for individuation, but rather separation and individuation are two parallel processes of development during adolescence. We investigated our…

Computational fluid dynamics study of the end-side and sequential coronary artery bypass anastomoses in a native coronary occlusion model.

PubMed

Matsuura, Kaoru; Jin, Wei Wei; Liu, Hao; Matsumiya, Goro

2018-04-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the haemodynamic patterns in each anastomosis fashion using a computational fluid dynamic study in a native coronary occlusion model. Fluid dynamic computations were carried out with ANSYS CFX (ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA) software. The incision lengths for parallel and diamond anastomoses were fixed at 2 mm. Native vessels were set to be totally occluded. The diameter of both the native and graft vessels was set to be 2 mm. The inlet boundary condition was set by a sample of the transient time flow measurement which was measured intraoperatively. The diamond anastomosis was observed to reduce flow to the native outlet and increase flow to the bypass outlet; the opposite was observed in the parallel anastomosis. Total energy efficiency was higher in the diamond anastomosis than the parallel anastomosis. Wall shear stress was higher in the diamond anastomosis than in the parallel anastomosis; it was the highest at the top of the outlet. A high oscillatory shear index was observed at the bypass inlet in the parallel anastomosis and at the native inlet in the diamond anastomosis. The diamond sequential anastomosis would be an effective option for multiple sequential bypasses because of the better flow to the bypass outlet than with the parallel anastomosis. However, flow competition should be kept in mind while using the diamond anastomosis for moderately stenotic vessels because of worsened flow to the native outlet. Care should be taken to ensure that the fluid dynamics patterns are optimal and prevent future native and bypass vessel disease progression.

Optimization of Multiple and Multipurpose Reservoir System Operations by Using Matrix Structure (Case Study: Karun and Dez Reservoir Dams)

PubMed Central

Othman, Faridah; Taghieh, Mahmood

2016-01-01

Optimal operation of water resources in multiple and multipurpose reservoirs is very complicated. This is because of the number of dams, each dam’s location (Series and parallel), conflict in objectives and the stochastic nature of the inflow of water in the system. In this paper, performance optimization of the system of Karun and Dez reservoir dams have been studied and investigated with the purposes of hydroelectric energy generation and providing water demand in 6 dams. On the Karun River, 5 dams have been built in the series arrangements, and the Dez dam has been built parallel to those 5 dams. One of the main achievements in this research is the implementation of the structure of production of hydroelectric energy as a function of matrix in MATLAB software. The results show that the role of objective function structure for generating hydroelectric energy in weighting method algorithm is more important than water supply. Nonetheless by implementing ε- constraint method algorithm, we can both increase hydroelectric power generation and supply around 85% of agricultural and industrial demands. PMID:27248152

Alleviating Search Uncertainty through Concept Associations: Automatic Indexing, Co-Occurrence Analysis, and Parallel Computing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Hsinchun; Martinez, Joanne; Kirchhoff, Amy; Ng, Tobun D.; Schatz, Bruce R.

1998-01-01

Grounded on object filtering, automatic indexing, and co-occurrence analysis, an experiment was performed using a parallel supercomputer to analyze over 400,000 abstracts in an INSPEC computer engineering collection. A user evaluation revealed that system-generated thesauri were better than the human-generated INSPEC subject thesaurus in concept…

Additive Manufacturing of Dense Hexagonal Boron Nitride Objects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marquez Rossy, Andres E.; Armstrong, Beth L.; Elliott, Amy M.

The feasibility of manufacturing hexagonal boron nitride objects via additive manufacturing techniques was investigated. It was demonstrated that it is possible to hot-extrude thermoplastic filaments containing uniformly distributed boron nitride particles with a volume concentration as high as 60% and that these thermoplastic filaments can be used as feedstock for 3D-printing objects using a fused deposition system. Objects 3D-printed by fused deposition were subsequently sintered at high temperature to obtain dense ceramic products. In a parallel study the behavior of hexagonal boron nitride in aqueous solutions was investigated. It was shown that the addition of a cationic dispersant to anmore » azeotrope enabled the formulation of slurries with a volume concentration of boron nitride as high as 33%. Although these slurries exhibited complex rheological behavior, the results from this study are encouraging and provide a pathway for manufacturing hexagonal boron nitride objects via robocasting.« less

Transforming Play: An Analysis of First-, Third-, and Fifth-Graders' Play.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bagley, Donna M.; Chaille, Christine

1996-01-01

Compared children's play with transformational objects (vehicles that change to robots) to play with representational objects (cars and figures). Found that those playing with transformers engaged in more parallel play and manipulative activity, while those with representational objects displayed more social play and more symbolic play. Found no…

Parallel and Portable Monte Carlo Particle Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S. R.; Cummings, J. C.; Nolen, S. D.; Keen, N. D.

1997-08-01

We have developed a multi-group, Monte Carlo neutron transport code in C++ using object-oriented methods and the Parallel Object-Oriented Methods and Applications (POOMA) class library. This transport code, called MC++, currently computes k and α eigenvalues of the neutron transport equation on a rectilinear computational mesh. It is portable to and runs in parallel on a wide variety of platforms, including MPPs, clustered SMPs, and individual workstations. It contains appropriate classes and abstractions for particle transport and, through the use of POOMA, for portable parallelism. Current capabilities are discussed, along with physics and performance results for several test problems on a variety of hardware, including all three Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) platforms. Current parallel performance indicates the ability to compute α-eigenvalues in seconds or minutes rather than days or weeks. Current and future work on the implementation of a general transport physics framework (TPF) is also described. This TPF employs modern C++ programming techniques to provide simplified user interfaces, generic STL-style programming, and compile-time performance optimization. Physics capabilities of the TPF will be extended to include continuous energy treatments, implicit Monte Carlo algorithms, and a variety of convergence acceleration techniques such as importance combing.

Sequential and parallel image restoration: neural network implementations.

PubMed

Figueiredo, M T; Leitao, J N

1994-01-01

Sequential and parallel image restoration algorithms and their implementations on neural networks are proposed. For images degraded by linear blur and contaminated by additive white Gaussian noise, maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation and regularization theory lead to the same high dimension convex optimization problem. The commonly adopted strategy (in using neural networks for image restoration) is to map the objective function of the optimization problem into the energy of a predefined network, taking advantage of its energy minimization properties. Departing from this approach, we propose neural implementations of iterative minimization algorithms which are first proved to converge. The developed schemes are based on modified Hopfield (1985) networks of graded elements, with both sequential and parallel updating schedules. An algorithm supported on a fully standard Hopfield network (binary elements and zero autoconnections) is also considered. Robustness with respect to finite numerical precision is studied, and examples with real images are presented.

Advanced miniature processing handware for ATR applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chao, Tien-Hsin (Inventor); Daud, Taher (Inventor); Thakoor, Anikumar (Inventor)

2003-01-01

A Hybrid Optoelectronic Neural Object Recognition System (HONORS), is disclosed, comprising two major building blocks: (1) an advanced grayscale optical correlator (OC) and (2) a massively parallel three-dimensional neural-processor. The optical correlator, with its inherent advantages in parallel processing and shift invariance, is used for target of interest (TOI) detection and segmentation. The three-dimensional neural-processor, with its robust neural learning capability, is used for target classification and identification. The hybrid optoelectronic neural object recognition system, with its powerful combination of optical processing and neural networks, enables real-time, large frame, automatic target recognition (ATR).

Control of Precision Grip Force in Lifting and Holding of Low-Mass Objects

PubMed Central

Kimura, Daisuke; Kadota, Koji; Ito, Taro

2015-01-01

Few studies have investigated the control of grip force when manipulating an object with an extremely small mass using a precision grip, although some related information has been provided by studies conducted in an unusual microgravity environment. Grip-load force coordination was examined while healthy adults (N = 17) held a moveable instrumented apparatus with its mass changed between 6 g and 200 g in 14 steps, with its grip surface set as either sandpaper or rayon. Additional measurements of grip-force-dependent finger-surface contact area and finger skin indentation, as well as a test of weight discrimination, were also performed. For each surface condition, the static grip force was modulated in parallel with load force while holding the object of a mass above 30 g. For objects with mass smaller than 30 g, on the other hand, the parallel relationship was changed, resulting in a progressive increase in grip-to-load force (GF/LF) ratio. The rayon had a higher GF/LF force ratio across all mass levels. The proportion of safety margin in the static grip force and normalized moment-to-moment variability of the static grip force were also elevated towards the lower end of the object mass for both surfaces. These findings indicate that the strategy of grip force control for holding objects with an extremely small mass differs from that with a mass above 30 g. The data for the contact area, skin indentation, and weight discrimination suggest that a decreased level of cutaneous feedback signals from the finger pads could have played some role in a cost function in efficient grip force control with low-mass objects. The elevated grip force variability associated with signal-dependent and internal noises, and anticipated inertial force on the held object due to acceleration of the arm and hand, could also have contributed to the cost function. PMID:26376484

Parallel programming with Easy Java Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esquembre, F.; Christian, W.; Belloni, M.

2018-01-01

Nearly all of today's processors are multicore, and ideally programming and algorithm development utilizing the entire processor should be introduced early in the computational physics curriculum. Parallel programming is often not introduced because it requires a new programming environment and uses constructs that are unfamiliar to many teachers. We describe how we decrease the barrier to parallel programming by using a java-based programming environment to treat problems in the usual undergraduate curriculum. We use the easy java simulations programming and authoring tool to create the program's graphical user interface together with objects based on those developed by Kaminsky [Building Parallel Programs (Course Technology, Boston, 2010)] to handle common parallel programming tasks. Shared-memory parallel implementations of physics problems, such as time evolution of the Schrödinger equation, are available as source code and as ready-to-run programs from the AAPT-ComPADRE digital library.

Multi-arm spectrometer for parallel frequency analysis of radio-wave signals oriented to astronomical observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shcherbakov, Alexandre S.; Chavez Dagostino, Miguel; Arellanes, Adan Omar; Tepichin Rodriguez, Eduardo

2017-08-01

We describe a potential prototype of modern spectrometer based on acousto-optical technique with three parallel optical arms for analysis of radio-wave signals specific to astronomical observations. Each optical arm exhibits original performances to provide parallel multi-band observations with different scales simultaneously. Similar multi-band instrument is able to realize measurements within various scenarios from planetary atmospheres to attractive objects in the distant Universe. The arrangement under development has two novelties. First, each optical arm represents an individual spectrum analyzer with its individual performances. Such an approach is conditioned by exploiting various materials for acousto-optical cells operating within various regimes, frequency ranges, and light wavelengths from independent light sources. Individually produced beam shapers give both the needed incident light polarization and the required apodization for light beam to increase the dynamic range of the system as a whole. After parallel acousto-optical processing, a few data flows from these optical arms are united by the joint CCD matrix on the stage of the combined extremely high-bit rate electronic data processing that provides the system performances as well. The other novelty consists in the usage of various materials for designing wide-aperture acousto-optical cells exhibiting the best performances within each of optical arms. Here, one can mention specifically selected cuts of tellurium dioxide, bastron, and lithium niobate, which overlap selected areas within the frequency range from 40 MHz to 2.0 GHz. Thus one yields the united versatile instrument for comprehensive studies of astronomical objects simultaneously with precise synchronization in various frequency ranges.

Parallel perceptual enhancement and hierarchic relevance evaluation in an audio-visual conjunction task.

PubMed

Potts, Geoffrey F; Wood, Susan M; Kothmann, Delia; Martin, Laura E

2008-10-21

Attention directs limited-capacity information processing resources to a subset of available perceptual representations. The mechanisms by which attention selects task-relevant representations for preferential processing are not fully known. Triesman and Gelade's [Triesman, A., Gelade, G., 1980. A feature integration theory of attention. Cognit. Psychol. 12, 97-136.] influential attention model posits that simple features are processed preattentively, in parallel, but that attention is required to serially conjoin multiple features into an object representation. Event-related potentials have provided evidence for this model showing parallel processing of perceptual features in the posterior Selection Negativity (SN) and serial, hierarchic processing of feature conjunctions in the Frontal Selection Positivity (FSP). Most prior studies have been done on conjunctions within one sensory modality while many real-world objects have multimodal features. It is not known if the same neural systems of posterior parallel processing of simple features and frontal serial processing of feature conjunctions seen within a sensory modality also operate on conjunctions between modalities. The current study used ERPs and simultaneously presented auditory and visual stimuli in three task conditions: Attend Auditory (auditory feature determines the target, visual features are irrelevant), Attend Visual (visual features relevant, auditory irrelevant), and Attend Conjunction (target defined by the co-occurrence of an auditory and a visual feature). In the Attend Conjunction condition when the auditory but not the visual feature was a target there was an SN over auditory cortex, when the visual but not auditory stimulus was a target there was an SN over visual cortex, and when both auditory and visual stimuli were targets (i.e. conjunction target) there were SNs over both auditory and visual cortex, indicating parallel processing of the simple features within each modality. In contrast, an FSP was present when either the visual only or both auditory and visual features were targets, but not when only the auditory stimulus was a target, indicating that the conjunction target determination was evaluated serially and hierarchically with visual information taking precedence. This indicates that the detection of a target defined by audio-visual conjunction is achieved via the same mechanism as within a single perceptual modality, through separate, parallel processing of the auditory and visual features and serial processing of the feature conjunction elements, rather than by evaluation of a fused multimodal percept.

Wavelet Transforms in Parallel Image Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-01-27

NUMBER OF PAGES Object Segmentation, Texture Segmentation, Image Compression, Image 137 Halftoning , Neural Network, Parallel Algorithms, 2D and 3D...Vector Quantization of Wavelet Transform Coefficients ........ ............................. 57 B.1.f Adaptive Image Halftoning based on Wavelet...application has been directed to the adaptive image halftoning . The gray information at a pixel, including its gray value and gradient, is represented by

Using CLIPS in the domain of knowledge-based massively parallel programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dvorak, Jiri J.

1994-01-01

The Program Development Environment (PDE) is a tool for massively parallel programming of distributed-memory architectures. Adopting a knowledge-based approach, the PDE eliminates the complexity introduced by parallel hardware with distributed memory and offers complete transparency in respect of parallelism exploitation. The knowledge-based part of the PDE is realized in CLIPS. Its principal task is to find an efficient parallel realization of the application specified by the user in a comfortable, abstract, domain-oriented formalism. A large collection of fine-grain parallel algorithmic skeletons, represented as COOL objects in a tree hierarchy, contains the algorithmic knowledge. A hybrid knowledge base with rule modules and procedural parts, encoding expertise about application domain, parallel programming, software engineering, and parallel hardware, enables a high degree of automation in the software development process. In this paper, important aspects of the implementation of the PDE using CLIPS and COOL are shown, including the embedding of CLIPS with C++-based parts of the PDE. The appropriateness of the chosen approach and of the CLIPS language for knowledge-based software engineering are discussed.

Computational time analysis of the numerical solution of 3D electrostatic Poisson's equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamboh, Shakeel Ahmed; Labadin, Jane; Rigit, Andrew Ragai Henri; Ling, Tech Chaw; Amur, Khuda Bux; Chaudhary, Muhammad Tayyab

2015-05-01

3D Poisson's equation is solved numerically to simulate the electric potential in a prototype design of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) ion-drag micropump. Finite difference method (FDM) is employed to discretize the governing equation. The system of linear equations resulting from FDM is solved iteratively by using the sequential Jacobi (SJ) and sequential Gauss-Seidel (SGS) methods, simulation results are also compared to examine the difference between the results. The main objective was to analyze the computational time required by both the methods with respect to different grid sizes and parallelize the Jacobi method to reduce the computational time. In common, the SGS method is faster than the SJ method but the data parallelism of Jacobi method may produce good speedup over SGS method. In this study, the feasibility of using parallel Jacobi (PJ) method is attempted in relation to SGS method. MATLAB Parallel/Distributed computing environment is used and a parallel code for SJ method is implemented. It was found that for small grid size the SGS method remains dominant over SJ method and PJ method while for large grid size both the sequential methods may take nearly too much processing time to converge. Yet, the PJ method reduces computational time to some extent for large grid sizes.

Analysis of Parallel and Transverse Visual Cues on the Gait of Individuals with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Melo Roiz, Roberta; Azevedo Cacho, Enio Walker; Cliquet, Alberto, Jr.; Barasnevicius Quagliato, Elizabeth Maria Aparecida

2011-01-01

Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) has been defined as a chronic progressive neurological disorder with characteristics that generate changes in gait pattern. Several studies have reported that appropriate external influences, such as visual or auditory cues may improve the gait pattern of patients with IPD. Therefore, the objective of this…

The Effect of Science Activities on Concept Acquisition of Age 5-6 Children Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dogru, Mustafa; Seker, Fatih

2012-01-01

Present research aims to determine the effect of science activities on concept development of preschool period age 5-6 children groups. Parallel to research objective, qualitative research pattern has been the selected method. Study group comprises of collectively 48 children from 5-6 age group attending to a private education institution in city…

Design and Performance of a 1 ms High-Speed Vision Chip with 3D-Stacked 140 GOPS Column-Parallel PEs †.

PubMed

Nose, Atsushi; Yamazaki, Tomohiro; Katayama, Hironobu; Uehara, Shuji; Kobayashi, Masatsugu; Shida, Sayaka; Odahara, Masaki; Takamiya, Kenichi; Matsumoto, Shizunori; Miyashita, Leo; Watanabe, Yoshihiro; Izawa, Takashi; Muramatsu, Yoshinori; Nitta, Yoshikazu; Ishikawa, Masatoshi

2018-04-24

We have developed a high-speed vision chip using 3D stacking technology to address the increasing demand for high-speed vision chips in diverse applications. The chip comprises a 1/3.2-inch, 1.27 Mpixel, 500 fps (0.31 Mpixel, 1000 fps, 2 × 2 binning) vision chip with 3D-stacked column-parallel Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) and 140 Giga Operation per Second (GOPS) programmable Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) column-parallel PEs for new sensing applications. The 3D-stacked structure and column parallel processing architecture achieve high sensitivity, high resolution, and high-accuracy object positioning.

Survival distributions impact the power of randomized placebo-phase design and parallel groups randomized clinical trials.

PubMed

Abrahamyan, Lusine; Li, Chuan Silvia; Beyene, Joseph; Willan, Andrew R; Feldman, Brian M

2011-03-01

The study evaluated the power of the randomized placebo-phase design (RPPD)-a new design of randomized clinical trials (RCTs), compared with the traditional parallel groups design, assuming various response time distributions. In the RPPD, at some point, all subjects receive the experimental therapy, and the exposure to placebo is for only a short fixed period of time. For the study, an object-oriented simulation program was written in R. The power of the simulated trials was evaluated using six scenarios, where the treatment response times followed the exponential, Weibull, or lognormal distributions. The median response time was assumed to be 355 days for the placebo and 42 days for the experimental drug. Based on the simulation results, the sample size requirements to achieve the same level of power were different under different response time to treatment distributions. The scenario where the response times followed the exponential distribution had the highest sample size requirement. In most scenarios, the parallel groups RCT had higher power compared with the RPPD. The sample size requirement varies depending on the underlying hazard distribution. The RPPD requires more subjects to achieve a similar power to the parallel groups design. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parallel aeroelastic computations for wing and wing-body configurations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byun, Chansup

1994-01-01

The objective of this research is to develop computationally efficient methods for solving fluid-structural interaction problems by directly coupling finite difference Euler/Navier-Stokes equations for fluids and finite element dynamics equations for structures on parallel computers. This capability will significantly impact many aerospace projects of national importance such as Advanced Subsonic Civil Transport (ASCT), where the structural stability margin becomes very critical at the transonic region. This research effort will have direct impact on the High Performance Computing and Communication (HPCC) Program of NASA in the area of parallel computing.

QCM-D on mica for parallel QCM-D-AFM studies.

PubMed

Richter, Ralf P; Brisson, Alain

2004-05-25

Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) has developed into a recognized method to study adsorption processes in liquid, such as the formation of supported lipid bilayers and protein adsorption. However, the large intrinsic roughness of currently used gold-coated or silica-coated QCM-D sensors limits parallel structural characterization by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We present a method for coating QCM-D sensors with thin mica sheets operating in liquid with high stability and sensitivity. We define criteria to objectively assess the reliability of the QCM-D measurements and demonstrate that the mica-coated sensors can be used to follow the formation of supported lipid membranes and subsequent protein adsorption. This method allows combining QCM-D and AFM investigations on identical supports, providing detailed physicochemical and structural characterization of model membranes.

Novel hybrid GPU-CPU implementation of parallelized Monte Carlo parametric expectation maximization estimation method for population pharmacokinetic data analysis.

PubMed

Ng, C M

2013-10-01

The development of a population PK/PD model, an essential component for model-based drug development, is both time- and labor-intensive. A graphical-processing unit (GPU) computing technology has been proposed and used to accelerate many scientific computations. The objective of this study was to develop a hybrid GPU-CPU implementation of parallelized Monte Carlo parametric expectation maximization (MCPEM) estimation algorithm for population PK data analysis. A hybrid GPU-CPU implementation of the MCPEM algorithm (MCPEMGPU) and identical algorithm that is designed for the single CPU (MCPEMCPU) were developed using MATLAB in a single computer equipped with dual Xeon 6-Core E5690 CPU and a NVIDIA Tesla C2070 GPU parallel computing card that contained 448 stream processors. Two different PK models with rich/sparse sampling design schemes were used to simulate population data in assessing the performance of MCPEMCPU and MCPEMGPU. Results were analyzed by comparing the parameter estimation and model computation times. Speedup factor was used to assess the relative benefit of parallelized MCPEMGPU over MCPEMCPU in shortening model computation time. The MCPEMGPU consistently achieved shorter computation time than the MCPEMCPU and can offer more than 48-fold speedup using a single GPU card. The novel hybrid GPU-CPU implementation of parallelized MCPEM algorithm developed in this study holds a great promise in serving as the core for the next-generation of modeling software for population PK/PD analysis.

Parallels between Action-Object Mapping and Word-Object Mapping in Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riggs, Kevin J.; Mather, Emily; Hyde, Grace; Simpson, Andrew

2016-01-01

Across a series of four experiments with 3- to 4-year-olds we demonstrate how cognitive mechanisms supporting noun learning extend to the mapping of actions to objects. In Experiment 1 (n = 61) the demonstration of a novel action led children to select a novel, rather than a familiar object. In Experiment 2 (n = 78) children exhibited long-term…

Solutions of large-scale electromagnetics problems involving dielectric objects with the parallel multilevel fast multipole algorithm.

PubMed

Ergül, Özgür

2011-11-01

Fast and accurate solutions of large-scale electromagnetics problems involving homogeneous dielectric objects are considered. Problems are formulated with the electric and magnetic current combined-field integral equation and discretized with the Rao-Wilton-Glisson functions. Solutions are performed iteratively by using the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA). For the solution of large-scale problems discretized with millions of unknowns, MLFMA is parallelized on distributed-memory architectures using a rigorous technique, namely, the hierarchical partitioning strategy. Efficiency and accuracy of the developed implementation are demonstrated on very large problems involving as many as 100 million unknowns.

F-Nets and Software Cabling: Deriving a Formal Model and Language for Portable Parallel Programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DiNucci, David C.; Saini, Subhash (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

Parallel programming is still being based upon antiquated sequence-based definitions of the terms "algorithm" and "computation", resulting in programs which are architecture dependent and difficult to design and analyze. By focusing on obstacles inherent in existing practice, a more portable model is derived here, which is then formalized into a model called Soviets which utilizes a combination of imperative and functional styles. This formalization suggests more general notions of algorithm and computation, as well as insights into the meaning of structured programming in a parallel setting. To illustrate how these principles can be applied, a very-high-level graphical architecture-independent parallel language, called Software Cabling, is described, with many of the features normally expected from today's computer languages (e.g. data abstraction, data parallelism, and object-based programming constructs).

Runtime support for parallelizing data mining algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Ruoming; Agrawal, Gagan

2002-03-01

With recent technological advances, shared memory parallel machines have become more scalable, and offer large main memories and high bus bandwidths. They are emerging as good platforms for data warehousing and data mining. In this paper, we focus on shared memory parallelization of data mining algorithms. We have developed a series of techniques for parallelization of data mining algorithms, including full replication, full locking, fixed locking, optimized full locking, and cache-sensitive locking. Unlike previous work on shared memory parallelization of specific data mining algorithms, all of our techniques apply to a large number of common data mining algorithms. In addition, we propose a reduction-object based interface for specifying a data mining algorithm. We show how our runtime system can apply any of the technique we have developed starting from a common specification of the algorithm.

Parallelizing serial code for a distributed processing environment with an application to high frequency electromagnetic scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Work, Paul R.

1991-12-01

This thesis investigates the parallelization of existing serial programs in computational electromagnetics for use in a parallel environment. Existing algorithms for calculating the radar cross section of an object are covered, and a ray-tracing code is chosen for implementation on a parallel machine. Current parallel architectures are introduced and a suitable parallel machine is selected for the implementation of the chosen ray-tracing algorithm. The standard techniques for the parallelization of serial codes are discussed, including load balancing and decomposition considerations, and appropriate methods for the parallelization effort are selected. A load balancing algorithm is modified to increase the efficiency of the application, and a high level design of the structure of the serial program is presented. A detailed design of the modifications for the parallel implementation is also included, with both the high level and the detailed design specified in a high level design language called UNITY. The correctness of the design is proven using UNITY and standard logic operations. The theoretical and empirical results show that it is possible to achieve an efficient parallel application for a serial computational electromagnetic program where the characteristics of the algorithm and the target architecture critically influence the development of such an implementation.

A Phase III Randomized, Double-blind, Parallel-group Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Acarmet (Metformin HCl 500 mg Plus Acarbose 50 mg Tablets) Versus Acarbose Alone in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

ClinicalTrials.gov

2010-11-19

The Objectives of the Study is to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Acarmet (Metformin HCl 500 mg; Plus Acarbose 50 mg Tablets) Thrice Daily Versus Acarbose 50 mg Thrice Daily Over 16 Weeks in; Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Boundary and object detection in real world images. [by means of algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yakimovsky, Y.

1974-01-01

A solution to the problem of automatic location of objects in digital pictures by computer is presented. A self-scaling local edge detector which can be applied in parallel on a picture is described. Clustering algorithms and boundary following algorithms which are sequential in nature process the edge data to locate images of objects.

Multiplane optical microscope

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Tongcang; Ota, Sadao; Kim, Jeongmin

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to optical microscopy. In one aspect, an apparatus includes a sample holder, a first objective lens, a plurality of optical components, a second objective lens, and a mirror. The apparatus may directly image a cross-section of a sample oblique to or parallel to the optical axis of the first objective lens, without scanning.

Alignment theory of parallel-beam computed tomography image reconstruction for elastic-type objects using virtual focusing method.

PubMed

Jun, Kyungtaek; Kim, Dongwook

2018-01-01

X-ray computed tomography has been studied in various fields. Considerable effort has been focused on reconstructing the projection image set from a rigid-type specimen. However, reconstruction of images projected from an object showing elastic motion has received minimal attention. In this paper, a mathematical solution to reconstructing the projection image set obtained from an object with specific elastic motions-periodically, regularly, and elliptically expanded or contracted specimens-is proposed. To reconstruct the projection image set from expanded or contracted specimens, methods are presented for detection of the sample's motion modes, mathematical rescaling of pixel values, and conversion of the projection angle for a common layer.

Computing with motile bio-agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicolau, Dan V., Jr.; Burrage, Kevin; Nicolau, Dan V.

2007-12-01

We describe a model of computation of the parallel type, which we call 'computing with bio-agents', based on the concept that motions of biological objects such as bacteria or protein molecular motors in confined spaces can be regarded as computations. We begin with the observation that the geometric nature of the physical structures in which model biological objects move modulates the motions of the latter. Consequently, by changing the geometry, one can control the characteristic trajectories of the objects; on the basis of this, we argue that such systems are computing devices. We investigate the computing power of mobile bio-agent systems and show that they are computationally universal in the sense that they are capable of computing any Boolean function in parallel. We argue also that using appropriate conditions, bio-agent systems can solve NP-complete problems in probabilistic polynomial time.

Study on the water resources optimal operation based on riverbed wind erosion control in West Liaohe River plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wanguang, Sun; Chengzhen, Li; Baoshan, Fan

2018-06-01

Rivers are drying up most frequently in West Liaohe River plain and the bare river beds present fine sand belts on land. These sand belts, which yield a dust heavily in windy days, stress the local environment deeply as the riverbeds are eroded by wind. The optimal operation of water resources, thus, is one of the most important methods for preventing the wind erosion of riverbeds. In this paper, optimal operation model for water resources based on riverbed wind erosion control has been established, which contains objective function, constraints, and solution method. The objective function considers factors which include water volume diverted into reservoirs, river length and lower threshold of flow rate, etc. On the basis of ensuring the water requirement of each reservoir, the destruction of the vegetation in the riverbed by the frequent river flow is avoided. The multi core parallel solving method for optimal water resources operation in the West Liaohe River Plain is proposed, which the optimal solution is found by DPSA method under the POA framework and the parallel computing program is designed in Fork/Join mode. Based on the optimal operation results, the basic rules of water resources operation in the West Liaohe River Plain are summarized. Calculation results show that, on the basis of meeting the requirement of water volume of every reservoir, the frequency of reach river flow which from Taihekou to Talagan Water Diversion Project in the Xinkai River is reduced effectively. The speedup and parallel efficiency of parallel algorithm are 1.51 and 0.76 respectively, and the computing time is significantly decreased. The research results show in this paper can provide technical support for the prevention and control of riverbed wind erosion in the West Liaohe River plain.

Performance analysis of parallel branch and bound search with the hypercube architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mraz, Richard T.

1987-01-01

With the availability of commercial parallel computers, researchers are examining new classes of problems which might benefit from parallel computing. This paper presents results of an investigation of the class of search intensive problems. The specific problem discussed is the Least-Cost Branch and Bound search method of deadline job scheduling. The object-oriented design methodology was used to map the problem into a parallel solution. While the initial design was good for a prototype, the best performance resulted from fine-tuning the algorithm for a specific computer. The experiments analyze the computation time, the speed up over a VAX 11/785, and the load balance of the problem when using loosely coupled multiprocessor system based on the hypercube architecture.

Portable programming on parallel/networked computers using the Application Portable Parallel Library (APPL)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quealy, Angela; Cole, Gary L.; Blech, Richard A.

1993-01-01

The Application Portable Parallel Library (APPL) is a subroutine-based library of communication primitives that is callable from applications written in FORTRAN or C. APPL provides a consistent programmer interface to a variety of distributed and shared-memory multiprocessor MIMD machines. The objective of APPL is to minimize the effort required to move parallel applications from one machine to another, or to a network of homogeneous machines. APPL encompasses many of the message-passing primitives that are currently available on commercial multiprocessor systems. This paper describes APPL (version 2.3.1) and its usage, reports the status of the APPL project, and indicates possible directions for the future. Several applications using APPL are discussed, as well as performance and overhead results.

A unified framework for building high performance DVEs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Kaibin; Ma, Zhixia; Xiong, Hua

2011-10-01

A unified framework for integrating PC cluster based parallel rendering with distributed virtual environments (DVEs) is presented in this paper. While various scene graphs have been proposed in DVEs, it is difficult to enable collaboration of different scene graphs. This paper proposes a technique for non-distributed scene graphs with the capability of object and event distribution. With the increase of graphics data, DVEs require more powerful rendering ability. But general scene graphs are inefficient in parallel rendering. The paper also proposes a technique to connect a DVE and a PC cluster based parallel rendering environment. A distributed multi-player video game is developed to show the interaction of different scene graphs and the parallel rendering performance on a large tiled display wall.

Modelling parallel programs and multiprocessor architectures with AXE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yan, Jerry C.; Fineman, Charles E.

1991-01-01

AXE, An Experimental Environment for Parallel Systems, was designed to model and simulate for parallel systems at the process level. It provides an integrated environment for specifying computation models, multiprocessor architectures, data collection, and performance visualization. AXE is being used at NASA-Ames for developing resource management strategies, parallel problem formulation, multiprocessor architectures, and operating system issues related to the High Performance Computing and Communications Program. AXE's simple, structured user-interface enables the user to model parallel programs and machines precisely and efficiently. Its quick turn-around time keeps the user interested and productive. AXE models multicomputers. The user may easily modify various architectural parameters including the number of sites, connection topologies, and overhead for operating system activities. Parallel computations in AXE are represented as collections of autonomous computing objects known as players. Their use and behavior is described. Performance data of the multiprocessor model can be observed on a color screen. These include CPU and message routing bottlenecks, and the dynamic status of the software.

Dissociation between Small and Large Numerosities in Newborn Infants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coubart, Aurélie; Izard, Véronique; Spelke, Elizabeth S.; Marie, Julien; Streri, Arlette

2014-01-01

In the first year of life, infants possess two cognitive systems encoding numerical information: one for processing the numerosity of sets of 4 or more items, and the second for tracking up to 3 objects in parallel. While a previous study showed the former system to be already present a few hours after birth, it is unknown whether the latter…

Study of CCD Eyepiece on T-4 Theodolite.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-11-01

11. REVIEW OF TWO-COLOR REFRACTOMETRY OBJECTIVES .....................3 III, ACHIEVEMENTS IN TWO- COLOR REFRACTOMETRY DURING THIS CONTRA...indirectly influence the questions of star catalogs. The initial efforts under this contract were addressed toward Two- Color Refractometry . This is a...in the astroposition procedure. Future efforts on other projects will consist of the return to the Two-Color Refractometry to provide a parallel

Safety and Efficacy of ABT-089 in Pediatric Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Results from Two Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilens, Timothy E.; Gault, Laura M.; Childress, Ann; Kratochvil, Christopher J.; Bensman, Lindsey; Hall, Coleen M.; Olson, Evelyn; Robieson, Weining Z.; Garimella, Tushar S.; Abi-Saab, Walid M.; Apostol, George; Saltarelli, Mario D.

2011-01-01

Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of ABT-089, a novel alpha[subscript 4]beta[subscript 2] neuronal nicotinic receptor partial agonist, vs. placebo in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: Two multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group studies of children 6 through 12 years…

Thread concept for automatic task parallelization in image analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lueckenhaus, Maximilian; Eckstein, Wolfgang

1998-09-01

Parallel processing of image analysis tasks is an essential method to speed up image processing and helps to exploit the full capacity of distributed systems. However, writing parallel code is a difficult and time-consuming process and often leads to an architecture-dependent program that has to be re-implemented when changing the hardware. Therefore it is highly desirable to do the parallelization automatically. For this we have developed a special kind of thread concept for image analysis tasks. Threads derivated from one subtask may share objects and run in the same context but may process different threads of execution and work on different data in parallel. In this paper we describe the basics of our thread concept and show how it can be used as basis of an automatic task parallelization to speed up image processing. We further illustrate the design and implementation of an agent-based system that uses image analysis threads for generating and processing parallel programs by taking into account the available hardware. The tests made with our system prototype show that the thread concept combined with the agent paradigm is suitable to speed up image processing by an automatic parallelization of image analysis tasks.

A microkernel design for component-based parallel numerical software systems.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balay, S.

1999-01-13

What is the minimal software infrastructure and what type of conventions are needed to simplify development of sophisticated parallel numerical application codes using a variety of software components that are not necessarily available as source code? We propose an opaque object-based model where the objects are dynamically loadable from the file system or network. The microkernel required to manage such a system needs to include, at most: (1) a few basic services, namely--a mechanism for loading objects at run time via dynamic link libraries, and consistent schemes for error handling and memory management; and (2) selected methods that all objectsmore » share, to deal with object life (destruction, reference counting, relationships), and object observation (viewing, profiling, tracing). We are experimenting with these ideas in the context of extensible numerical software within the ALICE (Advanced Large-scale Integrated Computational Environment) project, where we are building the microkernel to manage the interoperability among various tools for large-scale scientific simulations. This paper presents some preliminary observations and conclusions from our work with microkernel design.« less

A pilot study of physiological reactivity in children and maternal figures who lost relatives in a terrorist attack.

PubMed

Pfefferbaum, Betty; Tucker, Phebe; Jeon-Slaughter, Haekyung; Allen, James R; Hammond, Donna R; Whittlesey, Suzanne W; Vinekar, Shreekumar S; Feng, Yan

2013-01-01

Trauma is thought to interfere with normal grief by superimposing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. This exploratory pilot study examined the association between traumatic grief and objectively measured physiological reactivity to a trauma interview in 73 children who lost relatives in the Oklahoma City bombing as well as a potential link between children and their maternal figures in physiological reactivity. Although the authors found no association between posttraumatic stress and objectively measured physiological reactivity among children, they found significant differences in objectively measured reactivity associated with loss and grief. Children who lost "close" relatives evidenced greater objectively measured reactivity than those who lost "distant" relatives. For the most part, children with higher levels of grief evidenced greater objectively measured reactivity than those with lower levels of grief. The most interesting of the findings was the parallel pattern in objectively measured physiological reactivity between children and their maternal figures along with a positive association between children's objectively measured physiological reactivity and maternal figures' self-reported physiological reactivity. Research using larger representative samples studied early and over time is indicated to determine the potential significance of these findings.

Supersonic civil airplane study and design: Performance and sonic boom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheung, Samson

1995-01-01

Since aircraft configuration plays an important role in aerodynamic performance and sonic boom shape, the configuration of the next generation supersonic civil transport has to be tailored to meet high aerodynamic performance and low sonic boom requirements. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be used to design airplanes to meet these dual objectives. The work and results in this report are used to support NASA's High Speed Research Program (HSRP). CFD tools and techniques have been developed for general usages of sonic boom propagation study and aerodynamic design. Parallel to the research effort on sonic boom extrapolation, CFD flow solvers have been coupled with a numeric optimization tool to form a design package for aircraft configuration. This CFD optimization package has been applied to configuration design on a low-boom concept and an oblique all-wing concept. A nonlinear unconstrained optimizer for Parallel Virtual Machine has been developed for aerodynamic design and study.

Reliability of a Parallel Pipe Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herrera, Edgar; Chamis, Christopher (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The goal of this NASA-funded research is to advance research and education objectives in theoretical and computational probabilistic structural analysis, reliability, and life prediction methods for improved aerospace and aircraft propulsion system components. Reliability methods are used to quantify response uncertainties due to inherent uncertainties in design variables. In this report, several reliability methods are applied to a parallel pipe network. The observed responses are the head delivered by a main pump and the head values of two parallel lines at certain flow rates. The probability that the flow rates in the lines will be less than their specified minimums will be discussed.

An interactive parallel programming environment applied in atmospheric science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

vonLaszewski, G.

1996-01-01

This article introduces an interactive parallel programming environment (IPPE) that simplifies the generation and execution of parallel programs. One of the tasks of the environment is to generate message-passing parallel programs for homogeneous and heterogeneous computing platforms. The parallel programs are represented by using visual objects. This is accomplished with the help of a graphical programming editor that is implemented in Java and enables portability to a wide variety of computer platforms. In contrast to other graphical programming systems, reusable parts of the programs can be stored in a program library to support rapid prototyping. In addition, runtime performance data on different computing platforms is collected in a database. A selection process determines dynamically the software and the hardware platform to be used to solve the problem in minimal wall-clock time. The environment is currently being tested on a Grand Challenge problem, the NASA four-dimensional data assimilation system.

Effects of a Moving Distractor Object on Time-to-Contact Judgments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oberfeld, Daniel; Hecht, Heiko

2008-01-01

The effects of moving task-irrelevant objects on time-to-contact (TTC) judgments were examined in 5 experiments. Observers viewed a directly approaching target in the presence of a distractor object moving in parallel with the target. In Experiments 1 to 4, observers decided whether the target would have collided with them earlier or later than a…

Robust High-Resolution Cloth Using Parallelism, History-Based Collisions and Accurate Friction

PubMed Central

Selle, Andrew; Su, Jonathan; Irving, Geoffrey; Fedkiw, Ronald

2015-01-01

In this paper we simulate high resolution cloth consisting of up to 2 million triangles which allows us to achieve highly detailed folds and wrinkles. Since the level of detail is also influenced by object collision and self collision, we propose a more accurate model for cloth-object friction. We also propose a robust history-based repulsion/collision framework where repulsions are treated accurately and efficiently on a per time step basis. Distributed memory parallelism is used for both time evolution and collisions and we specifically address Gauss-Seidel ordering of repulsion/collision response. This algorithm is demonstrated by several high-resolution and high-fidelity simulations. PMID:19147895

Parallels between control PDE's (Partial Differential Equations) and systems of ODE's (Ordinary Differential Equations)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunt, L. R.; Villarreal, Ramiro

1987-01-01

System theorists understand that the same mathematical objects which determine controllability for nonlinear control systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) also determine hypoellipticity for linear partial differentail equations (PDEs). Moreover, almost any study of ODE systems begins with linear systems. It is remarkable that Hormander's paper on hypoellipticity of second order linear p.d.e.'s starts with equations due to Kolmogorov, which are shown to be analogous to the linear PDEs. Eigenvalue placement by state feedback for a controllable linear system can be paralleled for a Kolmogorov equation if an appropriate type of feedback is introduced. Results concerning transformations of nonlinear systems to linear systems are similar to results for transforming a linear PDE to a Kolmogorov equation.

Dynamic analysis and control of lightweight manipulators with flexible parallel link mechanisms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Jeh Won

1991-01-01

The flexible parallel link mechanism is designed for increased rigidity to sustain the buckling when it carries a heavy payload. Compared to a one link flexible manipulator, a two link flexible manipulator, especially the flexible parallel mechanism, has more complicated characteristics in dynamics and control. The objective of this research is the theoretical analysis and the experimental verification of dynamics and control of a two link flexible manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism. Nonlinear equations of motion of the lightweight manipulator are derived by the Lagrangian method in symbolic form to better understand the structure of the dynamic model. A manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism is a constrained dynamic system whose equations are sensitive to numerical integration error. This constrained system is solved using singular value decomposition of the constraint Jacobian matrix. The discrepancies between the analytical model and the experiment are explained using a simplified and a detailed finite element model. The step response of the analytical model and the TREETOPS model match each other well. The nonlinear dynamics is studied using a sinusoidal excitation. The actuator dynamic effect on a flexible robot was investigated. The effects are explained by the root loci and the Bode plot theoretically and experimentally. For the base performance for the advanced control scheme, a simple decoupled feedback scheme is applied.

Parallel object-oriented decision tree system

DOEpatents

Kamath,; Chandrika, Cantu-Paz [Dublin, CA; Erick, [Oakland, CA

2006-02-28

A data mining decision tree system that uncovers patterns, associations, anomalies, and other statistically significant structures in data by reading and displaying data files, extracting relevant features for each of the objects, and using a method of recognizing patterns among the objects based upon object features through a decision tree that reads the data, sorts the data if necessary, determines the best manner to split the data into subsets according to some criterion, and splits the data.

Semantic distance effects on object and action naming.

PubMed

Vigliocco, Gabriella; Vinson, David P; Damian, Markus F; Levelt, Willem

2002-10-01

Graded interference effects were tested in a naming task, in parallel for objects and actions. Participants named either object or action pictures presented in the context of other pictures (blocks) that were either semantically very similar, or somewhat semantically similar or semantically dissimilar. We found that naming latencies for both object and action words were modulated by the semantic similarity between the exemplars in each block, providing evidence in both domains of graded semantic effects.

Recognition of partially occluded threat objects using the annealed Hopefield network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Jung H.; Yoon, Sung H.; Park, Eui H.; Ntuen, Celestine A.

1992-01-01

Recognition of partially occluded objects has been an important issue to airport security because occlusion causes significant problems in identifying and locating objects during baggage inspection. The neural network approach is suitable for the problems in the sense that the inherent parallelism of neural networks pursues many hypotheses in parallel resulting in high computation rates. Moreover, they provide a greater degree of robustness or fault tolerance than conventional computers. The annealed Hopfield network which is derived from the mean field annealing (MFA) has been developed to find global solutions of a nonlinear system. In the study, it has been proven that the system temperature of MFA is equivalent to the gain of the sigmoid function of a Hopfield network. In our early work, we developed the hybrid Hopfield network (HHN) for fast and reliable matching. However, HHN doesn't guarantee global solutions and yields false matching under heavily occluded conditions because HHN is dependent on initial states by its nature. In this paper, we present the annealed Hopfield network (AHN) for occluded object matching problems. In AHN, the mean field theory is applied to the hybird Hopfield network in order to improve computational complexity of the annealed Hopfield network and provide reliable matching under heavily occluded conditions. AHN is slower than HHN. However, AHN provides near global solutions without initial restrictions and provides less false matching than HHN. In conclusion, a new algorithm based upon a neural network approach was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of the automated inspection of threat objects from x-ray images. The robustness of the algorithm is proved by identifying occluded target objects with large tolerance of their features.

Systems and Methods for Imaging of Falling Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fallgatter, Cale (Inventor); Garrett, Tim (Inventor)

2014-01-01

Imaging of falling objects is described. Multiple images of a falling object can be captured substantially simultaneously using multiple cameras located at multiple angles around the falling object. An epipolar geometry of the captured images can be determined. The images can be rectified to parallelize epipolar lines of the epipolar geometry. Correspondence points between the images can be identified. At least a portion of the falling object can be digitally reconstructed using the identified correspondence points to create a digital reconstruction.

OSIRIS - an object-oriented parallel 3D PIC code for modeling laser and particle beam-plasma interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemker, Roy

1999-11-01

The advances in computational speed make it now possible to do full 3D PIC simulations of laser plasma and beam plasma interactions, but at the same time the increased complexity of these problems makes it necessary to apply modern approaches like object oriented programming to the development of simulation codes. We report here on our progress in developing an object oriented parallel 3D PIC code using Fortran 90. In its current state the code contains algorithms for 1D, 2D, and 3D simulations in cartesian coordinates and for 2D cylindrically-symmetric geometry. For all of these algorithms the code allows for a moving simulation window and arbitrary domain decomposition for any number of dimensions. Recent 3D simulation results on the propagation of intense laser and electron beams through plasmas will be presented.

Are effects of emotion expression on trait impressions mediated by babyfaceness? Evidence from connectionist modeling.

PubMed

Zebrowitz, Leslie A; Kikuchi, Masako; Fellous, Jean-Marc

2007-05-01

Two studies provided evidence that bolsters the Marsh, Adams, and Kleck hypothesis that the morphology of certain emotion expressions reflects an evolved adaptation to mimic babies or mature adults. Study 1 found differences in emotion expressions' resemblance to babies using objective indices of babyfaceness provided by connectionist models that are impervious to overlapping cultural stereotypes about babies and the emotions. Study 2 not only replicated parallels between impressions of certain emotions and babies versus adults but also showed that objective indices of babyfaceness partially mediated impressions of the emotion expressions. babyface effects were independent of strong effects of attractiveness, and babyfaceness did not mediate impressions of happy expressions, to which the evolutionary hypothesis would not apply.

The Comparison of Visual Working Memory Representations with Perceptual Inputs

PubMed Central

Hyun, Joo-seok; Woodman, Geoffrey F.; Vogel, Edward K.; Hollingworth, Andrew

2008-01-01

The human visual system can notice differences between memories of previous visual inputs and perceptions of new visual inputs, but the comparison process that detects these differences has not been well characterized. This study tests the hypothesis that differences between the memory of a stimulus array and the perception of a new array are detected in a manner that is analogous to the detection of simple features in visual search tasks. That is, just as the presence of a task-relevant feature in visual search can be detected in parallel, triggering a rapid shift of attention to the object containing the feature, the presence of a memory-percept difference along a task-relevant dimension can be detected in parallel, triggering a rapid shift of attention to the changed object. Supporting evidence was obtained in a series of experiments that examined manual reaction times, saccadic reaction times, and event-related potential latencies. However, these experiments also demonstrated that a slow, limited-capacity process must occur before the observer can make a manual change-detection response. PMID:19653755

X-Ray and TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from Parallel Electron-Positron or Electron-Proton Beams in BL Lacertae Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krawczynski, H.

2007-04-01

In this paper we discuss models of the X-ray and TeV γ-ray emission from BL Lac objects based on parallel electron-positron or electron-proton beams that form close to the central black hole, due to the strong electric fields generated by the accretion disk and possibly also by the black hole itself. Fitting the energy spectrum of the BL Lac object Mrk 501, we obtain tight constraints on the beam properties. Launching a sufficiently energetic beam requires rather strong magnetic fields close to the black hole (~100-1000 G). However, the model fits imply that the magnetic field in the emission region is only ~0.02 G. Thus, the particles are accelerated close to the black hole and propagate a considerable distance before instabilities trigger the dissipation of energy through synchrotron and self-Compton emission. We discuss various approaches to generate enough power to drive the jet and, at the same time, to accelerate particles to ~20 TeV energies. Although the parallel beam model has its own problems, it explains some of the long-standing problems that plague models based on Fermi-type particle acceleration, such as the presence of a very high minimum Lorentz factor of accelerated particles. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of the model for the difference between the processes of jet formation in BL Lac-type objects and those in quasars.

X-ray and TeV Gamma-Ray Emission from Parallel Electron-Positron or Electron-Proton Beams in BL Lac Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krawczynski, Henric

2007-04-01

In this contribution we discuss models of the X-rays and TeV gamma-ray emission from BL Lac objects based on parallel electron-positron or electron-proton beams that form close to the central black hole owing to the strong electric fields generated by the accretion disk and possibly also by the black hole itself. Fitting the energy spectrum of the BL Lac object Mrk 501, we obtain tight constrains on the beam properties. Launching a sufficiently energetic beam requires rather strong magnetic fields close to the black hole 100-1000 G. However, the model fits imply that the magnetic field in the emission region is only 0.02 G. Thus, the particles are accelerated close to the black hole and propagate a considerable distance before instabilities trigger the dissipation of energy through synchrotron and self-Compton emission. We discuss various approaches to generate enough power to drive the jet and, at the same time, to accelerate particles to 20 TeV energies. Although the parallel beam model has its own problems, it explains some of the long-standing problems that plague models based on Fermi type particle acceleration, like the presence of a very high minimum Lorentz factor of accelerated particles. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of the model for the difference between the processes of jet formation in BL Lac type objects and in quasars.

Parallel Computational Fluid Dynamics: Current Status and Future Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Horst D.; VanDalsem, William R.; Dagum, Leonardo; Kutler, Paul (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

One or the key objectives of the Applied Research Branch in the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) Systems Division at NASA Allies Research Center is the accelerated introduction of highly parallel machines into a full operational environment. In this report we discuss the performance results obtained from the implementation of some computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications on the Connection Machine CM-2 and the Intel iPSC/860. We summarize some of the experiences made so far with the parallel testbed machines at the NAS Applied Research Branch. Then we discuss the long term computational requirements for accomplishing some of the grand challenge problems in computational aerosciences. We argue that only massively parallel machines will be able to meet these grand challenge requirements, and we outline the computer science and algorithm research challenges ahead.

Forecasting Three-Month Outcomes in a Laboratory School Comparison of Mixed Amphetamine Salts Extended Release (Adderall XR) and Atomoxetine (Strattera) in School-Aged Children with ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faraone, Stephen V.; Wigal, Sharon B.; Hodgkins, Paul

2007-01-01

Objective: Compare observed and forecasted efficacy of mixed amphetamine salts extended release (MAS-XR; Adderall) with atomoxetine (Strattera) in ADHD children. Method: The authors analyze data from a randomized, double-blind, multicenter, parallel-group, forced-dose-escalation laboratory school study of children ages 6 to 12 with ADHD combined…

Measuring Distances Using Digital Cameras

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kendal, Dave

2007-01-01

This paper presents a generic method of calculating accurate horizontal and vertical object distances from digital images taken with any digital camera and lens combination, where the object plane is parallel to the image plane or tilted in the vertical plane. This method was developed for a project investigating the size, density and spatial…

50 CFR 300.21 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... North America along the 40° N. latitude parallel, and connecting the following coordinates: 40° N. lat... device (FAD) means a manmade raft or other floating object used to attract tuna and make them available... assisting or supporting a vessel engaged in fishing, except purse seine skiffs. Floating object means any...

Performance of OVERFLOW-D Applications based on Hybrid and MPI Paradigms on IBM Power4 System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Djomehri, M. Jahed; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This report briefly discusses our preliminary performance experiments with parallel versions of OVERFLOW-D applications. These applications are based on MPI and hybrid paradigms on the IBM Power4 system here at the NAS Division. This work is part of an effort to determine the suitability of the system and its parallel libraries (MPI/OpenMP) for specific scientific computing objectives.

Scalable High Performance Computing: Direct and Large-Eddy Turbulent Flow Simulations Using Massively Parallel Computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgan, Philip E.

2004-01-01

This final report contains reports of research related to the tasks "Scalable High Performance Computing: Direct and Lark-Eddy Turbulent FLow Simulations Using Massively Parallel Computers" and "Devleop High-Performance Time-Domain Computational Electromagnetics Capability for RCS Prediction, Wave Propagation in Dispersive Media, and Dual-Use Applications. The discussion of Scalable High Performance Computing reports on three objectives: validate, access scalability, and apply two parallel flow solvers for three-dimensional Navier-Stokes flows; develop and validate a high-order parallel solver for Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) problems; and Investigate and develop a high-order Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence model. The discussion of High-Performance Time-Domain Computational Electromagnetics reports on five objectives: enhancement of an electromagnetics code (CHARGE) to be able to effectively model antenna problems; utilize lessons learned in high-order/spectral solution of swirling 3D jets to apply to solving electromagnetics project; transition a high-order fluids code, FDL3DI, to be able to solve Maxwell's Equations using compact-differencing; develop and demonstrate improved radiation absorbing boundary conditions for high-order CEM; and extend high-order CEM solver to address variable material properties. The report also contains a review of work done by the systems engineer.

Multiphase three-dimensional direct numerical simulation of a rotating impeller with code Blue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahouadji, Lyes; Shin, Seungwon; Chergui, Jalel; Juric, Damir; Craster, Richard V.; Matar, Omar K.

2017-11-01

The flow driven by a rotating impeller inside an open fixed cylindrical cavity is simulated using code Blue, a solver for massively-parallel simulations of fully three-dimensional multiphase flows. The impeller is composed of four blades at a 45° inclination all attached to a central hub and tube stem. In Blue, solid forms are constructed through the definition of immersed objects via a distance function that accounts for the object's interaction with the flow for both single and two-phase flows. We use a moving frame technique for imposing translation and/or rotation. The variation of the Reynolds number, the clearance, and the tank aspect ratio are considered, and we highlight the importance of the confinement ratio (blade radius versus the tank radius) in the mixing process. Blue uses a domain decomposition strategy for parallelization with MPI. The fluid interface solver is based on a parallel implementation of a hybrid front-tracking/level-set method designed complex interfacial topological changes. Parallel GMRES and multigrid iterative solvers are applied to the linear systems arising from the implicit solution for the fluid velocities and pressure in the presence of strong density and viscosity discontinuities across fluid phases. EPSRC, UK, MEMPHIS program Grant (EP/K003976/1), RAEng Research Chair (OKM).

Effects of changes in size, speed and distance on the perception of curved 3D trajectories

PubMed Central

Zhang, Junjun; Braunstein, Myron L.; Andersen, George J.

2012-01-01

Previous research on the perception of 3D object motion has considered time to collision, time to passage, collision detection and judgments of speed and direction of motion, but has not directly studied the perception of the overall shape of the motion path. We examined the perception of the magnitude of curvature and sign of curvature of the motion path for objects moving at eye level in a horizontal plane parallel to the line of sight. We considered two sources of information for the perception of motion trajectories: changes in angular size and changes in angular speed. Three experiments examined judgments of relative curvature for objects moving at different distances. At the closest distance studied, accuracy was high with size information alone but near chance with speed information alone. At the greatest distance, accuracy with size information alone decreased sharply but accuracy for displays with both size and speed information remained high. We found similar results in two experiments with judgments of sign of curvature. Accuracy was higher for displays with both size and speed information than with size information alone, even when the speed information was based on parallel projections and was not informative about sign of curvature. For both magnitude of curvature and sign of curvature judgments, information indicating that the trajectory was curved increased accuracy, even when this information was not directly relevant to the required judgment. PMID:23007204

FWT2D: A massively parallel program for frequency-domain full-waveform tomography of wide-aperture seismic data—Part 1: Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sourbier, Florent; Operto, Stéphane; Virieux, Jean; Amestoy, Patrick; L'Excellent, Jean-Yves

2009-03-01

This is the first paper in a two-part series that describes a massively parallel code that performs 2D frequency-domain full-waveform inversion of wide-aperture seismic data for imaging complex structures. Full-waveform inversion methods, namely quantitative seismic imaging methods based on the resolution of the full wave equation, are computationally expensive. Therefore, designing efficient algorithms which take advantage of parallel computing facilities is critical for the appraisal of these approaches when applied to representative case studies and for further improvements. Full-waveform modelling requires the resolution of a large sparse system of linear equations which is performed with the massively parallel direct solver MUMPS for efficient multiple-shot simulations. Efficiency of the multiple-shot solution phase (forward/backward substitutions) is improved by using the BLAS3 library. The inverse problem relies on a classic local optimization approach implemented with a gradient method. The direct solver returns the multiple-shot wavefield solutions distributed over the processors according to a domain decomposition driven by the distribution of the LU factors. The domain decomposition of the wavefield solutions is used to compute in parallel the gradient of the objective function and the diagonal Hessian, this latter providing a suitable scaling of the gradient. The algorithm allows one to test different strategies for multiscale frequency inversion ranging from successive mono-frequency inversion to simultaneous multifrequency inversion. These different inversion strategies will be illustrated in the following companion paper. The parallel efficiency and the scalability of the code will also be quantified.

Iterative nonlinear joint transform correlation for the detection of objects in cluttered scenes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haist, Tobias; Tiziani, Hans J.

1999-03-01

An iterative correlation technique with digital image processing in the feedback loop for the detection of small objects in cluttered scenes is proposed. A scanning aperture is combined with the method in order to improve the immunity against noise and clutter. Multiple reference objects or different views of one object are processed in parallel. We demonstrate the method by detecting a noisy and distorted face in a crowd with a nonlinear joint transform correlator.

Xyce parallel electronic simulator users guide, version 6.1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keiter, Eric R; Mei, Ting; Russo, Thomas V.

This manual describes the use of the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator. Xyce has been designed as a SPICE-compatible, high-performance analog circuit simulator, and has been written to support the simulation needs of the Sandia National Laboratories electrical designers. This development has focused on improving capability over the current state-of-the-art in the following areas; Capability to solve extremely large circuit problems by supporting large-scale parallel computing platforms (up to thousands of processors). This includes support for most popular parallel and serial computers; A differential-algebraic-equation (DAE) formulation, which better isolates the device model package from solver algorithms. This allows one to developmore » new types of analysis without requiring the implementation of analysis-specific device models; Device models that are specifically tailored to meet Sandia's needs, including some radiationaware devices (for Sandia users only); and Object-oriented code design and implementation using modern coding practices. Xyce is a parallel code in the most general sense of the phrase-a message passing parallel implementation-which allows it to run efficiently a wide range of computing platforms. These include serial, shared-memory and distributed-memory parallel platforms. Attention has been paid to the specific nature of circuit-simulation problems to ensure that optimal parallel efficiency is achieved as the number of processors grows.« less

Xyce parallel electronic simulator users' guide, Version 6.0.1.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keiter, Eric R; Mei, Ting; Russo, Thomas V.

This manual describes the use of the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator. Xyce has been designed as a SPICE-compatible, high-performance analog circuit simulator, and has been written to support the simulation needs of the Sandia National Laboratories electrical designers. This development has focused on improving capability over the current state-of-the-art in the following areas: Capability to solve extremely large circuit problems by supporting large-scale parallel computing platforms (up to thousands of processors). This includes support for most popular parallel and serial computers. A differential-algebraic-equation (DAE) formulation, which better isolates the device model package from solver algorithms. This allows one to developmore » new types of analysis without requiring the implementation of analysis-specific device models. Device models that are specifically tailored to meet Sandias needs, including some radiationaware devices (for Sandia users only). Object-oriented code design and implementation using modern coding practices. Xyce is a parallel code in the most general sense of the phrase a message passing parallel implementation which allows it to run efficiently a wide range of computing platforms. These include serial, shared-memory and distributed-memory parallel platforms. Attention has been paid to the specific nature of circuit-simulation problems to ensure that optimal parallel efficiency is achieved as the number of processors grows.« less

Xyce parallel electronic simulator users guide, version 6.0.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keiter, Eric R; Mei, Ting; Russo, Thomas V.

This manual describes the use of the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator. Xyce has been designed as a SPICE-compatible, high-performance analog circuit simulator, and has been written to support the simulation needs of the Sandia National Laboratories electrical designers. This development has focused on improving capability over the current state-of-the-art in the following areas: Capability to solve extremely large circuit problems by supporting large-scale parallel computing platforms (up to thousands of processors). This includes support for most popular parallel and serial computers. A differential-algebraic-equation (DAE) formulation, which better isolates the device model package from solver algorithms. This allows one to developmore » new types of analysis without requiring the implementation of analysis-specific device models. Device models that are specifically tailored to meet Sandias needs, including some radiationaware devices (for Sandia users only). Object-oriented code design and implementation using modern coding practices. Xyce is a parallel code in the most general sense of the phrase a message passing parallel implementation which allows it to run efficiently a wide range of computing platforms. These include serial, shared-memory and distributed-memory parallel platforms. Attention has been paid to the specific nature of circuit-simulation problems to ensure that optimal parallel efficiency is achieved as the number of processors grows.« less

Extending Automatic Parallelization to Optimize High-Level Abstractions for Multicore

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liao, C; Quinlan, D J; Willcock, J J

2008-12-12

Automatic introduction of OpenMP for sequential applications has attracted significant attention recently because of the proliferation of multicore processors and the simplicity of using OpenMP to express parallelism for shared-memory systems. However, most previous research has only focused on C and Fortran applications operating on primitive data types. C++ applications using high-level abstractions, such as STL containers and complex user-defined types, are largely ignored due to the lack of research compilers that are readily able to recognize high-level object-oriented abstractions and leverage their associated semantics. In this paper, we automatically parallelize C++ applications using ROSE, a multiple-language source-to-source compiler infrastructuremore » which preserves the high-level abstractions and gives us access to their semantics. Several representative parallelization candidate kernels are used to explore semantic-aware parallelization strategies for high-level abstractions, combined with extended compiler analyses. Those kernels include an array-base computation loop, a loop with task-level parallelism, and a domain-specific tree traversal. Our work extends the applicability of automatic parallelization to modern applications using high-level abstractions and exposes more opportunities to take advantage of multicore processors.« less

Conceptual design of a hybrid parallel mechanism for mask exchanging of TMT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianping; Zhou, Hongfei; Li, Kexuan; Zhou, Zengxiang; Zhai, Chao

2015-10-01

Mask exchange system is an important part of the Multi-Object Broadband Imaging Echellette (MOBIE) on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). To solve the problem of stiffness changing with the gravity vector of the mask exchange system in the MOBIE, the hybrid parallel mechanism design method was introduced into the whole research. By using the characteristics of high stiffness and precision of parallel structure, combined with large moving range of serial structure, a conceptual design of a hybrid parallel mask exchange system based on 3-RPS parallel mechanism was presented. According to the position requirements of the MOBIE, the SolidWorks structure model of the hybrid parallel mask exchange robot was established and the appropriate installation position without interfering with the related components and light path in the MOBIE of TMT was analyzed. Simulation results in SolidWorks suggested that 3-RPS parallel platform had good stiffness property in different gravity vector directions. Furthermore, through the research of the mechanism theory, the inverse kinematics solution of the 3-RPS parallel platform was calculated and the mathematical relationship between the attitude angle of moving platform and the angle of ball-hinges on the moving platform was established, in order to analyze the attitude adjustment ability of the hybrid parallel mask exchange robot. The proposed conceptual design has some guiding significance for the design of mask exchange system of the MOBIE on TMT.

3-D Hybrid Kinetic Modeling of the Interaction Between the Solar Wind and Lunar-like Exospheric Pickup Ions in Case of Oblique/ Quasi-Parallel/Parallel Upstream Magnetic Field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lipatov, A. S.; Farrell, W. M.; Cooper, J. F.; Sittler, E. C., Jr.; Hartle, R. E.

2015-01-01

The interactions between the solar wind and Moon-sized objects are determined by a set of the solar wind parameters and plasma environment of the space objects. The orientation of upstream magnetic field is one of the key factors which determines the formation and structure of bow shock wave/Mach cone or Alfven wing near the obstacle. The study of effects of the direction of the upstream magnetic field on lunar-like plasma environment is the main subject of our investigation in this paper. Photoionization, electron-impact ionization and charge exchange are included in our hybrid model. The computational model includes the self-consistent dynamics of the light (hydrogen (+), helium (+)) and heavy (sodium (+)) pickup ions. The lunar interior is considered as a weakly conducting body. Our previous 2013 lunar work, as reported in this journal, found formation of a triple structure of the Mach cone near the Moon in the case of perpendicular upstream magnetic field. Further advances in modeling now reveal the presence of strong wave activity in the upstream solar wind and plasma wake in the cases of quasiparallel and parallel upstream magnetic fields. However, little wave activity is found for the opposite case with a perpendicular upstream magnetic field. The modeling does not show a formation of the Mach cone in the case of theta(Sub B,U) approximately equal to 0 degrees.

When the lowest energy does not induce native structures: parallel minimization of multi-energy values by hybridizing searching intelligences.

PubMed

Lü, Qiang; Xia, Xiao-Yan; Chen, Rong; Miao, Da-Jun; Chen, Sha-Sha; Quan, Li-Jun; Li, Hai-Ou

2012-01-01

Protein structure prediction (PSP), which is usually modeled as a computational optimization problem, remains one of the biggest challenges in computational biology. PSP encounters two difficult obstacles: the inaccurate energy function problem and the searching problem. Even if the lowest energy has been luckily found by the searching procedure, the correct protein structures are not guaranteed to obtain. A general parallel metaheuristic approach is presented to tackle the above two problems. Multi-energy functions are employed to simultaneously guide the parallel searching threads. Searching trajectories are in fact controlled by the parameters of heuristic algorithms. The parallel approach allows the parameters to be perturbed during the searching threads are running in parallel, while each thread is searching the lowest energy value determined by an individual energy function. By hybridizing the intelligences of parallel ant colonies and Monte Carlo Metropolis search, this paper demonstrates an implementation of our parallel approach for PSP. 16 classical instances were tested to show that the parallel approach is competitive for solving PSP problem. This parallel approach combines various sources of both searching intelligences and energy functions, and thus predicts protein conformations with good quality jointly determined by all the parallel searching threads and energy functions. It provides a framework to combine different searching intelligence embedded in heuristic algorithms. It also constructs a container to hybridize different not-so-accurate objective functions which are usually derived from the domain expertise.

When the Lowest Energy Does Not Induce Native Structures: Parallel Minimization of Multi-Energy Values by Hybridizing Searching Intelligences

PubMed Central

Lü, Qiang; Xia, Xiao-Yan; Chen, Rong; Miao, Da-Jun; Chen, Sha-Sha; Quan, Li-Jun; Li, Hai-Ou

2012-01-01

Background Protein structure prediction (PSP), which is usually modeled as a computational optimization problem, remains one of the biggest challenges in computational biology. PSP encounters two difficult obstacles: the inaccurate energy function problem and the searching problem. Even if the lowest energy has been luckily found by the searching procedure, the correct protein structures are not guaranteed to obtain. Results A general parallel metaheuristic approach is presented to tackle the above two problems. Multi-energy functions are employed to simultaneously guide the parallel searching threads. Searching trajectories are in fact controlled by the parameters of heuristic algorithms. The parallel approach allows the parameters to be perturbed during the searching threads are running in parallel, while each thread is searching the lowest energy value determined by an individual energy function. By hybridizing the intelligences of parallel ant colonies and Monte Carlo Metropolis search, this paper demonstrates an implementation of our parallel approach for PSP. 16 classical instances were tested to show that the parallel approach is competitive for solving PSP problem. Conclusions This parallel approach combines various sources of both searching intelligences and energy functions, and thus predicts protein conformations with good quality jointly determined by all the parallel searching threads and energy functions. It provides a framework to combine different searching intelligence embedded in heuristic algorithms. It also constructs a container to hybridize different not-so-accurate objective functions which are usually derived from the domain expertise. PMID:23028708

Holographic Associative Memory Employing Phase Conjugation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soffer, B. H.; Marom, E.; Owechko, Y.; Dunning, G.

1986-12-01

The principle of information retrieval by association has been suggested as a basis for parallel computing and as the process by which human memory functions.1 Various associative processors have been proposed that use electronic or optical means. Optical schemes,2-7 in particular, those based on holographic principles,8'8' are well suited to associative processing because of their high parallelism and information throughput. Previous workers8 demonstrated that holographically stored images can be recalled by using relatively complicated reference images but did not utilize nonlinear feedback to reduce the large cross talk that results when multiple objects are stored and a partial or distorted input is used for retrieval. These earlier approaches were limited in their ability to reconstruct the output object faithfully from a partial input.

West Virginia US Department of Energy experimental program to stimulate competitive research. Section 2: Human resource development; Section 3: Carbon-based structural materials research cluster; Section 3: Data parallel algorithms for scientific computing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-02-02

This report consists of three separate but related reports. They are (1) Human Resource Development, (2) Carbon-based Structural Materials Research Cluster, and (3) Data Parallel Algorithms for Scientific Computing. To meet the objectives of the Human Resource Development plan, the plan includes K--12 enrichment activities, undergraduate research opportunities for students at the state`s two Historically Black Colleges and Universities, graduate research through cluster assistantships and through a traineeship program targeted specifically to minorities, women and the disabled, and faculty development through participation in research clusters. One research cluster is the chemistry and physics of carbon-based materials. The objective of thismore » cluster is to develop a self-sustaining group of researchers in carbon-based materials research within the institutions of higher education in the state of West Virginia. The projects will involve analysis of cokes, graphites and other carbons in order to understand the properties that provide desirable structural characteristics including resistance to oxidation, levels of anisotropy and structural characteristics of the carbons themselves. In the proposed cluster on parallel algorithms, research by four WVU faculty and three state liberal arts college faculty are: (1) modeling of self-organized critical systems by cellular automata; (2) multiprefix algorithms and fat-free embeddings; (3) offline and online partitioning of data computation; and (4) manipulating and rendering three dimensional objects. This cluster furthers the state Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research plan by building on existing strengths at WVU in parallel algorithms.« less

Development of Object Permanence in Visually Impaired Infants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, S. J.; Puchalski, C. B.

1988-01-01

Development of object permanence skills was examined longitudinally in 20 visually impaired infants (ages 4-25 months). Order of skill acquisition and span of time required to master skills paralleled that of sighted infants, but the visually impaired subjects were 8-12 months older than sighted counterparts when similar skills were acquired.…

Category-based attentional guidance can operate in parallel for multiple target objects.

PubMed

Jenkins, Michael; Grubert, Anna; Eimer, Martin

2018-05-01

The question whether the control of attention during visual search is always feature-based or can also be based on the category of objects remains unresolved. Here, we employed the N2pc component as an on-line marker for target selection processes to compare the efficiency of feature-based and category-based attentional guidance. Two successive displays containing pairs of real-world objects (line drawings of kitchen or clothing items) were separated by a 10 ms SOA. In Experiment 1, target objects were defined by their category. In Experiment 2, one specific visual object served as target (exemplar-based search). On different trials, targets appeared either in one or in both displays, and participants had to report the number of targets (one or two). Target N2pc components were larger and emerged earlier during exemplar-based search than during category-based search, demonstrating the superior efficiency of feature-based attentional guidance. On trials where target objects appeared in both displays, both targets elicited N2pc components that overlapped in time, suggesting that attention was allocated in parallel to these target objects. Critically, this was the case not only in the exemplar-based task, but also when targets were defined by their category. These results demonstrate that attention can be guided by object categories, and that this type of category-based attentional control can operate concurrently for multiple target objects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Parallel Rendering Algorithm for MIMD Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crockett, Thomas W.; Orloff, Tobias

1991-01-01

Applications such as animation and scientific visualization demand high performance rendering of complex three dimensional scenes. To deliver the necessary rendering rates, highly parallel hardware architectures are required. The challenge is then to design algorithms and software which effectively use the hardware parallelism. A rendering algorithm targeted to distributed memory MIMD architectures is described. For maximum performance, the algorithm exploits both object-level and pixel-level parallelism. The behavior of the algorithm is examined both analytically and experimentally. Its performance for large numbers of processors is found to be limited primarily by communication overheads. An experimental implementation for the Intel iPSC/860 shows increasing performance from 1 to 128 processors across a wide range of scene complexities. It is shown that minimal modifications to the algorithm will adapt it for use on shared memory architectures as well.

Parallel computing in genomic research: advances and applications

PubMed Central

Ocaña, Kary; de Oliveira, Daniel

2015-01-01

Today’s genomic experiments have to process the so-called “biological big data” that is now reaching the size of Terabytes and Petabytes. To process this huge amount of data, scientists may require weeks or months if they use their own workstations. Parallelism techniques and high-performance computing (HPC) environments can be applied for reducing the total processing time and to ease the management, treatment, and analyses of this data. However, running bioinformatics experiments in HPC environments such as clouds, grids, clusters, and graphics processing unit requires the expertise from scientists to integrate computational, biological, and mathematical techniques and technologies. Several solutions have already been proposed to allow scientists for processing their genomic experiments using HPC capabilities and parallelism techniques. This article brings a systematic review of literature that surveys the most recently published research involving genomics and parallel computing. Our objective is to gather the main characteristics, benefits, and challenges that can be considered by scientists when running their genomic experiments to benefit from parallelism techniques and HPC capabilities. PMID:26604801

Parallel computing in genomic research: advances and applications.

PubMed

Ocaña, Kary; de Oliveira, Daniel

2015-01-01

Today's genomic experiments have to process the so-called "biological big data" that is now reaching the size of Terabytes and Petabytes. To process this huge amount of data, scientists may require weeks or months if they use their own workstations. Parallelism techniques and high-performance computing (HPC) environments can be applied for reducing the total processing time and to ease the management, treatment, and analyses of this data. However, running bioinformatics experiments in HPC environments such as clouds, grids, clusters, and graphics processing unit requires the expertise from scientists to integrate computational, biological, and mathematical techniques and technologies. Several solutions have already been proposed to allow scientists for processing their genomic experiments using HPC capabilities and parallelism techniques. This article brings a systematic review of literature that surveys the most recently published research involving genomics and parallel computing. Our objective is to gather the main characteristics, benefits, and challenges that can be considered by scientists when running their genomic experiments to benefit from parallelism techniques and HPC capabilities.

Reliability models applicable to space telescope solar array assembly system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patil, S. A.

1986-01-01

A complex system may consist of a number of subsystems with several components in series, parallel, or combination of both series and parallel. In order to predict how well the system will perform, it is necessary to know the reliabilities of the subsystems and the reliability of the whole system. The objective of the present study is to develop mathematical models of the reliability which are applicable to complex systems. The models are determined by assuming k failures out of n components in a subsystem. By taking k = 1 and k = n, these models reduce to parallel and series models; hence, the models can be specialized to parallel, series combination systems. The models are developed by assuming the failure rates of the components as functions of time and as such, can be applied to processes with or without aging effects. The reliability models are further specialized to Space Telescope Solar Arrray (STSA) System. The STSA consists of 20 identical solar panel assemblies (SPA's). The reliabilities of the SPA's are determined by the reliabilities of solar cell strings, interconnects, and diodes. The estimates of the reliability of the system for one to five years are calculated by using the reliability estimates of solar cells and interconnects given n ESA documents. Aging effects in relation to breaks in interconnects are discussed.

Numerical study of the interaction between a head fire and a backfire propagating in grassland.

Treesearch

Dominique Morvan; Sofiane Meradji; William Mell

2011-01-01

One of the objectives of this paper was to simulate numerically the interaction between two line fires ignited in a grassland, on a flat terrain, perpendicularly to the wind direction, in such a way that the two fire fronts (a head fire and a backfire) propagated in opposite directions parallel to the wind. The numerical simulations were conducted in 3-0 using the new...

Spatial attention determines the nature of nonverbal number representation.

PubMed

Hyde, Daniel C; Wood, Justin N

2011-09-01

Coordinated studies of adults, infants, and nonhuman animals provide evidence for two systems of nonverbal number representation: a "parallel individuation" system that represents individual items and a "numerical magnitude" system that represents the approximate cardinal value of a group. However, there is considerable debate about the nature and functions of these systems, due largely to the fact that some studies show a dissociation between small (1-3) and large (>3) number representation, whereas others do not. Using event-related potentials, we show that it is possible to determine which system will represent the numerical value of a small number set (1-3 items) by manipulating spatial attention. Specifically, when attention can select individual objects, an early brain response (N1) scales with the cardinal value of the display, the signature of parallel individuation. In contrast, when attention cannot select individual objects or is occupied by another task, a later brain response (P2p) scales with ratio, the signature of the approximate numerical magnitude system. These results provide neural evidence that small numbers can be represented as approximate numerical magnitudes. Further, they empirically demonstrate the importance of early attentional processes to number representation by showing that the way in which attention disperses across a scene determines which numerical system will deploy in a given context.

Comparison of the pharmacokinetics and safety of three formulations of infliximab (CT-P13, EU-approved reference infliximab and the US-licensed reference infliximab) in healthy subjects: a randomized, double-blind, three-arm, parallel-group, single-dose, Phase I study.

PubMed

Park, Won; Lee, Sang Joon; Yun, Jihye; Yoo, Dae Hyun

2015-01-01

To compare the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and tolerability of biosimilar infliximab (CT-P13 [Remsima(®), Inflectra(®)]) with two formulations of the reference medicinal product (RMP) (Remicade(®)) from either Europe (EU-RMP) or the USA (US-RMP). This was a double-blind, three-arm, parallel-group study (EudraCT number: 2013-003173-10). Healthy subjects received single doses (5 mg/kg) of CT-P13 (n = 71), EU-RMP (n = 71) or US-RMP (n = 71). The primary objective was to compare the PK profiles for the three formulations. Assessments of comparative safety and tolerability were secondary objectives. Baseline demographics were well balanced across the three groups. Primary end points (Cmax, AUClast and AUCinf) were equivalent between all formulations (CT-P13 vs EU-RMP; CT-P13 vs US-RMP; EU-RMP vs US-RMP). All other PK end points supported the high similarity of the three treatments. Tolerability profiles of the formulations were similar. The PK profile of CT-P13 is highly similar to EU-RMP and US-RMP. All three formulations were equally well tolerated.

Study on parallel and distributed management of RS data based on spatial database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yingbiao; Qian, Qinglan; Wu, Hongqiao; Liu, Shijin

2009-10-01

With the rapid development of current earth-observing technology, RS image data storage, management and information publication become a bottle-neck for its appliance and popularization. There are two prominent problems in RS image data storage and management system. First, background server hardly handle the heavy process of great capacity of RS data which stored at different nodes in a distributing environment. A tough burden has put on the background server. Second, there is no unique, standard and rational organization of Multi-sensor RS data for its storage and management. And lots of information is lost or not included at storage. Faced at the above two problems, the paper has put forward a framework for RS image data parallel and distributed management and storage system. This system aims at RS data information system based on parallel background server and a distributed data management system. Aiming at the above two goals, this paper has studied the following key techniques and elicited some revelatory conclusions. The paper has put forward a solid index of "Pyramid, Block, Layer, Epoch" according to the properties of RS image data. With the solid index mechanism, a rational organization for different resolution, different area, different band and different period of Multi-sensor RS image data is completed. In data storage, RS data is not divided into binary large objects to be stored at current relational database system, while it is reconstructed through the above solid index mechanism. A logical image database for the RS image data file is constructed. In system architecture, this paper has set up a framework based on a parallel server of several common computers. Under the framework, the background process is divided into two parts, the common WEB process and parallel process.

Study on parallel and distributed management of RS data based on spatial data base

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yingbiao; Qian, Qinglan; Liu, Shijin

2006-12-01

With the rapid development of current earth-observing technology, RS image data storage, management and information publication become a bottle-neck for its appliance and popularization. There are two prominent problems in RS image data storage and management system. First, background server hardly handle the heavy process of great capacity of RS data which stored at different nodes in a distributing environment. A tough burden has put on the background server. Second, there is no unique, standard and rational organization of Multi-sensor RS data for its storage and management. And lots of information is lost or not included at storage. Faced at the above two problems, the paper has put forward a framework for RS image data parallel and distributed management and storage system. This system aims at RS data information system based on parallel background server and a distributed data management system. Aiming at the above two goals, this paper has studied the following key techniques and elicited some revelatory conclusions. The paper has put forward a solid index of "Pyramid, Block, Layer, Epoch" according to the properties of RS image data. With the solid index mechanism, a rational organization for different resolution, different area, different band and different period of Multi-sensor RS image data is completed. In data storage, RS data is not divided into binary large objects to be stored at current relational database system, while it is reconstructed through the above solid index mechanism. A logical image database for the RS image data file is constructed. In system architecture, this paper has set up a framework based on a parallel server of several common computers. Under the framework, the background process is divided into two parts, the common WEB process and parallel process.

Liquid crystalline polymers in good nematic solvents: Free chains, mushrooms, and brushes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, D.R.M.; Halperin, A.

1993-08-02

The swelling of main chain liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) in good nematic solvents is theoretically studied, focusing on brushes of terminally anchored, grafted LCPs. The analysis is concerned with long LCPs, of length L, with n[sub 0] >> 1 hairpin defects. The extension behavior of the major axis, R[parallel], of these ellipsoidal objects gives rise to an Ising elasticity with a free energy penalty of F[sub el](R[parallel])/kT [approx] n[sub 0] [minus] n[sub 0](1 [minus] R[parallel][sup 2]/L[sup 2])[sup 1/2]. The theory of the extension behavior enables the formulation of a Flory type theory of swelling of isolated LCPs yielding R[parallel] [approx]more » exp(2U[sub h]/5kT)N[sup 3/5] and R [perpendicular] [approx] exp([minus]U[sub h]/10kT)N[sup 3/5], with N the degree of polymerization and U[sub h] the hairpin energy. It also allows the generalization of the Alexander model for polymer brushes to the case of grafted LCPs. The behavior of LCP brushes depends on the alignment imposed by the grafting surface and the liquid crystalline solvent. A tilting phase transition is predicted as the grafting density is increased for a surface imposing homogeneous, parallel anchoring. A related transition is expected upon compression of a brush subject to homeotropic, perpendicular alignment. The effect of magnetic or electric fields on these phase transitions is also studied. The critical magnetic/electric field for the Frederiks transition can be lowered to arbitrarily small values by using surfaces coated by brushes of appropriate density.« less

High-Frequency Replanning Under Uncertainty Using Parallel Sampling-Based Motion Planning

PubMed Central

Sun, Wen; Patil, Sachin; Alterovitz, Ron

2015-01-01

As sampling-based motion planners become faster, they can be re-executed more frequently by a robot during task execution to react to uncertainty in robot motion, obstacle motion, sensing noise, and uncertainty in the robot’s kinematic model. We investigate and analyze high-frequency replanning (HFR), where, during each period, fast sampling-based motion planners are executed in parallel as the robot simultaneously executes the first action of the best motion plan from the previous period. We consider discrete-time systems with stochastic nonlinear (but linearizable) dynamics and observation models with noise drawn from zero mean Gaussian distributions. The objective is to maximize the probability of success (i.e., avoid collision with obstacles and reach the goal) or to minimize path length subject to a lower bound on the probability of success. We show that, as parallel computation power increases, HFR offers asymptotic optimality for these objectives during each period for goal-oriented problems. We then demonstrate the effectiveness of HFR for holonomic and nonholonomic robots including car-like vehicles and steerable medical needles. PMID:26279645

Grasp cueing and joint attention.

PubMed

Tschentscher, Nadja; Fischer, Martin H

2008-10-01

We studied how two different hand posture cues affect joint attention in normal observers. Visual targets appeared over lateralized objects, with different delays after centrally presented hand postures. Attention was cued by either hand direction or the congruency between hand aperture and object size. Participants pressed a button when they detected a target. Direction cues alone facilitated target detection following short delays but aperture cues alone were ineffective. In contrast, when hand postures combined direction and aperture cues, aperture congruency effects without directional congruency effects emerged and persisted, but only for power grips. These results suggest that parallel parameter specification makes joint attention mechanisms exquisitely sensitive to the timing and content of contextual cues.

The System of Simulation and Multi-objective Optimization for the Roller Kiln

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, He; Chen, Xishen; Li, Wugang; Li, Zhuoqiu

It is somewhat a difficult researching problem, to get the building parameters of the ceramic roller kiln simulation model. A system integrated of evolutionary algorithms (PSO, DE and DEPSO) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), is proposed to solve the problem. And the temperature field uniformity and the environment disruption are studied in this paper. With the help of the efficient parallel calculation, the ceramic roller kiln temperature field uniformity and the NOx emissions field have been researched in the system at the same time. A multi-objective optimization example of the industrial roller kiln proves that the system is of excellent parameter exploration capability.

Jointly structuring triadic spaces of meaning and action: book sharing from 3 months on

PubMed Central

Rossmanith, Nicole; Costall, Alan; Reichelt, Andreas F.; López, Beatriz; Reddy, Vasudevi

2014-01-01

This study explores the emergence of triadic interactions through the example of book sharing. As part of a naturalistic study, 10 infants were visited in their homes from 3–12 months. We report that (1) book sharing as a form of infant-caregiver-object interaction occurred from as early as 3 months. Using qualitative video analysis at a micro-level adapting methodologies from conversation and interaction analysis, we demonstrate that caregivers and infants practiced book sharing in a highly co-ordinated way, with caregivers carving out interaction units and shaping actions into action arcs and infants actively participating and co-ordinating their attention between mother and object from the beginning. We also (2) sketch a developmental trajectory of book sharing over the first year and show that the quality and dynamics of book sharing interactions underwent considerable change as the ecological situation was transformed in parallel with the infants' development of attention and motor skills. Social book sharing interactions reached an early peak at 6 months with the infants becoming more active in the coordination of attention between caregiver and book. From 7 to 9 months, the infants shifted their interest largely to solitary object exploration, in parallel with newly emerging postural and object manipulation skills, disrupting the social coordination and the cultural frame of book sharing. In the period from 9 to 12 months, social book interactions resurfaced, as infants began to effectively integrate manual object actions within the socially shared activity. In conclusion, to fully understand the development and qualities of triadic cultural activities such as book sharing, we need to look especially at the hitherto overlooked early period from 4 to 6 months, and investigate how shared spaces of meaning and action are structured together in and through interaction, creating the substrate for continuing cooperation and cultural learning. PMID:25540629

Jointly structuring triadic spaces of meaning and action: book sharing from 3 months on.

PubMed

Rossmanith, Nicole; Costall, Alan; Reichelt, Andreas F; López, Beatriz; Reddy, Vasudevi

2014-01-01

This study explores the emergence of triadic interactions through the example of book sharing. As part of a naturalistic study, 10 infants were visited in their homes from 3-12 months. We report that (1) book sharing as a form of infant-caregiver-object interaction occurred from as early as 3 months. Using qualitative video analysis at a micro-level adapting methodologies from conversation and interaction analysis, we demonstrate that caregivers and infants practiced book sharing in a highly co-ordinated way, with caregivers carving out interaction units and shaping actions into action arcs and infants actively participating and co-ordinating their attention between mother and object from the beginning. We also (2) sketch a developmental trajectory of book sharing over the first year and show that the quality and dynamics of book sharing interactions underwent considerable change as the ecological situation was transformed in parallel with the infants' development of attention and motor skills. Social book sharing interactions reached an early peak at 6 months with the infants becoming more active in the coordination of attention between caregiver and book. From 7 to 9 months, the infants shifted their interest largely to solitary object exploration, in parallel with newly emerging postural and object manipulation skills, disrupting the social coordination and the cultural frame of book sharing. In the period from 9 to 12 months, social book interactions resurfaced, as infants began to effectively integrate manual object actions within the socially shared activity. In conclusion, to fully understand the development and qualities of triadic cultural activities such as book sharing, we need to look especially at the hitherto overlooked early period from 4 to 6 months, and investigate how shared spaces of meaning and action are structured together in and through interaction, creating the substrate for continuing cooperation and cultural learning.

Actometry in measuring the symptom severity of restless legs syndrome.

PubMed

Tuisku, K; Holi, M M; Wahlbeck, K; Ahlgren, A J; Lauerma, H

2005-05-01

In a previous, controlled study we demonstrated that the general lower limb activity measured by three-channel actometry is a promising objective measure of restless legs syndrome (RLS) severity. In the present study we have further evaluated the method in measuring RLS symptom severity in an open, single-day pramipexole intervention with 15 RLS patients. Both our standardized actometric parameters (nocturnal lower limb activity and controlled rest activity) decreased significantly during the intervention in parallel with the subjectively reported relief of RLS symptoms.

The capacitive proximity sensor based on transients in RC-circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yakunin, A. G.

2018-05-01

The principle of operation of the capacitive proximity sensor is described. It can be used in various robotic complexes, automation systems and alarm devices to inform the control device of the approach to the sensor sensitive surface of an object. At the heart of the device is the measurement of the change in the current of the transient accompanying the charge of the reference capacitor because of the parallel connection to it the capacitance formed by the sensitive sensor surface and the external object. At the heart of the device is the measurement of the change in the current of the transient accompanying the charge of the reference capacitor caused by the parallel connection to it the capacitance formed by the sensitive sensor surface and the external object. As shown by theoretical and experimental studies, the value of this capacity, depending on the purpose of the device, can vary within very wide limits. In this case, the sensitive surface can be both a piece of ordinary wire several centimeters long, and a metall plate or grid, the area of which can reach units and even tens of square meters. The main advantage of the proposed solution is a significant reduction in the effect of spurious leakage currents arising at the capacitance of the measuring electrode under the influence of pollution and humidity of the environment.

Method of optical coherence tomography with parallel depth-resolved signal reception and fibre-optic phase modulators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morozov, A N; Turchin, I V

2013-12-31

The method of optical coherence tomography with the scheme of parallel reception of the interference signal (P-OCT) is developed on the basis of spatial paralleling of the reference wave by means of a phase diffraction grating producing the appropriate time delay in the Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The absence of mechanical variation of the optical path difference in the interferometer essentially reduces the time required for 2D imaging of the object internal structure, as compared to the classical OCT that uses the time-domain method of the image construction, the sensitivity and the dynamic range being comparable in both approaches. For the resultingmore » field of the interfering object and reference waves an analytical expression is derived that allows the calculation of the autocorrelation function in the plane of photodetectors. For the first time a method of linear phase modulation by 2π is proposed for P-OCT systems, which allows the use of compact high-frequency (a few hundred kHz) piezoelectric cell-based modulators. For the demonstration of the P-OCT method an experimental setup was created, using which the images of the inner structure of biological objects at the depth up to 1 mm with the axial spatial resolution of 12 μm were obtained. (optical coherence tomography)« less

Postdural puncture headache is not an age-related symptom in children: a prospective, open-randomized, parallel group study comparing a22-gauge Quincke with a 22-gauge Whitacre needle.

PubMed

Kokki, H; Salonvaara, M; Herrgård, E; Onen, P

1999-01-01

Many reports have shown a low incidence of postdural puncture headache (PDPH) and other complaints in young children. The objective of this open-randomized, prospective, parallel group study was to compare the use of a cutting point spinal needle (22-G Quincke) with a pencil point spinal needle (22-G Whitacre) in children. We studied the puncture characteristics, success rate and incidence of postpuncture complaints in 57 children, aged 8 months to 15 years, following 98 lumbar punctures (LP). The patient/parents completed a diary at 3 and 7 days after LP. The response rate was 97%. The incidence of PDPH was similar, 15% in the Quincke group and 9% in the Whitacre group (P=0.42). The risk of developing a PDPH was not dependent on the age (r < 0.00, P=0.67). Eight of the 11 PDPHs developed in children younger than 10 years, the youngest being 23-months-old.

OWL: A scalable Monte Carlo simulation suite for finite-temperature study of materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ying Wai; Yuk, Simuck F.; Cooper, Valentino R.; Eisenbach, Markus; Odbadrakh, Khorgolkhuu

The OWL suite is a simulation package for performing large-scale Monte Carlo simulations. Its object-oriented, modular design enables it to interface with various external packages for energy evaluations. It is therefore applicable to study the finite-temperature properties for a wide range of systems: from simple classical spin models to materials where the energy is evaluated by ab initio methods. This scheme not only allows for the study of thermodynamic properties based on first-principles statistical mechanics, it also provides a means for massive, multi-level parallelism to fully exploit the capacity of modern heterogeneous computer architectures. We will demonstrate how improved strong and weak scaling is achieved by employing novel, parallel and scalable Monte Carlo algorithms, as well as the applications of OWL to a few selected frontier materials research problems. This research was supported by the Office of Science of the Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

Determining the Index of Refraction of an Unknown Object using Passive Polarimetric Imagery Degraded by Atmospheric Turbulence

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-08-09

44 9 A photograph of a goniophotometer used by Bell and a schematic of a goniophotometer used by Mian et al...plane is called the parallel field component because it lies parallel to the specular plane. The incident electric field vector component which...resides in the plane or- thogonal to the specular plane is called the perpendicular field component because it lies perpendicular to the specular plane. If

Parallel Implementation of a Frozen Flow Based Wavefront Reconstructor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagy, J.; Kelly, K.

2013-09-01

Obtaining high resolution images of space objects from ground based telescopes is challenging, often requiring the use of a multi-frame blind deconvolution (MFBD) algorithm to remove blur caused by atmospheric turbulence. In order for an MFBD algorithm to be effective, it is necessary to obtain a good initial estimate of the wavefront phase. Although wavefront sensors work well in low turbulence situations, they are less effective in high turbulence, such as when imaging in daylight, or when imaging objects that are close to the Earth's horizon. One promising approach, which has been shown to work very well in high turbulence settings, uses a frozen flow assumption on the atmosphere to capture the inherent temporal correlations present in consecutive frames of wavefront data. Exploiting these correlations can lead to more accurate estimation of the wavefront phase, and the associated PSF, which leads to more effective MFBD algorithms. However, with the current serial implementation, the approach can be prohibitively expensive in situations when it is necessary to use a large number of frames. In this poster we describe a parallel implementation that overcomes this constraint. The parallel implementation exploits sparse matrix computations, and uses the Trilinos package developed at Sandia National Laboratories. Trilinos provides a variety of core mathematical software for parallel architectures that have been designed using high quality software engineering practices, The package is open source, and portable to a variety of high-performance computing architectures.

Radiofrequency energy deposition and radiofrequency power requirements in parallel transmission with increasing distance from the coil to the sample.

PubMed

Deniz, Cem M; Vaidya, Manushka V; Sodickson, Daniel K; Lattanzi, Riccardo

2016-01-01

We investigated global specific absorption rate (SAR) and radiofrequency (RF) power requirements in parallel transmission as the distance between the transmit coils and the sample was increased. We calculated ultimate intrinsic SAR (UISAR), which depends on object geometry and electrical properties but not on coil design, and we used it as the reference to compare the performance of various transmit arrays. We investigated the case of fixing coil size and increasing the number of coils while moving the array away from the sample, as well as the case of fixing coil number and scaling coil dimensions. We also investigated RF power requirements as a function of lift-off, and tracked local SAR distributions associated with global SAR optima. In all cases, the target excitation profile was achieved and global SAR (as well as associated maximum local SAR) decreased with lift-off, approaching UISAR, which was constant for all lift-offs. We observed a lift-off value that optimizes the balance between global SAR and power losses in coil conductors. We showed that, using parallel transmission, global SAR can decrease at ultra high fields for finite arrays with a sufficient number of transmit elements. For parallel transmission, the distance between coils and object can be optimized to reduce SAR and minimize RF power requirements associated with homogeneous excitation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cortical neurons of bats respond best to echoes from nearest targets when listening to natural biosonar multi-echo streams.

PubMed

Beetz, M Jerome; Hechavarría, Julio C; Kössl, Manfred

2016-10-27

Bats orientate in darkness by listening to echoes from their biosonar calls, a behaviour known as echolocation. Recent studies showed that cortical neurons respond in a highly selective manner when stimulated with natural echolocation sequences that contain echoes from single targets. However, it remains unknown how cortical neurons process echolocation sequences containing echo information from multiple objects. In the present study, we used echolocation sequences containing echoes from three, two or one object separated in the space depth as stimuli to study neuronal activity in the bat auditory cortex. Neuronal activity was recorded with multi-electrode arrays placed in the dorsal auditory cortex, where neurons tuned to target-distance are found. Our results show that target-distance encoding neurons are mostly selective to echoes coming from the closest object, and that the representation of echo information from distant objects is selectively suppressed. This suppression extends over a large part of the dorsal auditory cortex and may override possible parallel processing of multiple objects. The presented data suggest that global cortical suppression might establish a cortical "default mode" that allows selectively focusing on close obstacle even without active attention from the animals.

Cortical neurons of bats respond best to echoes from nearest targets when listening to natural biosonar multi-echo streams

PubMed Central

Beetz, M. Jerome; Hechavarría, Julio C.; Kössl, Manfred

2016-01-01

Bats orientate in darkness by listening to echoes from their biosonar calls, a behaviour known as echolocation. Recent studies showed that cortical neurons respond in a highly selective manner when stimulated with natural echolocation sequences that contain echoes from single targets. However, it remains unknown how cortical neurons process echolocation sequences containing echo information from multiple objects. In the present study, we used echolocation sequences containing echoes from three, two or one object separated in the space depth as stimuli to study neuronal activity in the bat auditory cortex. Neuronal activity was recorded with multi-electrode arrays placed in the dorsal auditory cortex, where neurons tuned to target-distance are found. Our results show that target-distance encoding neurons are mostly selective to echoes coming from the closest object, and that the representation of echo information from distant objects is selectively suppressed. This suppression extends over a large part of the dorsal auditory cortex and may override possible parallel processing of multiple objects. The presented data suggest that global cortical suppression might establish a cortical “default mode” that allows selectively focusing on close obstacle even without active attention from the animals. PMID:27786252

Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator Users' Guide Version 6.8

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keiter, Eric R.; Aadithya, Karthik Venkatraman; Mei, Ting

This manual describes the use of the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator. Xyce has been de- signed as a SPICE-compatible, high-performance analog circuit simulator, and has been written to support the simulation needs of the Sandia National Laboratories electrical designers. This development has focused on improving capability over the current state-of-the-art in the following areas: Capability to solve extremely large circuit problems by supporting large-scale parallel com- puting platforms (up to thousands of processors). This includes support for most popular parallel and serial computers. A differential-algebraic-equation (DAE) formulation, which better isolates the device model package from solver algorithms. This allows onemore » to develop new types of analysis without requiring the implementation of analysis-specific device models. Device models that are specifically tailored to meet Sandia's needs, including some radiation- aware devices (for Sandia users only). Object-oriented code design and implementation using modern coding practices. Xyce is a parallel code in the most general sense of the phrase$-$ a message passing parallel implementation $-$ which allows it to run efficiently a wide range of computing platforms. These include serial, shared-memory and distributed-memory parallel platforms. Attention has been paid to the specific nature of circuit-simulation problems to ensure that optimal parallel efficiency is achieved as the number of processors grows.« less

Anisotropic particles near surfaces: Propulsion force and friction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Boris; Krüger, Matthias

2016-03-01

We theoretically study the phenomenon of propulsion through Casimir forces in thermal nonequilibrium. Using fluctuational electrodynamics, we derive a formula for the propulsion force for an arbitrary small object in two scenarios: (i) for the object being isolated, and (ii) for the object being close to a planar surface. In the latter case, the propulsion force (i.e., the force parallel to the surface) increases with decreasing distance, i.e., it couples to the near field. We numerically calculate the lateral force acting on a hot spheroid near a surface and show that it can be as large as the gravitational force, thus being potentially measurable in fly-by experiments. We close by linking our results to well-known relations of linear-response theory in fluctuational electrodynamics: Looking at the friction of the anisotropic object for constant velocity, we identify a correction term that is additional to the typically used approach.

Developmental Commonalities between Object and Face Recognition in Adolescence

PubMed Central

Jüttner, Martin; Wakui, Elley; Petters, Dean; Davidoff, Jules

2016-01-01

In the visual perception literature, the recognition of faces has often been contrasted with that of non-face objects, in terms of differences with regard to the role of parts, part relations and holistic processing. However, recent evidence from developmental studies has begun to blur this sharp distinction. We review evidence for a protracted development of object recognition that is reminiscent of the well-documented slow maturation observed for faces. The prolonged development manifests itself in a retarded processing of metric part relations as opposed to that of individual parts and offers surprising parallels to developmental accounts of face recognition, even though the interpretation of the data is less clear with regard to holistic processing. We conclude that such results might indicate functional commonalities between the mechanisms underlying the recognition of faces and non-face objects, which are modulated by different task requirements in the two stimulus domains. PMID:27014176

Parallel Tracks as Quasi-steady States for the Magnetic Boundary Layers in Neutron-star Low-mass X-Ray Binaries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Erkut, M. Hakan; Çatmabacak, Onur, E-mail: mherkut@gmail.com

The neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) are usually thought to be weakly magnetized objects accreting matter from their low-mass companions in the form of a disk. Albeit weak compared to those in young neutron-star systems, the neutron-star magnetospheres in LMXBs can play an important role in determining the correlations between spectral and temporal properties. Parallel tracks appearing in the kilohertz (kHz) quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) frequency versus X-ray flux plane can be used as a tool to study the magnetosphere–disk interaction in neutron-star LMXBs. For dynamically important weak fields, the formation of a non-Keplerian magnetic boundary layer at themore » innermost disk truncated near the surface of the neutron star is highly likely. Such a boundary region may harbor oscillatory modes of frequencies in the kHz range. We generate parallel tracks using the boundary region model of kHz QPOs. We also present the direct application of our model to the reproduction of the observed parallel tracks of individual sources such as 4U 1608–52, 4U 1636–53, and Aql X-1. We reveal how the radial width of the boundary layer must vary in the long-term flux evolution of each source to regenerate the parallel tracks. The run of the radial width looks similar for different sources and can be fitted by a generic model function describing the average steady behavior of the boundary region over the long term. The parallel tracks then correspond to the possible quasi-steady states the source can occupy around the average trend.« less

Parallel Tracks as Quasi-steady States for the Magnetic Boundary Layers in Neutron-star Low-mass X-Ray Binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erkut, M. Hakan; Çatmabacak, Onur

2017-11-01

The neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) are usually thought to be weakly magnetized objects accreting matter from their low-mass companions in the form of a disk. Albeit weak compared to those in young neutron-star systems, the neutron-star magnetospheres in LMXBs can play an important role in determining the correlations between spectral and temporal properties. Parallel tracks appearing in the kilohertz (kHz) quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) frequency versus X-ray flux plane can be used as a tool to study the magnetosphere-disk interaction in neutron-star LMXBs. For dynamically important weak fields, the formation of a non-Keplerian magnetic boundary layer at the innermost disk truncated near the surface of the neutron star is highly likely. Such a boundary region may harbor oscillatory modes of frequencies in the kHz range. We generate parallel tracks using the boundary region model of kHz QPOs. We also present the direct application of our model to the reproduction of the observed parallel tracks of individual sources such as 4U 1608-52, 4U 1636-53, and Aql X-1. We reveal how the radial width of the boundary layer must vary in the long-term flux evolution of each source to regenerate the parallel tracks. The run of the radial width looks similar for different sources and can be fitted by a generic model function describing the average steady behavior of the boundary region over the long term. The parallel tracks then correspond to the possible quasi-steady states the source can occupy around the average trend.

SIMOGEN - An Object-Oriented Language for Simulation

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

program generator must also be written in the same prcgramming languaje . In this case, the C language was chosen, for the following main reasons...3), March 88. 4. PRESTO: A System for Object-Oriented Parallel Programing B N Bershad, E D Lazowska & H M Levy Software Practice and Experience, Vol...U.S. Depare nt of Defence ANSI/ML-STD 1815A. 7. Object-oriented Development Grady Booch Transactions on Software Engineering , February 86. 8. A

Parallel Distractor Rejection as a Binding Mechanism in Search

PubMed Central

Dent, Kevin; Allen, Harriet A.; Braithwaite, Jason J.; Humphreys, Glyn W.

2012-01-01

The relatively common experimental visual search task of finding a red X amongst red O’s and green X’s (conjunction search) presents the visual system with a binding problem. Illusory conjunctions (ICs) of features across objects must be avoided and only features present in the same object bound together. Correct binding into unique objects by the visual system may be promoted, and ICs minimized, by inhibiting the locations of distractors possessing non-target features (e.g., Treisman and Sato, 1990). Such parallel rejection of interfering distractors leaves the target as the only item competing for selection; thus solving the binding problem. In the present article we explore the theoretical and empirical basis of this process of active distractor inhibition in search. Specific experiments that provide strong evidence for a process of active distractor inhibition in search are highlighted. In the final part of the article we consider how distractor inhibition, as defined here, may be realized at a neurophysiological level (Treisman and Sato, 1990). PMID:22908002

Associative Memory In A Phase Conjugate Resonator Cavity Utilizing A Hologram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owechko, Y.; Marom, E.; Soffer, B. H.; Dunning, G.

1987-01-01

The principle of information retrieval by association has been suggested as a basis for parallel computing and as the process by which human memory functions.1 Various associative processors have been proposed that use electronic or optical means. Optical schemes,2-7 in particular, those based on holographic principles,3,6,7 are well suited to associative processing because of their high parallelism and information throughput. Previous workers8 demonstrated that holographically stored images can be recalled by using relatively complicated reference images but did not utilize nonlinear feedback to reduce the large cross talk that results when multiple objects are stored and a partial or distorted input is used for retrieval. These earlier approaches were limited in their ability to reconstruct the output object faithfully from a partial input.

Real-time object tracking based on scale-invariant features employing bio-inspired hardware.

PubMed

Yasukawa, Shinsuke; Okuno, Hirotsugu; Ishii, Kazuo; Yagi, Tetsuya

2016-09-01

We developed a vision sensor system that performs a scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) in real time. To apply the SIFT algorithm efficiently, we focus on a two-fold process performed by the visual system: whole-image parallel filtering and frequency-band parallel processing. The vision sensor system comprises an active pixel sensor, a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS)-based resistive network, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a digital computer. We employed the MOS-based resistive network for instantaneous spatial filtering and a configurable filter size. The FPGA is used to pipeline process the frequency-band signals. The proposed system was evaluated by tracking the feature points detected on an object in a video. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A sample implementation for parallelizing Divide-and-Conquer algorithms on the GPU.

PubMed

Mei, Gang; Zhang, Jiayin; Xu, Nengxiong; Zhao, Kunyang

2018-01-01

The strategy of Divide-and-Conquer (D&C) is one of the frequently used programming patterns to design efficient algorithms in computer science, which has been parallelized on shared memory systems and distributed memory systems. Tzeng and Owens specifically developed a generic paradigm for parallelizing D&C algorithms on modern Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). In this paper, by following the generic paradigm proposed by Tzeng and Owens, we provide a new and publicly available GPU implementation of the famous D&C algorithm, QuickHull, to give a sample and guide for parallelizing D&C algorithms on the GPU. The experimental results demonstrate the practicality of our sample GPU implementation. Our research objective in this paper is to present a sample GPU implementation of a classical D&C algorithm to help interested readers to develop their own efficient GPU implementations with fewer efforts.

Essential issues in multiprocessor systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gajski, D.D.; Peir, J.K.

1985-06-01

During the past several years, a great number of proposals have been made with the objective to increase supercomputer performance by an order of magnitude on the basis of a utilization of new computer architectures. The present paper is concerned with a suitable classification scheme for comparing these architectures. It is pointed out that there are basically four schools of thought as to the most important factor for an enhancement of computer performance. According to one school, the development of faster circuits will make it possible to retain present architectures, except, possibly, for a mechanism providing synchronization of parallel processes.more » A second school assigns priority to the optimization and vectorization of compilers, which will detect parallelism and help users to write better parallel programs. A third school believes in the predominant importance of new parallel algorithms, while the fourth school supports new models of computation. The merits of the four approaches are critically evaluated. 50 references.« less

Efficient parallel implementation of active appearance model fitting algorithm on GPU.

PubMed

Wang, Jinwei; Ma, Xirong; Zhu, Yuanping; Sun, Jizhou

2014-01-01

The active appearance model (AAM) is one of the most powerful model-based object detecting and tracking methods which has been widely used in various situations. However, the high-dimensional texture representation causes very time-consuming computations, which makes the AAM difficult to apply to real-time systems. The emergence of modern graphics processing units (GPUs) that feature a many-core, fine-grained parallel architecture provides new and promising solutions to overcome the computational challenge. In this paper, we propose an efficient parallel implementation of the AAM fitting algorithm on GPUs. Our design idea is fine grain parallelism in which we distribute the texture data of the AAM, in pixels, to thousands of parallel GPU threads for processing, which makes the algorithm fit better into the GPU architecture. We implement our algorithm using the compute unified device architecture (CUDA) on the Nvidia's GTX 650 GPU, which has the latest Kepler architecture. To compare the performance of our algorithm with different data sizes, we built sixteen face AAM models of different dimensional textures. The experiment results show that our parallel AAM fitting algorithm can achieve real-time performance for videos even on very high-dimensional textures.

Efficient Parallel Implementation of Active Appearance Model Fitting Algorithm on GPU

PubMed Central

Wang, Jinwei; Ma, Xirong; Zhu, Yuanping; Sun, Jizhou

2014-01-01

The active appearance model (AAM) is one of the most powerful model-based object detecting and tracking methods which has been widely used in various situations. However, the high-dimensional texture representation causes very time-consuming computations, which makes the AAM difficult to apply to real-time systems. The emergence of modern graphics processing units (GPUs) that feature a many-core, fine-grained parallel architecture provides new and promising solutions to overcome the computational challenge. In this paper, we propose an efficient parallel implementation of the AAM fitting algorithm on GPUs. Our design idea is fine grain parallelism in which we distribute the texture data of the AAM, in pixels, to thousands of parallel GPU threads for processing, which makes the algorithm fit better into the GPU architecture. We implement our algorithm using the compute unified device architecture (CUDA) on the Nvidia's GTX 650 GPU, which has the latest Kepler architecture. To compare the performance of our algorithm with different data sizes, we built sixteen face AAM models of different dimensional textures. The experiment results show that our parallel AAM fitting algorithm can achieve real-time performance for videos even on very high-dimensional textures. PMID:24723812

An efficient dynamic load balancing algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagaros, Nikos D.

2014-01-01

In engineering problems, randomness and uncertainties are inherent. Robust design procedures, formulated in the framework of multi-objective optimization, have been proposed in order to take into account sources of randomness and uncertainty. These design procedures require orders of magnitude more computational effort than conventional analysis or optimum design processes since a very large number of finite element analyses is required to be dealt. It is therefore an imperative need to exploit the capabilities of computing resources in order to deal with this kind of problems. In particular, parallel computing can be implemented at the level of metaheuristic optimization, by exploiting the physical parallelization feature of the nondominated sorting evolution strategies method, as well as at the level of repeated structural analyses required for assessing the behavioural constraints and for calculating the objective functions. In this study an efficient dynamic load balancing algorithm for optimum exploitation of available computing resources is proposed and, without loss of generality, is applied for computing the desired Pareto front. In such problems the computation of the complete Pareto front with feasible designs only, constitutes a very challenging task. The proposed algorithm achieves linear speedup factors and almost 100% speedup factor values with reference to the sequential procedure.

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations, Appendices E (Sections E.1--E.8). Volume 2, Part 3A

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.

1994-06-01

During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the potential risks during low power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitativemore » results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. The authors recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown. Procedures written specifically for shutdown accidents would be useful.« less

Culminating Point and the 38th Parallel

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-01-01

T• 3M•~ OPKALL"L 6. AUTHOR(S) TAMVS L. BRyA10 LF COL ) LkSA 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION AIR WAR ...Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18 298-102 AIR WAR COLLEGE AIR UNIVERSITY THE CULMINATING POINT AND THE 38TH PARALLEL by James L. Bryan Lieutenant Colonel, USA...securing the only attainable objective the following Spring. Why do this analysis on the Korean War when so much has already been written about it

On the consequences of bi-Maxwellian plasma distributions for parallel electric fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olsen, Richard C.

1992-01-01

The objective is to use the measurements of the equatorial particle distributions to obtain the parallel electric field structure and the evolution of the plasma distribution function along the field line. Appropriate uses of kinetic theory allows us to use the measured ( and inferred) particle distributions to obtain the electric field, and hence the variation on plasma density along the magnetic field line. The approach, here, is to utilize the adiabatic invariants, and assume the plasma distributions are in equilibrium.

Three-dimensional scanner based on fringe projection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nouri, Taoufik

1995-07-01

This article presents a way of scanning 3D objects using noninvasive and contact loss techniques. The principle is to project parallel fringes on an object and then to record the object at two viewing angles. With an appropriate treatment one can reconstruct the 3D object even when it has no symmetry planes. The 3D surface data are available immediately in digital form for computer visualization and for analysis software tools. The optical setup for recording the object, the data extraction and treatment, and the reconstruction of the object are reported and commented on. Application is proposed for reconstructive/cosmetic surgery, CAD, animation, and research.

Diffraction mode terahertz tomography

DOEpatents

Ferguson, Bradley; Wang, Shaohong; Zhang, Xi-Cheng

2006-10-31

A method of obtaining a series of images of a three-dimensional object. The method includes the steps of transmitting pulsed terahertz (THz) radiation through the entire object from a plurality of angles, optically detecting changes in the transmitted THz radiation using pulsed laser radiation, and constructing a plurality of imaged slices of the three-dimensional object using the detected changes in the transmitted THz radiation. The THz radiation is transmitted through the object as a two-dimensional array of parallel rays. The optical detection is an array of detectors such as a CCD sensor.

Consciousness weaves our internal view of the outside world.

PubMed

Gur, Moshe

2016-01-01

Low-level consciousness is fundamental to our understanding of the world. Within the conscious field, the constantly changing external visual information is transformed into stable, object-based percepts. Remarkably, holistic objects are perceived while we are cognizant of all of the spatial details comprising the objects and of the relationship between individual elements. This parallel conscious association is unique to the brain. Conscious contributions to motor activity come after our understanding of the world has been established.

Expressing Parallelism with ROOT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piparo, D.; Tejedor, E.; Guiraud, E.; Ganis, G.; Mato, P.; Moneta, L.; Valls Pla, X.; Canal, P.

2017-10-01

The need for processing the ever-increasing amount of data generated by the LHC experiments in a more efficient way has motivated ROOT to further develop its support for parallelism. Such support is being tackled both for shared-memory and distributed-memory environments. The incarnations of the aforementioned parallelism are multi-threading, multi-processing and cluster-wide executions. In the area of multi-threading, we discuss the new implicit parallelism and related interfaces, as well as the new building blocks to safely operate with ROOT objects in a multi-threaded environment. Regarding multi-processing, we review the new MultiProc framework, comparing it with similar tools (e.g. multiprocessing module in Python). Finally, as an alternative to PROOF for cluster-wide executions, we introduce the efforts on integrating ROOT with state-of-the-art distributed data processing technologies like Spark, both in terms of programming model and runtime design (with EOS as one of the main components). For all the levels of parallelism, we discuss, based on real-life examples and measurements, how our proposals can increase the productivity of scientists.

Expressing Parallelism with ROOT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Piparo, D.; Tejedor, E.; Guiraud, E.

The need for processing the ever-increasing amount of data generated by the LHC experiments in a more efficient way has motivated ROOT to further develop its support for parallelism. Such support is being tackled both for shared-memory and distributed-memory environments. The incarnations of the aforementioned parallelism are multi-threading, multi-processing and cluster-wide executions. In the area of multi-threading, we discuss the new implicit parallelism and related interfaces, as well as the new building blocks to safely operate with ROOT objects in a multi-threaded environment. Regarding multi-processing, we review the new MultiProc framework, comparing it with similar tools (e.g. multiprocessing module inmore » Python). Finally, as an alternative to PROOF for cluster-wide executions, we introduce the efforts on integrating ROOT with state-of-the-art distributed data processing technologies like Spark, both in terms of programming model and runtime design (with EOS as one of the main components). For all the levels of parallelism, we discuss, based on real-life examples and measurements, how our proposals can increase the productivity of scientists.« less

An object-oriented, coprocessor-accelerated model for ice sheet simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seddik, H.; Greve, R.

2013-12-01

Recently, numerous models capable of modeling the thermo-dynamics of ice sheets have been developed within the ice sheet modeling community. Their capabilities have been characterized by a wide range of features with different numerical methods (finite difference or finite element), different implementations of the ice flow mechanics (shallow-ice, higher-order, full Stokes) and different treatments for the basal and coastal areas (basal hydrology, basal sliding, ice shelves). Shallow-ice models (SICOPOLIS, IcIES, PISM, etc) have been widely used for modeling whole ice sheets (Greenland and Antarctica) due to the relatively low computational cost of the shallow-ice approximation but higher order (ISSM, AIF) and full Stokes (Elmer/Ice) models have been recently used to model the Greenland ice sheet. The advance in processor speed and the decrease in cost for accessing large amount of memory and storage have undoubtedly been the driving force in the commoditization of models with higher capabilities, and the popularity of Elmer/Ice (http://elmerice.elmerfem.com) with an active user base is a notable representation of this trend. Elmer/Ice is a full Stokes model built on top of the multi-physics package Elmer (http://www.csc.fi/english/pages/elmer) which provides the full machinery for the complex finite element procedure and is fully parallel (mesh partitioning with OpenMPI communication). Elmer is mainly written in Fortran 90 and targets essentially traditional processors as the code base was not initially written to run on modern coprocessors (yet adding support for the recently introduced x86 based coprocessors is possible). Furthermore, a truly modular and object-oriented implementation is required for quick adaptation to fast evolving capabilities in hardware (Fortran 2003 provides an object-oriented programming model while not being clean and requiring a tricky refactoring of Elmer code). In this work, the object-oriented, coprocessor-accelerated finite element code Sainou is introduced. Sainou is an Elmer fork which is reimplemented in Objective C and used for experimenting with ice sheet models running on coprocessors, essentially GPU devices. GPUs are highly parallel processors that provide opportunities for fine-grained parallelization of the full Stokes problem using the standard OpenCL language (http://www.khronos.org/opencl/) to access the device. Sainou is built upon a collection of Objective C base classes that service a modular kernel (itself a base class) which provides the core methods to solve the finite element problem. An early implementation of Sainou will be presented with emphasis on the object architecture and the strategies of parallelizations. The computation of a simple heat conduction problem is used to test the implementation which also provides experimental support for running the global matrix assembly on GPU.

Running accuracy analysis of a 3-RRR parallel kinematic machine considering the deformations of the links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Liping; Jiang, Yao; Li, Tiemin

2014-09-01

Parallel kinematic machines have drawn considerable attention and have been widely used in some special fields. However, high precision is still one of the challenges when they are used for advanced machine tools. One of the main reasons is that the kinematic chains of parallel kinematic machines are composed of elongated links that can easily suffer deformations, especially at high speeds and under heavy loads. A 3-RRR parallel kinematic machine is taken as a study object for investigating its accuracy with the consideration of the deformations of its links during the motion process. Based on the dynamic model constructed by the Newton-Euler method, all the inertia loads and constraint forces of the links are computed and their deformations are derived. Then the kinematic errors of the machine are derived with the consideration of the deformations of the links. Through further derivation, the accuracy of the machine is given in a simple explicit expression, which will be helpful to increase the calculating speed. The accuracy of this machine when following a selected circle path is simulated. The influences of magnitude of the maximum acceleration and external loads on the running accuracy of the machine are investigated. The results show that the external loads will deteriorate the accuracy of the machine tremendously when their direction coincides with the direction of the worst stiffness of the machine. The proposed method provides a solution for predicting the running accuracy of the parallel kinematic machines and can also be used in their design optimization as well as selection of suitable running parameters.

a Spatiotemporal Aggregation Query Method Using Multi-Thread Parallel Technique Based on Regional Division

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, S.; Chen, L.; Li, J.; Xiong, W.; Wu, Q.

2015-07-01

Existing spatiotemporal database supports spatiotemporal aggregation query over massive moving objects datasets. Due to the large amounts of data and single-thread processing method, the query speed cannot meet the application requirements. On the other hand, the query efficiency is more sensitive to spatial variation then temporal variation. In this paper, we proposed a spatiotemporal aggregation query method using multi-thread parallel technique based on regional divison and implemented it on the server. Concretely, we divided the spatiotemporal domain into several spatiotemporal cubes, computed spatiotemporal aggregation on all cubes using the technique of multi-thread parallel processing, and then integrated the query results. By testing and analyzing on the real datasets, this method has improved the query speed significantly.

Automated quantification of neurite outgrowth orientation distributions on patterned surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Payne, Matthew; Wang, Dadong; Sinclair, Catriona M.; Kapsa, Robert M. I.; Quigley, Anita F.; Wallace, Gordon G.; Razal, Joselito M.; Baughman, Ray H.; Münch, Gerald; Vallotton, Pascal

2014-08-01

Objective. We have developed an image analysis methodology for quantifying the anisotropy of neuronal projections on patterned substrates. Approach. Our method is based on the fitting of smoothing splines to the digital traces produced using a non-maximum suppression technique. This enables precise estimates of the local tangents uniformly along the neurite length, and leads to unbiased orientation distributions suitable for objectively assessing the anisotropy induced by tailored surfaces. Main results. In our application, we demonstrate that carbon nanotubes arrayed in parallel bundles over gold surfaces induce a considerable neurite anisotropy; a result which is relevant for regenerative medicine. Significance. Our pipeline is generally applicable to the study of fibrous materials on 2D surfaces and should also find applications in the study of DNA, microtubules, and other polymeric materials.

Xyce™ Parallel Electronic Simulator Users' Guide, Version 6.5.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keiter, Eric R.; Aadithya, Karthik V.; Mei, Ting

This manual describes the use of the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator. Xyce has been designed as a SPICE-compatible, high-performance analog circuit simulator, and has been written to support the simulation needs of the Sandia National Laboratories electrical designers. This development has focused on improving capability over the current state-of-the-art in the following areas: Capability to solve extremely large circuit problems by supporting large-scale parallel computing platforms (up to thousands of processors). This includes support for most popular parallel and serial computers. A differential-algebraic-equation (DAE) formulation, which better isolates the device model package from solver algorithms. This allows one to developmore » new types of analysis without requiring the implementation of analysis-specific device models. Device models that are specifically tailored to meet Sandia's needs, including some radiation- aware devices (for Sandia users only). Object-oriented code design and implementation using modern coding practices. Xyce is a parallel code in the most general sense of the phrase -- a message passing parallel implementation -- which allows it to run efficiently a wide range of computing platforms. These include serial, shared-memory and distributed-memory parallel platforms. Attention has been paid to the specific nature of circuit-simulation problems to ensure that optimal parallel efficiency is achieved as the number of processors grows. The information herein is subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2002-2016 Sandia Corporation. All rights reserved.« less

Architectural Implications for Spatial Object Association Algorithms*

PubMed Central

Kumar, Vijay S.; Kurc, Tahsin; Saltz, Joel; Abdulla, Ghaleb; Kohn, Scott R.; Matarazzo, Celeste

2013-01-01

Spatial object association, also referred to as crossmatch of spatial datasets, is the problem of identifying and comparing objects in two or more datasets based on their positions in a common spatial coordinate system. In this work, we evaluate two crossmatch algorithms that are used for astronomical sky surveys, on the following database system architecture configurations: (1) Netezza Performance Server®, a parallel database system with active disk style processing capabilities, (2) MySQL Cluster, a high-throughput network database system, and (3) a hybrid configuration consisting of a collection of independent database system instances with data replication support. Our evaluation provides insights about how architectural characteristics of these systems affect the performance of the spatial crossmatch algorithms. We conducted our study using real use-case scenarios borrowed from a large-scale astronomy application known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). PMID:25692244

Range and egomotion estimation from compound photodetector arrays with parallel optical axis using optical flow techniques.

PubMed

Chahl, J S

2014-01-20

This paper describes an application for arrays of narrow-field-of-view sensors with parallel optical axes. These devices exhibit some complementary characteristics with respect to conventional perspective projection or angular projection imaging devices. Conventional imaging devices measure rotational egomotion directly by measuring the angular velocity of the projected image. Translational egomotion cannot be measured directly by these devices because the induced image motion depends on the unknown range of the viewed object. On the other hand, a known translational motion generates image velocities which can be used to recover the ranges of objects and hence the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the environment. A new method is presented for computing egomotion and range using the properties of linear arrays of independent narrow-field-of-view optical sensors. An approximate parallel projection can be used to measure translational egomotion in terms of the velocity of the image. On the other hand, a known rotational motion of the paraxial sensor array generates image velocities, which can be used to recover the 3D structure of the environment. Results of tests of an experimental array confirm these properties.

Lightness of an object under two illumination levels.

PubMed

Zdravković, Suncica; Economou, Elias; Gilchrist, Alan

2006-01-01

Anchoring theory (Gilchrist et al, 1999 Psychological Review 106 795-834) predicts a wide range of lightness errors, including failures of constancy in multi-illumination scenes and a long list of well-known lightness illusions seen under homogeneous illumination. Lightness values are computed both locally and globally and then averaged together. Local values are computed within a given region of homogeneous illumination. Thus, for an object that extends through two different illumination levels, anchoring theory produces two values, one for the patch in brighter illumination and one for the patch in dimmer illumination. Observers can give matches for these patches separately, but they can also give a single match for the whole object. Anchoring theory in its current form is unable to predict these object matches. We report eight experiments in which we studied the relationship between patch matches and object matches. The results show that the object match represents a compromise between the match for the patch in the field of highest illumination and the patch in the largest field of illumination. These two principles are parallel to the rules found for anchoring lightness: highest luminance rule and area rule.

Ti/Al Design/Cost Trade-Off Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-10-01

evaluate the applV!ati’an of selected titanium aluuinide alloys to both dynamic and static components of aircraft gas turbine engines . Mr. D. 0. Nash...the development of advanced aircraft gas turbine engines , a continuing objective has been to develop lightweight, high-performance designs. A parallel... engines for the design/cost trade-off study are as follows: Dynamic Components "* F1O1 Fourth-Stage Compressor Blade "* JlO1 Low Pressure Turbine Blade

Feasibility study: Liquid hydrogen plant, 30 tons per day

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The design considerations of the plant are discussed in detail along with management planning, objective schedules, and cost estimates. The processing scheme is aimed at ultimate use of coal as the basic raw material. For back-up, and to provide assurance of a dependable and steady supply of hydrogen, a parallel and redundant facility for gasifying heavy residual oil will be installed. Both the coal and residual oil gasifiers will use the partial oxidation process.

QCD thermodynamics with two flavors of quarks[1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MIMD lattice Computations (MILC) Collaboration

We present results of numerical simulations of quantum chromodynamics at finite temperature on the Intel iPSC/860 parallel processor. We performed calculations with two flavors of Kogut-Susskind quarks and of Wilson quarks on 6 × 12 3 lattices in order to study the crossover from the low temperature hadronic regime to the high temperature regime. We investigate the properties of the objects whose exchange gives static screening lengths be reconstructing their correlated quark-antiquark structure.

Multi-objective problem of the modified distributed parallel machine and assembly scheduling problem (MDPMASP) with eligibility constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amallynda, I.; Santosa, B.

2017-11-01

This paper proposes a new generalization of the distributed parallel machine and assembly scheduling problem (DPMASP) with eligibility constraints referred to as the modified distributed parallel machine and assembly scheduling problem (MDPMASP) with eligibility constraints. Within this generalization, we assume that there are a set non-identical factories or production lines, each one with a set unrelated parallel machine with different speeds in processing them disposed to a single assembly machine in series. A set of different products that are manufactured through an assembly program of a set of components (jobs) according to the requested demand. Each product requires several kinds of jobs with different sizes. Beside that we also consider to the multi-objective problem (MOP) of minimizing mean flow time and the number of tardy products simultaneously. This is known to be NP-Hard problem, is important to practice, as the former criterions to reflect the customer's demand and manufacturer's perspective. This is a realistic and complex problem with wide range of possible solutions, we propose four simple heuristics and two metaheuristics to solve it. Various parameters of the proposed metaheuristic algorithms are discussed and calibrated by means of Taguchi technique. All proposed algorithms are tested by Matlab software. Our computational experiments indicate that the proposed problem and fourth proposed algorithms are able to be implemented and can be used to solve moderately-sized instances, and giving efficient solutions, which are close to optimum in most cases.

An engineering approach to automatic programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rubin, Stuart H.

1990-01-01

An exploratory study of the automatic generation and optimization of symbolic programs using DECOM - a prototypical requirement specification model implemented in pure LISP was undertaken. It was concluded, on the basis of this study, that symbolic processing languages such as LISP can support a style of programming based upon formal transformation and dependent upon the expression of constraints in an object-oriented environment. Such languages can represent all aspects of the software generation process (including heuristic algorithms for effecting parallel search) as dynamic processes since data and program are represented in a uniform format.

Parallel and distributed computation for fault-tolerant object recognition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wechsler, Harry

1988-01-01

The distributed associative memory (DAM) model is suggested for distributed and fault-tolerant computation as it relates to object recognition tasks. The fault-tolerance is with respect to geometrical distortions (scale and rotation), noisy inputs, occulsion/overlap, and memory faults. An experimental system was developed for fault-tolerant structure recognition which shows the feasibility of such an approach. The approach is futher extended to the problem of multisensory data integration and applied successfully to the recognition of colored polyhedral objects.

[Parallel analysis of c-Fos protein and interleukin-2 expression in hypothalamic cells under different influence].

PubMed

Barabanova, S V; Artiukhina, Z E; Ovchinnikova, K T; Abramova, T V; Kazakova, T B; Khavinson, V Kh; Malinin, V V; Korneva, E A

2007-02-01

The objective of this work was to perform a parallel analysis of activation of the rat anterior hypothalamus cells as judged by c-Fos protein expression, and of the expression of interleukin-2 (IL-2) under different influences, i. e., mild stress (handling) and adaptation to it, and intranasal administration of saline and the peptides Vilon (Lys-Glu) and Epithalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly). Changes in the counts of cells positive for c-Fos- and IL-2 proteins were studied in structures of the lateral (LHA) area, anterior (AHN), supraoptic (SO) and paraventricular (PVH) nuclei of Wistar rat hypothalamus. Quantity of the interleukin-2-positive and c-Fos-positive cells was calculated. The findings were: a negative correlation between the activation of cells and the amount of IL-2 in the cells in the hypothalamic structures under study, and the specific patterns of changes in the counts of cells positive for c-Fos and IL-2 under stress and adaptation to stress.

A visual parallel-BCI speller based on the time-frequency coding strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Minpeng; Chen, Long; Zhang, Lixin; Qi, Hongzhi; Ma, Lan; Tang, Jiabei; Wan, Baikun; Ming, Dong

2014-04-01

Objective. Spelling is one of the most important issues in brain-computer interface (BCI) research. This paper is to develop a visual parallel-BCI speller system based on the time-frequency coding strategy in which the sub-speller switching among four simultaneously presented sub-spellers and the character selection are identified in a parallel mode. Approach. The parallel-BCI speller was constituted by four independent P300+SSVEP-B (P300 plus SSVEP blocking) spellers with different flicker frequencies, thereby all characters had a specific time-frequency code. To verify its effectiveness, 11 subjects were involved in the offline and online spellings. A classification strategy was designed to recognize the target character through jointly using the canonical correlation analysis and stepwise linear discriminant analysis. Main results. Online spellings showed that the proposed parallel-BCI speller had a high performance, reaching the highest information transfer rate of 67.4 bit min-1, with an average of 54.0 bit min-1 and 43.0 bit min-1 in the three rounds and five rounds, respectively. Significance. The results indicated that the proposed parallel-BCI could be effectively controlled by users with attention shifting fluently among the sub-spellers, and highly improved the BCI spelling performance.

Urban residential greenspace and mental health in youth: Different approaches to testing multiple pathways yield different conclusions.

PubMed

Dzhambov, Angel; Hartig, Terry; Markevych, Iana; Tilov, Boris; Dimitrova, Donka

2018-01-01

Urban greenspace can benefit mental health through multiple mechanisms. They may work together, but previous studies have treated them as independent. We aimed to compare single and parallel mediation models, which estimate the independent contributions of different paths, to several models that posit serial mediation components in the pathway from greenspace to mental health. We collected cross-sectional survey data from 399 participants (15-25 years of age) in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Objective "exposure" to urban residential greenspace was defined by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index, tree cover density within the 500-m buffer, and Euclidean distance to the nearest urban greenspace. Self-reported measures of availability, access, quality, and usage of greenspace were also used. Mental health was measured with the General Health Questionnaire. The following potential mediators were considered in single and parallel mediation models: restorative quality of the neighborhood, neighborhood social cohesion, commuting and leisure time physical activity, road traffic noise annoyance, and perceived air pollution. Four models were tested with the following serial mediation components: (1) restorative quality → social cohesion; (2) restorative quality → physical activity; (3) perceived traffic pollution → restorative quality; (4) and noise annoyance → physical activity. There was no direct association between objectively-measured greenspace and mental health. For the 500-m buffer, the tests of the single mediator models suggested that restorative quality mediated the relationship between NDVI and mental health. Tests of parallel mediation models did not find any significant indirect effects. In line with theory, tests of the serial mediation models showed that higher restorative quality was associated with more physical activity and more social cohesion, and in turn with better mental health. As for self-reported greenspace measures, single mediation through restorative quality was significant only for time in greenspace, and there was no mediation though restorative quality in the parallel mediation models; however, serial mediation through restorative quality and social cohesion/physical activity was indicated for all self-reported measures except for greenspace quality. Statistical models should adequately address the theoretically indicated interdependencies between mechanisms underlying association between greenspace and mental health. If such causal relationships hold, testing mediators alone or in parallel may lead to incorrect inferences about the relative contribution of specific paths, and thus to inappropriate intervention strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stage-by-Stage and Parallel Flow Path Compressor Modeling for a Variable Cycle Engine, NASA Advanced Air Vehicles Program - Commercial Supersonic Technology Project - AeroServoElasticity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kopasakis, George; Connolly, Joseph W.; Cheng, Larry

2015-01-01

This paper covers the development of stage-by-stage and parallel flow path compressor modeling approaches for a Variable Cycle Engine. The stage-by-stage compressor modeling approach is an extension of a technique for lumped volume dynamics and performance characteristic modeling. It was developed to improve the accuracy of axial compressor dynamics over lumped volume dynamics modeling. The stage-by-stage compressor model presented here is formulated into a parallel flow path model that includes both axial and rotational dynamics. This is done to enable the study of compressor and propulsion system dynamic performance under flow distortion conditions. The approaches utilized here are generic and should be applicable for the modeling of any axial flow compressor design accurate time domain simulations. The objective of this work is as follows. Given the parameters describing the conditions of atmospheric disturbances, and utilizing the derived formulations, directly compute the transfer function poles and zeros describing these disturbances for acoustic velocity, temperature, pressure, and density. Time domain simulations of representative atmospheric turbulence can then be developed by utilizing these computed transfer functions together with the disturbance frequencies of interest.

NIRcam-NIRSpec GTO Observations of Galaxy Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieke, Marcia J.; Ferruit, Pierre; Alberts, Stacey; Bunker, Andrew; Charlot, Stephane; Chevallard, Jacopo; Dressler, Alan; Egami, Eiichi; Eisenstein, Daniel; Endsley, Ryan; Franx, Marijn; Frye, Brenda L.; Hainline, Kevin; Jakobsen, Peter; Lake, Emma Curtis; Maiolino, Roberto; Rix, Hans-Walter; Robertson, Brant; Stark, Daniel; Williams, Christina; Willmer, Christopher; Willott, Chris J.

2017-06-01

The NIRSpec and and NIRCam GTO Teams are planning a joint imaging and spectroscopic study of the high redshift universe. By virtue of planning a joint program which includes medium and deep near- and mid-infrared imaging surveys and multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) of sources in the same fields, we have learned much about planning observing programs for each of the instruments and using them in parallel mode to maximize photon collection time. The design and rationale for our joint program will be explored in this talk with an emphasis on why we have chosen particular suites of filters and spectroscopic resolutions, why we have chosen particular exposure patterns, and how we have designed the parallel observations. The actual observations that we intend on executing will serve as examples of how to layout mosaics and MOS observations to maximize observing efficiency for surveys with JWST.

Origami-Based Reconfigurable Metamaterials for Tunable Chirality.

PubMed

Wang, Zuojia; Jing, Liqiao; Yao, Kan; Yang, Yihao; Zheng, Bin; Soukoulis, Costas M; Chen, Hongsheng; Liu, Yongmin

2017-07-01

Origami is the art of folding two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as a flat sheet of paper, into complex and elaborate three-dimensional (3D) objects. This study reports origami-based metamaterials whose electromagnetic responses are dynamically controllable via switching the folding state of Miura-ori split-ring resonators. The deformation of the Miura-ori unit along the third dimension induces net electric and magnetic dipoles of split-ring resonators parallel or anti-parallel to each other, leading to the strong chiral responses. Circular dichroism as high as 0.6 is experimentally observed while the chirality switching is realized by controlling the deformation direction and kinematics. In addition, the relative density of the origami metamaterials can be dramatically reduced to only 2% of that of the unfolded structure. These results open a new avenue toward lightweight, reconfigurable, and deployable metadevices with simultaneously customized electromagnetic and mechanical properties. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A double blind parallel group placebo controlled comparison of sedative and mnesic effects of etifoxine and lorazepam in healthy subjects [corrected].

PubMed

Micallef, J; Soubrouillard, C; Guet, F; Le Guern, M E; Alquier, C; Bruguerolle, B; Blin, O

2001-06-01

This paper describes the psychomotor and mnesic effects of single oral doses of etifoxine (50 and 100 mg) and lorazepam (2 mg) in healthy subjects. Forty-eight healthy subjects were included in this randomized double blind, placebo controlled parallel group study [corrected]. The effects of drugs were assessed by using a battery of subjective and objective tests that explored mood and vigilance (Visual Analog Scale), attention (Barrage test), psychomotor performance (Choice Reaction Time) and memory (digit span, immediate and delayed free recall of a word list). Whereas vigilance, psychomotor performance and free recall were significantly impaired by lorazepam, neither dosage of etifoxine (50 and 100 mg) produced such effects. These results suggest that 50 and 100 mg single dose of etifoxine do not induce amnesia and sedation as compared to lorazepam.

Efficient LIDAR Point Cloud Data Managing and Processing in a Hadoop-Based Distributed Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, C.; Hu, F.; Sha, D.; Han, X.

2017-10-01

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is one of the most promising technologies in surveying and mapping city management, forestry, object recognition, computer vision engineer and others. However, it is challenging to efficiently storage, query and analyze the high-resolution 3D LiDAR data due to its volume and complexity. In order to improve the productivity of Lidar data processing, this study proposes a Hadoop-based framework to efficiently manage and process LiDAR data in a distributed and parallel manner, which takes advantage of Hadoop's storage and computing ability. At the same time, the Point Cloud Library (PCL), an open-source project for 2D/3D image and point cloud processing, is integrated with HDFS and MapReduce to conduct the Lidar data analysis algorithms provided by PCL in a parallel fashion. The experiment results show that the proposed framework can efficiently manage and process big LiDAR data.

The Time-Course of Ultrarapid Categorization: The Influence of Scene Congruency and Top-Down Processing.

PubMed

Vanmarcke, Steven; Calders, Filip; Wagemans, Johan

2016-01-01

Although categorization can take place at different levels of abstraction, classic studies on semantic labeling identified the basic level, for example, dog, as entry point for categorization. Ultrarapid categorization tasks have contradicted these findings, indicating that participants are faster at detecting superordinate-level information, for example, animal, in a complex visual image. We argue that both seemingly contradictive findings can be reconciled within the framework of parallel distributed processing and its successor Leabra (Local, Error-driven and Associative, Biologically Realistic Algorithm). The current study aimed at verifying this prediction in an ultrarapid categorization task with a dynamically changing presentation time (PT) for each briefly presented object, followed by a perceptual mask. Furthermore, we manipulated two defining task variables: level of categorization (basic vs. superordinate categorization) and object presentation mode (object-in-isolation vs. object-in-context). In contradiction with previous ultrarapid categorization research, focusing on reaction time, we used accuracy as our main dependent variable. Results indicated a consistent superordinate processing advantage, coinciding with an overall improvement in performance with longer PT and a significantly more accurate detection of objects in isolation, compared with objects in context, at lower stimulus PT. This contextual disadvantage disappeared when PT increased, indicating that figure-ground separation with recurrent processing is vital for meaningful contextual processing to occur.

Multi-objective Calibration of DHSVM Based on Hydrologic Key Elements in Jinhua River Basin, East China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, S.; Liu, L.; Xu, Y. P.

2017-12-01

Abstract: In physically based distributed hydrological model, large number of parameters, representing spatial heterogeneity of watershed and various processes in hydrologic cycle, are involved. For lack of calibration module in Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model, this study developed a multi-objective calibration module using Epsilon-Dominance Non-Dominated Sorted Genetic Algorithm II (ɛ-NSGAII) and based on parallel computing of Linux cluster for DHSVM (ɛP-DHSVM). In this study, two hydrologic key elements (i.e., runoff and evapotranspiration) are used as objectives in multi-objective calibration of model. MODIS evapotranspiration obtained by SEBAL is adopted to fill the gap of lack of observation for evapotranspiration. The results show that good performance of runoff simulation in single objective calibration cannot ensure good simulation performance of other hydrologic key elements. Self-developed ɛP-DHSVM model can make multi-objective calibration more efficiently and effectively. The running speed can be increased by more than 20-30 times via applying ɛP-DHSVM. In addition, runoff and evapotranspiration can be simulated very well simultaneously by ɛP-DHSVM, with superior values for two efficiency coefficients (0.74 for NS of runoff and 0.79 for NS of evapotranspiration, -10.5% and -8.6% for PBIAS of runoff and evapotranspiration respectively).

The Time-Course of Ultrarapid Categorization: The Influence of Scene Congruency and Top-Down Processing

PubMed Central

Calders, Filip; Wagemans, Johan

2016-01-01

Although categorization can take place at different levels of abstraction, classic studies on semantic labeling identified the basic level, for example, dog, as entry point for categorization. Ultrarapid categorization tasks have contradicted these findings, indicating that participants are faster at detecting superordinate-level information, for example, animal, in a complex visual image. We argue that both seemingly contradictive findings can be reconciled within the framework of parallel distributed processing and its successor Leabra (Local, Error-driven and Associative, Biologically Realistic Algorithm). The current study aimed at verifying this prediction in an ultrarapid categorization task with a dynamically changing presentation time (PT) for each briefly presented object, followed by a perceptual mask. Furthermore, we manipulated two defining task variables: level of categorization (basic vs. superordinate categorization) and object presentation mode (object-in-isolation vs. object-in-context). In contradiction with previous ultrarapid categorization research, focusing on reaction time, we used accuracy as our main dependent variable. Results indicated a consistent superordinate processing advantage, coinciding with an overall improvement in performance with longer PT and a significantly more accurate detection of objects in isolation, compared with objects in context, at lower stimulus PT. This contextual disadvantage disappeared when PT increased, indicating that figure-ground separation with recurrent processing is vital for meaningful contextual processing to occur. PMID:27803794

Computer vision for driver assistance systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handmann, Uwe; Kalinke, Thomas; Tzomakas, Christos; Werner, Martin; von Seelen, Werner

1998-07-01

Systems for automated image analysis are useful for a variety of tasks and their importance is still increasing due to technological advances and an increase of social acceptance. Especially in the field of driver assistance systems the progress in science has reached a level of high performance. Fully or partly autonomously guided vehicles, particularly for road-based traffic, pose high demands on the development of reliable algorithms due to the conditions imposed by natural environments. At the Institut fur Neuroinformatik, methods for analyzing driving relevant scenes by computer vision are developed in cooperation with several partners from the automobile industry. We introduce a system which extracts the important information from an image taken by a CCD camera installed at the rear view mirror in a car. The approach consists of a sequential and a parallel sensor and information processing. Three main tasks namely the initial segmentation (object detection), the object tracking and the object classification are realized by integration in the sequential branch and by fusion in the parallel branch. The main gain of this approach is given by the integrative coupling of different algorithms providing partly redundant information.

Three-dimensional motion-picture imaging of dynamic object by parallel-phase-shifting digital holographic microscopy using an inverted magnification optical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukuda, Takahito; Shinomura, Masato; Xia, Peng; Awatsuji, Yasuhiro; Nishio, Kenzo; Matoba, Osamu

2017-04-01

We constructed a parallel-phase-shifting digital holographic microscopy (PPSDHM) system using an inverted magnification optical system, and succeeded in three-dimensional (3D) motion-picture imaging for 3D displacement of a microscopic object. In the PPSDHM system, the inverted and afocal magnification optical system consisted of a microscope objective (16.56 mm focal length and 0.25 numerical aperture) and a convex lens (300 mm focal length and 82 mm aperture diameter). A polarization-imaging camera was used to record multiple phase-shifted holograms with a single-shot exposure. We recorded an alum crystal, sinking down in aqueous solution of alum, by the constructed PPSDHM system at 60 frames/s for about 20 s and reconstructed high-quality 3D motion-picture image of the crystal. Then, we calculated amounts of displacement of the crystal from the amounts in the focus plane and the magnifications of the magnification optical system, and obtained the 3D trajectory of the crystal by that amounts.

Real time 3D scanner: investigations and results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nouri, Taoufik; Pflug, Leopold

1993-12-01

This article presents a concept of reconstruction of 3-D objects using non-invasive and touch loss techniques. The principle of this method is to display parallel interference optical fringes on an object and then to record the object under two angles of view. According to an appropriated treatment one reconstructs the 3-D object even when the object has no symmetrical plan. The 3-D surface data is available immediately in digital form for computer- visualization and for analysis software tools. The optical set-up for recording the 3-D object, the 3-D data extraction and treatment, as well as the reconstruction of the 3-D object are reported and commented on. This application is dedicated for reconstructive/cosmetic surgery, CAD, animation and research purposes.

GPU accelerated fuzzy connected image segmentation by using CUDA.

PubMed

Zhuge, Ying; Cao, Yong; Miller, Robert W

2009-01-01

Image segmentation techniques using fuzzy connectedness principles have shown their effectiveness in segmenting a variety of objects in several large applications in recent years. However, one problem of these algorithms has been their excessive computational requirements when processing large image datasets. Nowadays commodity graphics hardware provides high parallel computing power. In this paper, we present a parallel fuzzy connected image segmentation algorithm on Nvidia's Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) platform for segmenting large medical image data sets. Our experiments based on three data sets with small, medium, and large data size demonstrate the efficiency of the parallel algorithm, which achieves a speed-up factor of 7.2x, 7.3x, and 14.4x, correspondingly, for the three data sets over the sequential implementation of fuzzy connected image segmentation algorithm on CPU.

The impact of arm position on the measurement of orthostatic blood pressure.

PubMed

Guss, David A; Abdelnur, Diego; Hemingway, Thomas J

2008-05-01

Blood pressure is a standard vital sign in patients evaluated in an Emergency Department. The American Heart Association has recommended a preferred position of the arm and cuff when measuring blood pressure. There is no formal recommendation for arm position when measuring orthostatic blood pressure. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of different arm positions on the measurement of postural changes in blood pressure. This was a prospective, unblinded, convenience study involving Emergency Department patients with complaints unrelated to cardiovascular instability. Repeated blood pressure measurements were obtained using an automatic non-invasive device with each subject in a supine and standing position and with the arm parallel and perpendicular to the torso. Orthostatic hypotension was defined as a difference of >or= 20 mm Hg systolic or >or= 10 mm Hg diastolic when subtracting standing from supine measurements. There were four comparisons made: group W, arm perpendicular supine and standing; group X, arm parallel supine and standing; group Y, arm parallel supine and perpendicular standing; and group Z, arm perpendicular supine and parallel standing. There were 100 patients enrolled, 55 men, mean age 44 years. Four blood pressure measurements were obtained on each patient. The percentage of patients meeting orthostatic hypotension criteria in each group was: W systolic 6% (95% CI 1%, 11%), diastolic 4% (95% CI 0%, 8%), X systolic 8% (95% CI 3%, 13%), diastolic 9% (95% CI 3%, 13%), Y systolic 19% (95% CI 11%, 27%), diastolic 30% (95% CI 21%, 39%), Z systolic 2% (95% CI 0%, 5%), diastolic 2% (95% CI 0%, 5%). Comparison of Group Y vs. X, Z, and W was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Arm position has a significant impact on determination of postural changes in blood pressure. The combination of the arm parallel when supine and perpendicular when standing may significantly overestimate the orthostatic change. Arm position should be held constant in supine and standing positions when assessing for orthostatic change in blood pressure.

Three-way parallel independent component analysis for imaging genetics using multi-objective optimization.

PubMed

Ulloa, Alvaro; Jingyu Liu; Vergara, Victor; Jiayu Chen; Calhoun, Vince; Pattichis, Marios

2014-01-01

In the biomedical field, current technology allows for the collection of multiple data modalities from the same subject. In consequence, there is an increasing interest for methods to analyze multi-modal data sets. Methods based on independent component analysis have proven to be effective in jointly analyzing multiple modalities, including brain imaging and genetic data. This paper describes a new algorithm, three-way parallel independent component analysis (3pICA), for jointly identifying genomic loci associated with brain function and structure. The proposed algorithm relies on the use of multi-objective optimization methods to identify correlations among the modalities and maximally independent sources within modality. We test the robustness of the proposed approach by varying the effect size, cross-modality correlation, noise level, and dimensionality of the data. Simulation results suggest that 3p-ICA is robust to data with SNR levels from 0 to 10 dB and effect-sizes from 0 to 3, while presenting its best performance with high cross-modality correlations, and more than one subject per 1,000 variables. In an experimental study with 112 human subjects, the method identified links between a genetic component (pointing to brain function and mental disorder associated genes, including PPP3CC, KCNQ5, and CYP7B1), a functional component related to signal decreases in the default mode network during the task, and a brain structure component indicating increases of gray matter in brain regions of the default mode region. Although such findings need further replication, the simulation and in-vivo results validate the three-way parallel ICA algorithm presented here as a useful tool in biomedical data decomposition applications.

A class Hierarchical, object-oriented approach to virtual memory management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russo, Vincent F.; Campbell, Roy H.; Johnston, Gary M.

1989-01-01

The Choices family of operating systems exploits class hierarchies and object-oriented programming to facilitate the construction of customized operating systems for shared memory and networked multiprocessors. The software is being used in the Tapestry laboratory to study the performance of algorithms, mechanisms, and policies for parallel systems. Described here are the architectural design and class hierarchy of the Choices virtual memory management system. The software and hardware mechanisms and policies of a virtual memory system implement a memory hierarchy that exploits the trade-off between response times and storage capacities. In Choices, the notion of a memory hierarchy is captured by abstract classes. Concrete subclasses of those abstractions implement a virtual address space, segmentation, paging, physical memory management, secondary storage, and remote (that is, networked) storage. Captured in the notion of a memory hierarchy are classes that represent memory objects. These classes provide a storage mechanism that contains encapsulated data and have methods to read or write the memory object. Each of these classes provides specializations to represent the memory hierarchy.

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations, Appendices A--D. Volume 2, Part 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.

1994-06-01

During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the Potential risks during low Power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the Plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitativemore » results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. We recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown. Procedures written specifically for shutdown accidents would be useful. This document, Volume 2, Pt. 2 provides appendices A through D of this report.« less

The guidance of spatial attention during visual search for color combinations and color configurations.

PubMed

Berggren, Nick; Eimer, Martin

2016-09-01

Representations of target-defining features (attentional templates) guide the selection of target objects in visual search. We used behavioral and electrophysiological measures to investigate how such search templates control the allocation of attention in search tasks where targets are defined by the combination of 2 colors or by a specific spatial configuration of these colors. Target displays were preceded by spatially uninformative cue displays that contained items in 1 or both target-defining colors. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that, during search for color combinations, attention is initially allocated independently and in parallel to all objects with target-matching colors, but is then rapidly withdrawn from objects that only have 1 of the 2 target colors. In Experiment 3, targets were defined by a particular spatial configuration of 2 colors, and could be accompanied by nontarget objects with a different configuration of the same colors. Attentional guidance processes were unable to distinguish between these 2 types of objects. Both attracted attention equally when they appeared in a cue display, and both received parallel focal-attentional processing and were encoded into working memory when they were presented in the same target display. Results demonstrate that attention can be guided simultaneously by multiple features from the same dimension, but that these guidance processes have no access to the spatial-configural properties of target objects. They suggest that attentional templates do not represent target objects in an integrated pictorial fashion, but contain separate representations of target-defining features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

DOVIS 2.0: An Efficient and Easy to Use Parallel Virtual Screening Tool Based on AutoDock 4.0

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-08

under the GNU General Public License. Background Molecular docking is a computational method that pre- dicts how a ligand interacts with a receptor...Hence, it is an important tool in studying receptor-ligand interactions and plays an essential role in drug design. Particularly, molecular docking has...libraries from OpenBabel and setup a molecular data structure as a C++ object in our program. This makes handling of molecular structures (e.g., atoms

High-speed volume measurement system and method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lane, Michael H.; Doyle, Jr., James L.; Brinkman, Michael J.

2017-12-12

Disclosed is a volume sensor having first, second, and third laser sources emitting first, second, and third laser beams; first, second, and third beam splitters splitting the first, second, and third laser beams into first, second, and third beam pairs; first, second, and third optical assemblies expanding the first, second, and third beam pairs into first, second, and third pairs of parallel beam sheets; fourth, fifth, and sixth optical assemblies focusing the first, second, and third beam sheet pairs into fourth, fifth, and sixth beam pairs; and first, second, and third detector pairs receiving the fourth, fifth, and sixth beammore » pairs and converting a change in intensity of at least one of the beam pairs resulting from an object passing through at least one of the first, second, and third parallel beam sheets into at least one electrical signal proportional to a three-dimensional representation of the object.« less

Architectural Implications for Spatial Object Association Algorithms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, V S; Kurc, T; Saltz, J

2009-01-29

Spatial object association, also referred to as cross-match of spatial datasets, is the problem of identifying and comparing objects in two or more datasets based on their positions in a common spatial coordinate system. In this work, we evaluate two crossmatch algorithms that are used for astronomical sky surveys, on the following database system architecture configurations: (1) Netezza Performance Server R, a parallel database system with active disk style processing capabilities, (2) MySQL Cluster, a high-throughput network database system, and (3) a hybrid configuration consisting of a collection of independent database system instances with data replication support. Our evaluation providesmore » insights about how architectural characteristics of these systems affect the performance of the spatial crossmatch algorithms. We conducted our study using real use-case scenarios borrowed from a large-scale astronomy application known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).« less

2D Seismic Imaging of Elastic Parameters by Frequency Domain Full Waveform Inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brossier, R.; Virieux, J.; Operto, S.

2008-12-01

Thanks to recent advances in parallel computing, full waveform inversion is today a tractable seismic imaging method to reconstruct physical parameters of the earth interior at different scales ranging from the near- surface to the deep crust. We present a massively parallel 2D frequency-domain full-waveform algorithm for imaging visco-elastic media from multi-component seismic data. The forward problem (i.e. the resolution of the frequency-domain 2D PSV elastodynamics equations) is based on low-order Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method (P0 and/or P1 interpolations). Thanks to triangular unstructured meshes, the DG method allows accurate modeling of both body waves and surface waves in case of complex topography for a discretization of 10 to 15 cells per shear wavelength. The frequency-domain DG system is solved efficiently for multiple sources with the parallel direct solver MUMPS. The local inversion procedure (i.e. minimization of residuals between observed and computed data) is based on the adjoint-state method which allows to efficiently compute the gradient of the objective function. Applying the inversion hierarchically from the low frequencies to the higher ones defines a multiresolution imaging strategy which helps convergence towards the global minimum. In place of expensive Newton algorithm, the combined use of the diagonal terms of the approximate Hessian matrix and optimization algorithms based on quasi-Newton methods (Conjugate Gradient, LBFGS, ...) allows to improve the convergence of the iterative inversion. The distribution of forward problem solutions over processors driven by a mesh partitioning performed by METIS allows to apply most of the inversion in parallel. We shall present the main features of the parallel modeling/inversion algorithm, assess its scalability and illustrate its performances with realistic synthetic case studies.

Finite Element Analysis and Biomechanical Comparison of Short Posterior Spinal Instrumentation with Divergent Bridge Construct versus Parallel Tension Band Construct for Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures

PubMed Central

Ouellet, Jean A.; Richards, Corey; Sardar, Zeeshan M.; Giannitsios, Demetri; Noiseux, Nicholas; Strydom, Willem S.; Reindl, Rudy; Jarzem, Peter; Arlet, Vincent; Steffen, Thomas

2013-01-01

The ideal treatment for unstable thoracolumbar fractures remains controversial with posterior reduction and stabilization, anterior reduction and stabilization, combined posterior and anterior reduction and stabilization, and even nonoperative management advocated. Short segment posterior osteosynthesis of these fractures has less comorbidities compared with the other operative approaches but settles into kyphosis over time. Biomechanical comparison of the divergent bridge construct versus the parallel tension band construct was performed for anteriorly destabilized T11–L1 spine segments using three different models: (1) finite element analysis (FEA), (2) a synthetic model, and (3) a human cadaveric model. Outcomes measured were construct stiffness and ultimate failure load. Our objective was to determine if the divergent pedicle screw bridge construct would provide more resistance to kyphotic deforming forces. All three modalities showed greater stiffness with the divergent bridge construct. The FEA calculated a stiffness of 21.6 N/m for the tension band construct versus 34.1 N/m for the divergent bridge construct. The synthetic model resulted in a mean stiffness of 17.3 N/m for parallel tension band versus 20.6 N/m for the divergent bridge (p = 0.03), whereas the cadaveric model had an average stiffness of 15.2 N/m in the parallel tension band compared with 18.4 N/m for the divergent bridge (p = 0.02). Ultimate failure load with the cadaveric model was found to be 622 N for the divergent bridge construct versus 419 N (p = 0.15) for the parallel tension band construct. This study confirms our clinical experience that the short posterior divergent bridge construct provides greater stiffness for the management of unstable thoracolumbar fractures. PMID:24436856

Performance Improvements of the CYCOFOS Flow Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radhakrishnan, Hari; Moulitsas, Irene; Syrakos, Alexandros; Zodiatis, George; Nikolaides, Andreas; Hayes, Daniel; Georgiou, Georgios C.

2013-04-01

The CYCOFOS-Cyprus Coastal Ocean Forecasting and Observing System has been operational since early 2002, providing daily sea current, temperature, salinity and sea level forecasting data for the next 4 and 10 days to end-users in the Levantine Basin, necessary for operational application in marine safety, particularly concerning oil spills and floating objects predictions. CYCOFOS flow model, similar to most of the coastal and sub-regional operational hydrodynamic forecasting systems of the MONGOOS-Mediterranean Oceanographic Network for Global Ocean Observing System is based on the POM-Princeton Ocean Model. CYCOFOS is nested with the MyOcean Mediterranean regional forecasting data and with SKIRON and ECMWF for surface forcing. The increasing demand for higher and higher resolution data to meet coastal and offshore downstream applications motivated the parallelization of the CYCOFOS POM model. This development was carried out in the frame of the IPcycofos project, funded by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation. The parallel processing provides a viable solution to satisfy these demands without sacrificing accuracy or omitting any physical phenomena. Prior to IPcycofos project, there are been several attempts to parallelise the POM, as for example the MP-POM. The existing parallel code models rely on the use of specific outdated hardware architectures and associated software. The objective of the IPcycofos project is to produce an operational parallel version of the CYCOFOS POM code that can replicate the results of the serial version of the POM code used in CYCOFOS. The parallelization of the CYCOFOS POM model use Message Passing Interface-MPI, implemented on commodity computing clusters running open source software and not depending on any specialized vendor hardware. The parallel CYCOFOS POM code constructed in a modular fashion, allowing a fast re-locatable downscaled implementation. The MPI takes advantage of the Cartesian nature of the POM mesh, and use the built-in functionality of MPI routines to split the mesh, using a weighting scheme, along longitude and latitude among the processors. Each server processor work on the model based on domain decomposition techniques. The new parallel CYCOFOS POM code has been benchmarked against the serial POM version of CYCOFOS for speed, accuracy, and resolution and the results are more than satisfactory. With a higher resolution CYCOFOS Levantine model domain the forecasts need much less time than the serial CYCOFOS POM coarser version, both with identical accuracy.

Empirical and modeled synoptic cloud climatology of the Arctic Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barry, R. G.; Newell, J. P.; Schweiger, A.; Crane, R. G.

1986-01-01

A set of cloud cover data were developed for the Arctic during the climatically important spring/early summer transition months. Parallel with the determination of mean monthly cloud conditions, data for different synoptic pressure patterns were also composited as a means of evaluating the role of synoptic variability on Arctic cloud regimes. In order to carry out this analysis, a synoptic classification scheme was developed for the Arctic using an objective typing procedure. A second major objective was to analyze model output of pressure fields and cloud parameters from a control run of the Goddard Institue for Space Studies climate model for the same area and to intercompare the synoptic climatatology of the model with that based on the observational data.

An Ap-Structure with Finslerian Flavor II:. Torsion, Curvature and Other Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wanas, M. I.; Kamal, Mona M.

An absolute parallelism (AP-) space having Finslerian properties is called FAP-space. This FAP-structure is wider than both conventional AP and Finsler structures. In the present work, more geometric objects as curvature and torsion tensors are derived in the context of this structure. Also second order tensors, usually needed for physical applications, are derived and studied. Furthermore, the anti-curvature and the W-tensor are defined for the FAP-structure. Relations between Riemannian, AP, Finsler and FAP structures are given. These relations facilitate comparison between results of applications carried out in the framework of these structures. We hope that the use of the FAP-structure, in applications may throw some light on some of the problems facing geometric field theories.

Dome: Distributed Object Migration Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-05-01

Best Available Copy AD-A281 134 Computer Science Dome: Distributed object migration environment Adam Beguelin Erik Seligman Michael Starkey May 1994...Beguelin Erik Seligman Michael Starkey May 1994 CMU-CS-94-153 School of Computer Science Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Abstract Dome... Linda [4], Isis [2], and Express [6] allow a pro- grammer to treat a heterogeneous network of computers as a parallel machine. These tools allow the

Cloud-Based Perception and Control of Sensor Nets and Robot Swarms

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-01

distributed stream processing framework provides the necessary API and infrastructure to develop and execute such applications in a cluster of computation...streaming DDDAS applications based on challenges they present to the backend Cloud control system. Figure 2 Parallel SLAM Application 3 1) Set of...the art deep learning- based object detectors can recognize among hundreds of object classes and this capability would be very useful for mobile

Remembered but Unused: The Accessory Items in Working Memory that Do Not Guide Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Judith C.; Goebel, Rainer; Roelfsema, Pieter R.

2009-01-01

If we search for an item, a representation of this item in our working memory guides attention to matching items in the visual scene. We can hold multiple items in working memory. Do all these items guide attention in parallel? We asked participants to detect a target object in a stream of objects while they maintained a second item in memory for…

Applying graph partitioning methods in measurement-based dynamic load balancing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bhatele, Abhinav; Fourestier, Sebastien; Menon, Harshitha

Load imbalance leads to an increasing waste of resources as an application is scaled to more and more processors. Achieving the best parallel efficiency for a program requires optimal load balancing which is a NP-hard problem. However, finding near-optimal solutions to this problem for complex computational science and engineering applications is becoming increasingly important. Charm++, a migratable objects based programming model, provides a measurement-based dynamic load balancing framework. This framework instruments and then migrates over-decomposed objects to balance computational load and communication at runtime. This paper explores the use of graph partitioning algorithms, traditionally used for partitioning physical domains/meshes, formore » measurement-based dynamic load balancing of parallel applications. In particular, we present repartitioning methods developed in a graph partitioning toolbox called SCOTCH that consider the previous mapping to minimize migration costs. We also discuss a new imbalance reduction algorithm for graphs with irregular load distributions. We compare several load balancing algorithms using microbenchmarks on Intrepid and Ranger and evaluate the effect of communication, number of cores and number of objects on the benefit achieved from load balancing. New algorithms developed in SCOTCH lead to better performance compared to the METIS partitioners for several cases, both in terms of the application execution time and fewer number of objects migrated.« less

A comprehensive study of MPI parallelism in three-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) simulation of complex-shaped granular particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Beichuan; Regueiro, Richard A.

2018-02-01

A three-dimensional (3D) DEM code for simulating complex-shaped granular particles is parallelized using message-passing interface (MPI). The concepts of link-block, ghost/border layer, and migration layer are put forward for design of the parallel algorithm, and theoretical scalability function of 3-D DEM scalability and memory usage is derived. Many performance-critical implementation details are managed optimally to achieve high performance and scalability, such as: minimizing communication overhead, maintaining dynamic load balance, handling particle migrations across block borders, transmitting C++ dynamic objects of particles between MPI processes efficiently, eliminating redundant contact information between adjacent MPI processes. The code executes on multiple US Department of Defense (DoD) supercomputers and tests up to 2048 compute nodes for simulating 10 million three-axis ellipsoidal particles. Performance analyses of the code including speedup, efficiency, scalability, and granularity across five orders of magnitude of simulation scale (number of particles) are provided, and they demonstrate high speedup and excellent scalability. It is also discovered that communication time is a decreasing function of the number of compute nodes in strong scaling measurements. The code's capability of simulating a large number of complex-shaped particles on modern supercomputers will be of value in both laboratory studies on micromechanical properties of granular materials and many realistic engineering applications involving granular materials.

The impact of communications on the self-regulation of health beliefs, decisions, and behavior.

PubMed

Leventhal, H; Safer, M A; Panagis, D M

1983-01-01

The models used in the study of communication and health behavior have changed from those describing how to impose health actions on relatively passive respondents to models describing how respondents regulate their own health practices. We have traced the change from the fear-drive model, which described how fear induced change, to the parallel response model, which described how subjects processed information and generated coping responses to solve the problem posed by both the objective health threat and by their subjective fear. The data supporting this change showed that increasing fear led to more favorable attitudes but that fear alone was insufficient to create action: Specific action instructions had to be added to both high and low fear and both combinations produced the same level of health action. Neither the data nor the parallel model specified what subjects learned about the threat that made exposure to a high or low fear message necessary for behavior change. The parallel response model has been elaborated into a more complete systems model and new studies show how health threats are represented. They have found attributes such as IDENTITY (label and symptoms), CAUSES, TIME LINES or duration, and CONSEQUENCES, that set goals and criteria to generate and evaluate problem solving (coping) behavior. Suggestions are made for applying this more complete model to public health practice.

Validation of Shear Wave Elastography in Skeletal Muscle

PubMed Central

Eby, Sarah F.; Song, Pengfei; Chen, Shigao; Chen, Qingshan; Greenleaf, James F.; An, Kai-Nan

2013-01-01

Skeletal muscle is a very dynamic tissue, thus accurate quantification of skeletal muscle stiffness throughout its functional range is crucial to improve the physical functioning and independence following pathology. Shear wave elastography (SWE) is an ultrasound-based technique that characterizes tissue mechanical properties based on the propagation of remotely induced shear waves. The objective of this study is to validate SWE throughout the functional range of motion of skeletal muscle for three ultrasound transducer orientations. We hypothesized that combining traditional materials testing (MTS) techniques with SWE measurements will show increased stiffness measures with increasing tensile load, and will correlate well with each other for trials in which the transducer is parallel to underlying muscle fibers. To evaluate this hypothesis, we monitored the deformation throughout tensile loading of four porcine brachialis whole-muscle tissue specimens, while simultaneously making SWE measurements of the same specimen. We used regression to examine the correlation between Young's modulus from MTS and shear modulus from SWE for each of the transducer orientations. We applied a generalized linear model to account for repeated testing. Model parameters were estimated via generalized estimating equations. The regression coefficient was 0.1944, with a 95% confidence interval of (0.1463 – 0.2425) for parallel transducer trials. Shear waves did not propagate well for both the 45° and perpendicular transducer orientations. Both parallel SWE and MTS showed increased stiffness with increasing tensile load. This study provides the necessary first step for additional studies that can evaluate the distribution of stiffness throughout muscle. PMID:23953670

Objects of attention, objects of perception.

PubMed

Avrahami, J

1999-11-01

Four experiments were conducted, to explore the notion of objects in perception. Taking as a starting point the effects of display content on rapid attention transfer and manipulating curvature, closure, and processing time, a link between objects of attention and objects of perception is proposed. In Experiment 1, a number of parallel, equally spaced, straight lines facilitated attention transfer along the lines, relative to transfer across the lines. In Experiment 2, with curved, closed-contour shapes, no "same-object" facilitation was observed. However, when a longer time interval was provided, in Experiment 3, a same-object advantage started to emerge. In Experiment 4, using the same curved shapes but in a non-speeded distance estimation task, a strong effect of objects was observed. It is argued that attention transfer is facilitated by line tracing but that line tracing is encouraged by objects.

Terahertz wide aperture reflection tomography.

PubMed

Pearce, Jeremy; Choi, Hyeokho; Mittleman, Daniel M; White, Jeff; Zimdars, David

2005-07-01

We describe a powerful imaging modality for terahertz (THz) radiation, THz wide aperture reflection tomography (WART). Edge maps of an object's cross section are reconstructed from a series of time-domain reflection measurements at different viewing angles. Each measurement corresponds to a parallel line projection of the object's cross section. The filtered backprojection algorithm is applied to recover the image from the projection data. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a reflection computed tomography technique using electromagnetic waves. We demonstrate the capabilities of THz WART by imaging the cross sections of two test objects.

Trace: a high-throughput tomographic reconstruction engine for large-scale datasets

DOE PAGES

Bicer, Tekin; Gursoy, Doga; Andrade, Vincent De; ...

2017-01-28

Here, synchrotron light source and detector technologies enable scientists to perform advanced experiments. These scientific instruments and experiments produce data at such scale and complexity that large-scale computation is required to unleash their full power. One of the widely used data acquisition technique at light sources is Computed Tomography, which can generate tens of GB/s depending on x-ray range. A large-scale tomographic dataset, such as mouse brain, may require hours of computation time with a medium size workstation. In this paper, we present Trace, a data-intensive computing middleware we developed for implementation and parallelization of iterative tomographic reconstruction algorithms. Tracemore » provides fine-grained reconstruction of tomography datasets using both (thread level) shared memory and (process level) distributed memory parallelization. Trace utilizes a special data structure called replicated reconstruction object to maximize application performance. We also present the optimizations we have done on the replicated reconstruction objects and evaluate them using a shale and a mouse brain sinogram. Our experimental evaluations show that the applied optimizations and parallelization techniques can provide 158x speedup (using 32 compute nodes) over single core configuration, which decreases the reconstruction time of a sinogram (with 4501 projections and 22400 detector resolution) from 12.5 hours to less than 5 minutes per iteration.« less

Heterogeneous scalable framework for multiphase flows

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morris, Karla Vanessa

2013-09-01

Two categories of challenges confront the developer of computational spray models: those related to the computation and those related to the physics. Regarding the computation, the trend towards heterogeneous, multi- and many-core platforms will require considerable re-engineering of codes written for the current supercomputing platforms. Regarding the physics, accurate methods for transferring mass, momentum and energy from the dispersed phase onto the carrier fluid grid have so far eluded modelers. Significant challenges also lie at the intersection between these two categories. To be competitive, any physics model must be expressible in a parallel algorithm that performs well on evolving computermore » platforms. This work created an application based on a software architecture where the physics and software concerns are separated in a way that adds flexibility to both. The develop spray-tracking package includes an application programming interface (API) that abstracts away the platform-dependent parallelization concerns, enabling the scientific programmer to write serial code that the API resolves into parallel processes and threads of execution. The project also developed the infrastructure required to provide similar APIs to other application. The API allow object-oriented Fortran applications direct interaction with Trilinos to support memory management of distributed objects in central processing units (CPU) and graphic processing units (GPU) nodes for applications using C++.« less

Trace: a high-throughput tomographic reconstruction engine for large-scale datasets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bicer, Tekin; Gursoy, Doga; Andrade, Vincent De

Here, synchrotron light source and detector technologies enable scientists to perform advanced experiments. These scientific instruments and experiments produce data at such scale and complexity that large-scale computation is required to unleash their full power. One of the widely used data acquisition technique at light sources is Computed Tomography, which can generate tens of GB/s depending on x-ray range. A large-scale tomographic dataset, such as mouse brain, may require hours of computation time with a medium size workstation. In this paper, we present Trace, a data-intensive computing middleware we developed for implementation and parallelization of iterative tomographic reconstruction algorithms. Tracemore » provides fine-grained reconstruction of tomography datasets using both (thread level) shared memory and (process level) distributed memory parallelization. Trace utilizes a special data structure called replicated reconstruction object to maximize application performance. We also present the optimizations we have done on the replicated reconstruction objects and evaluate them using a shale and a mouse brain sinogram. Our experimental evaluations show that the applied optimizations and parallelization techniques can provide 158x speedup (using 32 compute nodes) over single core configuration, which decreases the reconstruction time of a sinogram (with 4501 projections and 22400 detector resolution) from 12.5 hours to less than 5 minutes per iteration.« less

Xyce parallel electronic simulator : users' guide.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mei, Ting; Rankin, Eric Lamont; Thornquist, Heidi K.

2011-05-01

This manual describes the use of the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator. Xyce has been designed as a SPICE-compatible, high-performance analog circuit simulator, and has been written to support the simulation needs of the Sandia National Laboratories electrical designers. This development has focused on improving capability over the current state-of-the-art in the following areas: (1) Capability to solve extremely large circuit problems by supporting large-scale parallel computing platforms (up to thousands of processors). Note that this includes support for most popular parallel and serial computers; (2) Improved performance for all numerical kernels (e.g., time integrator, nonlinear and linear solvers) through state-of-the-artmore » algorithms and novel techniques. (3) Device models which are specifically tailored to meet Sandia's needs, including some radiation-aware devices (for Sandia users only); and (4) Object-oriented code design and implementation using modern coding practices that ensure that the Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator will be maintainable and extensible far into the future. Xyce is a parallel code in the most general sense of the phrase - a message passing parallel implementation - which allows it to run efficiently on the widest possible number of computing platforms. These include serial, shared-memory and distributed-memory parallel as well as heterogeneous platforms. Careful attention has been paid to the specific nature of circuit-simulation problems to ensure that optimal parallel efficiency is achieved as the number of processors grows. The development of Xyce provides a platform for computational research and development aimed specifically at the needs of the Laboratory. With Xyce, Sandia has an 'in-house' capability with which both new electrical (e.g., device model development) and algorithmic (e.g., faster time-integration methods, parallel solver algorithms) research and development can be performed. As a result, Xyce is a unique electrical simulation capability, designed to meet the unique needs of the laboratory.« less

LDRD final report on massively-parallel linear programming : the parPCx system.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parekh, Ojas; Phillips, Cynthia Ann; Boman, Erik Gunnar

2005-02-01

This report summarizes the research and development performed from October 2002 to September 2004 at Sandia National Laboratories under the Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project ''Massively-Parallel Linear Programming''. We developed a linear programming (LP) solver designed to use a large number of processors. LP is the optimization of a linear objective function subject to linear constraints. Companies and universities have expended huge efforts over decades to produce fast, stable serial LP solvers. Previous parallel codes run on shared-memory systems and have little or no distribution of the constraint matrix. We have seen no reports of general LP solver runsmore » on large numbers of processors. Our parallel LP code is based on an efficient serial implementation of Mehrotra's interior-point predictor-corrector algorithm (PCx). The computational core of this algorithm is the assembly and solution of a sparse linear system. We have substantially rewritten the PCx code and based it on Trilinos, the parallel linear algebra library developed at Sandia. Our interior-point method can use either direct or iterative solvers for the linear system. To achieve a good parallel data distribution of the constraint matrix, we use a (pre-release) version of a hypergraph partitioner from the Zoltan partitioning library. We describe the design and implementation of our new LP solver called parPCx and give preliminary computational results. We summarize a number of issues related to efficient parallel solution of LPs with interior-point methods including data distribution, numerical stability, and solving the core linear system using both direct and iterative methods. We describe a number of applications of LP specific to US Department of Energy mission areas and we summarize our efforts to integrate parPCx (and parallel LP solvers in general) into Sandia's massively-parallel integer programming solver PICO (Parallel Interger and Combinatorial Optimizer). We conclude with directions for long-term future algorithmic research and for near-term development that could improve the performance of parPCx.« less

Line plus arc source trajectories and their R-line coverage for long-object cone-beam imaging with a C-arm system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Zhicong; Wunderlich, Adam; Dennerlein, Frank; Lauritsch, Günter; Noo, Frédéric

2011-06-01

Cone-beam imaging with C-arm systems has become a valuable tool in interventional radiology. Currently, a simple circular trajectory is used, but future applications should use more sophisticated source trajectories, not only to avoid cone-beam artifacts but also to allow extended volume imaging. One attractive strategy to achieve these two goals is to use a source trajectory that consists of two parallel circular arcs connected by a line segment, possibly with repetition. In this work, we address the question of R-line coverage for such a trajectory. More specifically, we examine to what extent R-lines for such a trajectory cover a central cylindrical region of interest (ROI). An R-line is a line segment connecting any two points on the source trajectory. Knowledge of R-line coverage is crucial because a general theory for theoretically exact and stable image reconstruction from axially truncated data is only known for the points in the scanned object that lie on R-lines. Our analysis starts by examining the R-line coverage for the elemental trajectories consisting of (i) two parallel circular arcs and (ii) a circular arc connected orthogonally to a line segment. Next, we utilize our understanding of the R-lines for the aforementioned elemental trajectories to determine the R-line coverage for the trajectory consisting of two parallel circular arcs connected by a tightly fit line segment. For this trajectory, we find that the R-line coverage is insufficient to completely cover any central ROI. Because extension of the line segment beyond the circular arcs helps to increase the R-line coverage, we subsequently propose a trajectory composed of two parallel circular arcs connected by an extended line. We show that the R-lines for this trajectory can fully cover a central ROI if the line extension is long enough. Our presentation includes a formula for the minimum line extension needed to achieve full R-line coverage of an ROI with a specified size, and also includes a preliminary study on the required detector size, showing that the R-lines added by the line extension are not constraining.

NETRA: A parallel architecture for integrated vision systems. 1: Architecture and organization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhary, Alok N.; Patel, Janak H.; Ahuja, Narendra

1989-01-01

Computer vision is regarded as one of the most complex and computationally intensive problems. An integrated vision system (IVS) is considered to be a system that uses vision algorithms from all levels of processing for a high level application (such as object recognition). A model of computation is presented for parallel processing for an IVS. Using the model, desired features and capabilities of a parallel architecture suitable for IVSs are derived. Then a multiprocessor architecture (called NETRA) is presented. This architecture is highly flexible without the use of complex interconnection schemes. The topology of NETRA is recursively defined and hence is easily scalable from small to large systems. Homogeneity of NETRA permits fault tolerance and graceful degradation under faults. It is a recursively defined tree-type hierarchical architecture where each of the leaf nodes consists of a cluster of processors connected with a programmable crossbar with selective broadcast capability to provide for desired flexibility. A qualitative evaluation of NETRA is presented. Then general schemes are described to map parallel algorithms onto NETRA. Algorithms are classified according to their communication requirements for parallel processing. An extensive analysis of inter-cluster communication strategies in NETRA is presented, and parameters affecting performance of parallel algorithms when mapped on NETRA are discussed. Finally, a methodology to evaluate performance of algorithms on NETRA is described.

An object-oriented approach for parallel self adaptive mesh refinement on block structured grids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lemke, Max; Witsch, Kristian; Quinlan, Daniel

1993-01-01

Self-adaptive mesh refinement dynamically matches the computational demands of a solver for partial differential equations to the activity in the application's domain. In this paper we present two C++ class libraries, P++ and AMR++, which significantly simplify the development of sophisticated adaptive mesh refinement codes on (massively) parallel distributed memory architectures. The development is based on our previous research in this area. The C++ class libraries provide abstractions to separate the issues of developing parallel adaptive mesh refinement applications into those of parallelism, abstracted by P++, and adaptive mesh refinement, abstracted by AMR++. P++ is a parallel array class library to permit efficient development of architecture independent codes for structured grid applications, and AMR++ provides support for self-adaptive mesh refinement on block-structured grids of rectangular non-overlapping blocks. Using these libraries, the application programmers' work is greatly simplified to primarily specifying the serial single grid application and obtaining the parallel and self-adaptive mesh refinement code with minimal effort. Initial results for simple singular perturbation problems solved by self-adaptive multilevel techniques (FAC, AFAC), being implemented on the basis of prototypes of the P++/AMR++ environment, are presented. Singular perturbation problems frequently arise in large applications, e.g. in the area of computational fluid dynamics. They usually have solutions with layers which require adaptive mesh refinement and fast basic solvers in order to be resolved efficiently.

An Evaluation of Database Solutions to Spatial Object Association

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, V S; Kurc, T; Saltz, J

2008-06-24

Object association is a common problem encountered in many applications. Spatial object association, also referred to as crossmatch of spatial datasets, is the problem of identifying and comparing objects in two datasets based on their positions in a common spatial coordinate system--one of the datasets may correspond to a catalog of objects observed over time in a multi-dimensional domain; the other dataset may consist of objects observed in a snapshot of the domain at a time point. The use of database management systems to the solve the object association problem provides portability across different platforms and also greater flexibility. Increasingmore » dataset sizes in today's applications, however, have made object association a data/compute-intensive problem that requires targeted optimizations for efficient execution. In this work, we investigate how database-based crossmatch algorithms can be deployed on different database system architectures and evaluate the deployments to understand the impact of architectural choices on crossmatch performance and associated trade-offs. We investigate the execution of two crossmatch algorithms on (1) a parallel database system with active disk style processing capabilities, (2) a high-throughput network database (MySQL Cluster), and (3) shared-nothing databases with replication. We have conducted our study in the context of a large-scale astronomy application with real use-case scenarios.« less

Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Plywood Treated with a new Wood Preservative (CEB) Chemical

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalawate, Aparna; Shahoo, Shadhu Charan; Khatua, Pijus Kanti; Das, Himadri Sekhar

2017-04-01

The objective of this study was to explore the physical and mechanical properties of the plywood made with phenolic glue and rubber wood as core veneer with CEB as a wood preservative. The studied properties were glue shear strength in dry, wet mycological, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture and tensile strength in parallel to grain direction as per IS:1734 part-4, 11 and 9 (1983) respectively. Results of the above mentioned tests were compared with the prescribed values given in IS 710-2010 and results revealed that samples conformed the prescribed values.

Spacecraft Onboard Interface Services: Current Status and Roadmap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prochazka, Marek; Lopez Trescastro, Jorge; Krueger, Sabine

2016-08-01

Spacecraft Onboard Interface Services (SOIS) is a set of CCSDS standards defining communication stack services to interact with hardware equipment onboard spacecraft. In 2014 ESA kicked off three parallel activities to critically review the SOIS standards, use legacy spacecraft flight software (FSW), make it compliant to a preselected subset of SOIS standards and make performance and architecture assessment. As a part of the three parallel activities, led by Airbus DS Toulouse, OHB Bremen and Thales Alenia Space Cannes respectively, it was to provide feedback back to ESA and CCSDS and also to propose a roadmap of transition towards an operational FSW system fully compliant to applicable SOIS standards. The objective of the paper is twofold: Firstly it is to summarise main results of the three parallel activities and secondly, based on the results, to propose a roadmap for the future.

Tuning HDF5 for Lustre File Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Howison, Mark; Koziol, Quincey; Knaak, David

2010-09-24

HDF5 is a cross-platform parallel I/O library that is used by a wide variety of HPC applications for the flexibility of its hierarchical object-database representation of scientific data. We describe our recent work to optimize the performance of the HDF5 and MPI-IO libraries for the Lustre parallel file system. We selected three different HPC applications to represent the diverse range of I/O requirements, and measured their performance on three different systems to demonstrate the robustness of our optimizations across different file system configurations and to validate our optimization strategy. We demonstrate that the combined optimizations improve HDF5 parallel I/O performancemore » by up to 33 times in some cases running close to the achievable peak performance of the underlying file system and demonstrate scalable performance up to 40,960-way concurrency.« less

Accelerating global optimization of aerodynamic shapes using a new surrogate-assisted parallel genetic algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebrahimi, Mehdi; Jahangirian, Alireza

2017-12-01

An efficient strategy is presented for global shape optimization of wing sections with a parallel genetic algorithm. Several computational techniques are applied to increase the convergence rate and the efficiency of the method. A variable fidelity computational evaluation method is applied in which the expensive Navier-Stokes flow solver is complemented by an inexpensive multi-layer perceptron neural network for the objective function evaluations. A population dispersion method that consists of two phases, of exploration and refinement, is developed to improve the convergence rate and the robustness of the genetic algorithm. Owing to the nature of the optimization problem, a parallel framework based on the master/slave approach is used. The outcomes indicate that the method is able to find the global optimum with significantly lower computational time in comparison to the conventional genetic algorithm.

Angular trapping of anisometric nano-objects in a fluid.

PubMed

Celebrano, Michele; Rosman, Christina; Sönnichsen, Carsten; Krishnan, Madhavi

2012-11-14

We demonstrate the ability to trap, levitate, and orient single anisometric nanoscale objects with high angular precision in a fluid. An electrostatic fluidic trap confines a spherical object at a spatial location defined by the minimum of the electrostatic system free energy. For an anisometric object and a potential well lacking angular symmetry, the system free energy can further strongly depend on the object's orientation in the trap. Engineering the morphology of the trap thus enables precise spatial and angular confinement of a single levitating nano-object, and the process can be massively parallelized. Since the physics of the trap depends strongly on the surface charge of the object, the method is insensitive to the object's dielectric function. Furthermore, levitation of the assembled objects renders them amenable to individual manipulation using externally applied optical, electrical, or hydrodynamic fields, raising prospects for reconfigurable chip-based nano-object assemblies.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bailey, David H.

The NAS Parallel Benchmarks (NPB) are a suite of parallel computer performance benchmarks. They were originally developed at the NASA Ames Research Center in 1991 to assess high-end parallel supercomputers. Although they are no longer used as widely as they once were for comparing high-end system performance, they continue to be studied and analyzed a great deal in the high-performance computing community. The acronym 'NAS' originally stood for the Numerical Aeronautical Simulation Program at NASA Ames. The name of this organization was subsequently changed to the Numerical Aerospace Simulation Program, and more recently to the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Center, althoughmore » the acronym remains 'NAS.' The developers of the original NPB suite were David H. Bailey, Eric Barszcz, John Barton, David Browning, Russell Carter, LeoDagum, Rod Fatoohi, Samuel Fineberg, Paul Frederickson, Thomas Lasinski, Rob Schreiber, Horst Simon, V. Venkatakrishnan and Sisira Weeratunga. The original NAS Parallel Benchmarks consisted of eight individual benchmark problems, each of which focused on some aspect of scientific computing. The principal focus was in computational aerophysics, although most of these benchmarks have much broader relevance, since in a much larger sense they are typical of many real-world scientific computing applications. The NPB suite grew out of the need for a more rational procedure to select new supercomputers for acquisition by NASA. The emergence of commercially available highly parallel computer systems in the late 1980s offered an attractive alternative to parallel vector supercomputers that had been the mainstay of high-end scientific computing. However, the introduction of highly parallel systems was accompanied by a regrettable level of hype, not only on the part of the commercial vendors but even, in some cases, by scientists using the systems. As a result, it was difficult to discern whether the new systems offered any fundamental performance advantage over vector supercomputers, and, if so, which of the parallel offerings would be most useful in real-world scientific computation. In part to draw attention to some of the performance reporting abuses prevalent at the time, the present author wrote a humorous essay 'Twelve Ways to Fool the Masses,' which described in a light-hearted way a number of the questionable ways in which both vendor marketing people and scientists were inflating and distorting their performance results. All of this underscored the need for an objective and scientifically defensible measure to compare performance on these systems.« less

Processing of Natural Echolocation Sequences in the Inferior Colliculus of Seba’s Fruit Eating Bat, Carollia perspicillata

PubMed Central

Kordes, Sebastian; Kössl, Manfred

2017-01-01

Abstract For the purpose of orientation, echolocating bats emit highly repetitive and spatially directed sonar calls. Echoes arising from call reflections are used to create an acoustic image of the environment. The inferior colliculus (IC) represents an important auditory stage for initial processing of echolocation signals. The present study addresses the following questions: (1) how does the temporal context of an echolocation sequence mimicking an approach flight of an animal affect neuronal processing of distance information to echo delays? (2) how does the IC process complex echolocation sequences containing echo information from multiple objects (multiobject sequence)? Here, we conducted neurophysiological recordings from the IC of ketamine-anaesthetized bats of the species Carollia perspicillata and compared the results from the IC with the ones from the auditory cortex (AC). Neuronal responses to an echolocation sequence was suppressed when compared to the responses to temporally isolated and randomized segments of the sequence. The neuronal suppression was weaker in the IC than in the AC. In contrast to the cortex, the time course of the acoustic events is reflected by IC activity. In the IC, suppression sharpens the neuronal tuning to specific call-echo elements and increases the signal-to-noise ratio in the units’ responses. When presenting multiple-object sequences, despite collicular suppression, the neurons responded to each object-specific echo. The latter allows parallel processing of multiple echolocation streams at the IC level. Altogether, our data suggests that temporally-precise neuronal responses in the IC could allow fast and parallel processing of multiple acoustic streams. PMID:29242823

Processing of Natural Echolocation Sequences in the Inferior Colliculus of Seba's Fruit Eating Bat, Carollia perspicillata.

PubMed

Beetz, M Jerome; Kordes, Sebastian; García-Rosales, Francisco; Kössl, Manfred; Hechavarría, Julio C

2017-01-01

For the purpose of orientation, echolocating bats emit highly repetitive and spatially directed sonar calls. Echoes arising from call reflections are used to create an acoustic image of the environment. The inferior colliculus (IC) represents an important auditory stage for initial processing of echolocation signals. The present study addresses the following questions: (1) how does the temporal context of an echolocation sequence mimicking an approach flight of an animal affect neuronal processing of distance information to echo delays? (2) how does the IC process complex echolocation sequences containing echo information from multiple objects (multiobject sequence)? Here, we conducted neurophysiological recordings from the IC of ketamine-anaesthetized bats of the species Carollia perspicillata and compared the results from the IC with the ones from the auditory cortex (AC). Neuronal responses to an echolocation sequence was suppressed when compared to the responses to temporally isolated and randomized segments of the sequence. The neuronal suppression was weaker in the IC than in the AC. In contrast to the cortex, the time course of the acoustic events is reflected by IC activity. In the IC, suppression sharpens the neuronal tuning to specific call-echo elements and increases the signal-to-noise ratio in the units' responses. When presenting multiple-object sequences, despite collicular suppression, the neurons responded to each object-specific echo. The latter allows parallel processing of multiple echolocation streams at the IC level. Altogether, our data suggests that temporally-precise neuronal responses in the IC could allow fast and parallel processing of multiple acoustic streams.

Spatiotemporal distribution of location and object effects in reach-to-grasp kinematics

PubMed Central

Rouse, Adam G.

2015-01-01

In reaching to grasp an object, the arm transports the hand to the intended location as the hand shapes to grasp the object. Prior studies that tracked arm endpoint and grip aperture have shown that reaching and grasping, while proceeding in parallel, are interdependent to some degree. Other studies of reaching and grasping that have examined the joint angles of all five digits as the hand shapes to grasp various objects have not tracked the joint angles of the arm as well. We, therefore, examined 22 joint angles from the shoulder to the five digits as monkeys reached, grasped, and manipulated in a task that dissociated location and object. We quantified the extent to which each angle varied depending on location, on object, and on their interaction, all as a function of time. Although joint angles varied depending on both location and object beginning early in the movement, an early phase of location effects in joint angles from the shoulder to the digits was followed by a later phase in which object effects predominated at all joint angles distal to the shoulder. Interaction effects were relatively small throughout the reach-to-grasp. Whereas reach trajectory was influenced substantially by the object, grasp shape was comparatively invariant to location. Our observations suggest that neural control of reach-to-grasp may occur largely in two sequential phases: the first determining the location to which the arm transports the hand, and the second shaping the entire upper extremity to grasp and manipulate the object. PMID:26445870

Robust selectivity to two-object images in human visual cortex

PubMed Central

Agam, Yigal; Liu, Hesheng; Papanastassiou, Alexander; Buia, Calin; Golby, Alexandra J.; Madsen, Joseph R.; Kreiman, Gabriel

2010-01-01

SUMMARY We can recognize objects in a fraction of a second in spite of the presence of other objects [1–3]. The responses in macaque areas V4 and inferior temporal cortex [4–15] to a neuron’s preferred stimuli are typically suppressed by the addition of a second object within the receptive field (see however [16, 17]). How can this suppression be reconciled with rapid visual recognition in complex scenes? One option is that certain “special categories” are unaffected by other objects [18] but this leaves the problem unsolved for other categories. Another possibility is that serial attentional shifts help ameliorate the problem of distractor objects [19–21]. Yet, psychophysical studies [1–3], scalp recordings [1] and neurophysiological recordings [14, 16, 22–24], suggest that the initial sweep of visual processing contains a significant amount of information. We recorded intracranial field potentials in human visual cortex during presentation of flashes of two-object images. Visual selectivity from temporal cortex during the initial ~200 ms was largely robust to the presence of other objects. We could train linear decoders on the responses to isolated objects and decode information in two-object images. These observations are compatible with parallel, hierarchical and feed-forward theories of rapid visual recognition [25] and may provide a neural substrate to begin to unravel rapid recognition in natural scenes. PMID:20417105

Functional and space programming.

PubMed

Hayward, C

1988-01-01

In this article, the author expands the earlier stated case for functional and space programming based on objective evidence of user needs. It provides an in-depth examination of the logic and processes of programming as a continuum which precedes, then parallels, architectural design.

Report Writing for Social Workers: Special Needs in the Business Communication Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reep, Diana C.

1989-01-01

Discusses the special training in report writing needed by students majoring in social work (practice in specific report structures, and in certain style matters, including objective word choice, excessive passive voice, and parallel structure in lists). (SR)

A parallel-machine scheduling problem with two competing agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Wen-Chiung; Chung, Yu-Hsiang; Wang, Jen-Ya

2017-06-01

Scheduling with two competing agents has become popular in recent years. Most of the research has focused on single-machine problems. This article considers a parallel-machine problem, the objective of which is to minimize the total completion time of jobs from the first agent given that the maximum tardiness of jobs from the second agent cannot exceed an upper bound. The NP-hardness of this problem is also examined. A genetic algorithm equipped with local search is proposed to search for the near-optimal solution. Computational experiments are conducted to evaluate the proposed genetic algorithm.

The control of attentional target selection in a colour/colour conjunction task.

PubMed

Berggren, Nick; Eimer, Martin

2016-11-01

To investigate the time course of attentional object selection processes in visual search tasks where targets are defined by a combination of features from the same dimension, we measured the N2pc component as an electrophysiological marker of attentional object selection during colour/colour conjunction search. In Experiment 1, participants searched for targets defined by a combination of two colours, while ignoring distractor objects that matched only one of these colours. Reliable N2pc components were triggered by targets and also by partially matching distractors, even when these distractors were accompanied by a target in the same display. The target N2pc was initially equal in size to the sum of the two N2pc components to the two different types of partially matching distractors and became superadditive from approximately 250 ms after search display onset. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the superadditivity of the target N2pc was not due to a selective disengagement of attention from task-irrelevant partially matching distractors. These results indicate that attention was initially deployed separately and in parallel to all target-matching colours, before attentional allocation processes became sensitive to the presence of both matching colours within the same object. They suggest that attention can be controlled simultaneously and independently by multiple features from the same dimension and that feature-guided attentional selection processes operate in parallel for different target-matching objects in the visual field.

SOP: parallel surrogate global optimization with Pareto center selection for computationally expensive single objective problems

DOE PAGES

Krityakierne, Tipaluck; Akhtar, Taimoor; Shoemaker, Christine A.

2016-02-02

This paper presents a parallel surrogate-based global optimization method for computationally expensive objective functions that is more effective for larger numbers of processors. To reach this goal, we integrated concepts from multi-objective optimization and tabu search into, single objective, surrogate optimization. Our proposed derivative-free algorithm, called SOP, uses non-dominated sorting of points for which the expensive function has been previously evaluated. The two objectives are the expensive function value of the point and the minimum distance of the point to previously evaluated points. Based on the results of non-dominated sorting, P points from the sorted fronts are selected as centersmore » from which many candidate points are generated by random perturbations. Based on surrogate approximation, the best candidate point is subsequently selected for expensive evaluation for each of the P centers, with simultaneous computation on P processors. Centers that previously did not generate good solutions are tabu with a given tenure. We show almost sure convergence of this algorithm under some conditions. The performance of SOP is compared with two RBF based methods. The test results show that SOP is an efficient method that can reduce time required to find a good near optimal solution. In a number of cases the efficiency of SOP is so good that SOP with 8 processors found an accurate answer in less wall-clock time than the other algorithms did with 32 processors.« less

Robust Representation of Stable Object Values in the Oculomotor Basal Ganglia

PubMed Central

Yasuda, Masaharu; Yamamoto, Shinya; Hikosaka, Okihide

2012-01-01

Our gaze tends to be directed to objects previously associated with rewards. Such object values change flexibly or remain stable. Here we present evidence that the monkey substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) in the basal ganglia represents stable, rather than flexible, object values. After across-day learning of object–reward association, SNr neurons gradually showed a response bias to surprisingly many visual objects: inhibition to high-valued objects and excitation to low-valued objects. Many of these neurons were shown to project to the ipsilateral superior colliculus. This neuronal bias remained intact even after >100 d without further learning. In parallel with the neuronal bias, the monkeys tended to look at high-valued objects. The neuronal and behavioral biases were present even if no value was associated during testing. These results suggest that SNr neurons bias the gaze toward objects that were consistently associated with high values in one’s history. PMID:23175843

Selective attention meets spontaneous recognition memory: Evidence for effects at retrieval.

PubMed

Moen, Katherine C; Miller, Jeremy K; Lloyd, Marianne E

2017-03-01

Previous research on the effects of Divided Attention on recognition memory have shown consistent impairments during encoding but more variable effects at retrieval. The present study explored whether effects of Selective Attention at retrieval and subsequent testing were parallel to those of Divided Attention. Participants studied a list of pictures and then had a recognition memory test that included both full attention and selective attention (the to be responded to object was overlaid atop a blue outlined object) trials. All participants then completed a second recognition memory test. The results of 2 experiments suggest that subsequent tests consistently show impacts of the status of the ignored stimulus, and that having an initial test changes performance on a later test. The results are discussed in relation to effect of attention on memory more generally as well as spontaneous recognition memory research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parallel O(N) Stokes’ solver towards scalable Brownian dynamics of hydrodynamically interacting objects in general geometries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Xujun; Li, Jiyuan; Jiang, Xikai

An efficient parallel Stokes’s solver is developed towards the complete inclusion of hydrodynamic interactions of Brownian particles in any geometry. A Langevin description of the particle dynamics is adopted, where the long-range interactions are included using a Green’s function formalism. We present a scalable parallel computational approach, where the general geometry Stokeslet is calculated following a matrix-free algorithm using the General geometry Ewald-like method. Our approach employs a highly-efficient iterative finite element Stokes’ solver for the accurate treatment of long-range hydrodynamic interactions within arbitrary confined geometries. A combination of mid-point time integration of the Brownian stochastic differential equation, the parallelmore » Stokes’ solver, and a Chebyshev polynomial approximation for the fluctuation-dissipation theorem result in an O(N) parallel algorithm. We also illustrate the new algorithm in the context of the dynamics of confined polymer solutions in equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions. Our method is extended to treat suspended finite size particles of arbitrary shape in any geometry using an Immersed Boundary approach.« less

Parallel algorithm for determining motion vectors in ice floe images by matching edge features

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manohar, M.; Ramapriyan, H. K.; Strong, J. P.

1988-01-01

A parallel algorithm is described to determine motion vectors of ice floes using time sequences of images of the Arctic ocean obtained from the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument flown on-board the SEASAT spacecraft. Researchers describe a parallel algorithm which is implemented on the MPP for locating corresponding objects based on their translationally and rotationally invariant features. The algorithm first approximates the edges in the images by polygons or sets of connected straight-line segments. Each such edge structure is then reduced to a seed point. Associated with each seed point are the descriptions (lengths, orientations and sequence numbers) of the lines constituting the corresponding edge structure. A parallel matching algorithm is used to match packed arrays of such descriptions to identify corresponding seed points in the two images. The matching algorithm is designed such that fragmentation and merging of ice floes are taken into account by accepting partial matches. The technique has been demonstrated to work on synthetic test patterns and real image pairs from SEASAT in times ranging from .5 to 0.7 seconds for 128 x 128 images.

Parallel O(N) Stokes’ solver towards scalable Brownian dynamics of hydrodynamically interacting objects in general geometries

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Xujun; Li, Jiyuan; Jiang, Xikai; ...

2017-06-29

An efficient parallel Stokes’s solver is developed towards the complete inclusion of hydrodynamic interactions of Brownian particles in any geometry. A Langevin description of the particle dynamics is adopted, where the long-range interactions are included using a Green’s function formalism. We present a scalable parallel computational approach, where the general geometry Stokeslet is calculated following a matrix-free algorithm using the General geometry Ewald-like method. Our approach employs a highly-efficient iterative finite element Stokes’ solver for the accurate treatment of long-range hydrodynamic interactions within arbitrary confined geometries. A combination of mid-point time integration of the Brownian stochastic differential equation, the parallelmore » Stokes’ solver, and a Chebyshev polynomial approximation for the fluctuation-dissipation theorem result in an O(N) parallel algorithm. We also illustrate the new algorithm in the context of the dynamics of confined polymer solutions in equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions. Our method is extended to treat suspended finite size particles of arbitrary shape in any geometry using an Immersed Boundary approach.« less

Implementation and analysis of a Navier-Stokes algorithm on parallel computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fatoohi, Raad A.; Grosch, Chester E.

1988-01-01

The results of the implementation of a Navier-Stokes algorithm on three parallel/vector computers are presented. The object of this research is to determine how well, or poorly, a single numerical algorithm would map onto three different architectures. The algorithm is a compact difference scheme for the solution of the incompressible, two-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations. The computers were chosen so as to encompass a variety of architectures. They are the following: the MPP, an SIMD machine with 16K bit serial processors; Flex/32, an MIMD machine with 20 processors; and Cray/2. The implementation of the algorithm is discussed in relation to these architectures and measures of the performance on each machine are given. The basic comparison is among SIMD instruction parallelism on the MPP, MIMD process parallelism on the Flex/32, and vectorization of a serial code on the Cray/2. Simple performance models are used to describe the performance. These models highlight the bottlenecks and limiting factors for this algorithm on these architectures. Finally, conclusions are presented.

Extended RF shimming: Sequence‐level parallel transmission optimization applied to steady‐state free precession MRI of the heart

PubMed Central

Price, Anthony N.; Padormo, Francesco; Hajnal, Joseph V.; Malik, Shaihan J.

2017-01-01

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at high field presents challenges because of the high specific absorption rate and significant transmit field (B 1 +) inhomogeneities. Parallel transmission MRI offers the ability to correct for both issues at the level of individual radiofrequency (RF) pulses, but must operate within strict hardware and safety constraints. The constraints are themselves affected by sequence parameters, such as the RF pulse duration and TR, meaning that an overall optimal operating point exists for a given sequence. This work seeks to obtain optimal performance by performing a ‘sequence‐level’ optimization in which pulse sequence parameters are included as part of an RF shimming calculation. The method is applied to balanced steady‐state free precession cardiac MRI with the objective of minimizing TR, hence reducing the imaging duration. Results are demonstrated using an eight‐channel parallel transmit system operating at 3 T, with an in vivo study carried out on seven male subjects of varying body mass index (BMI). Compared with single‐channel operation, a mean‐squared‐error shimming approach leads to reduced imaging durations of 32 ± 3% with simultaneous improvement in flip angle homogeneity of 32 ± 8% within the myocardium. PMID:28195684

The Influence of Shape on the Output Potential of ZnO Nanostructures: Sensitivity to Parallel versus Perpendicular Forces.

PubMed

Cardoso, José; Oliveira, Filipe F; Proenca, Mariana P; Ventura, João

2018-05-22

With the consistent shrinking of devices, micro-systems are, nowadays, widely used in areas such as biomedics, electronics, automobiles, and measurement devices. As devices shrunk, so too did their energy consumptions, opening the way for the use of nanogenerators (NGs) as power sources. In particular, to harvest energy from an object's motion (mechanical vibrations, torsional forces, or pressure), present NGs are mainly composed of piezoelectric materials in which, upon an applied compressive or strain force, an electrical field is produced that can be used to power a device. The focus of this work is to simulate the piezoelectric effect in different ZnO nanostructures to optimize the output potential generated by a nanodevice. In these simulations, cylindrical nanowires, nanomushrooms, and nanotrees were created, and the influence of the nanostructures' shape on the output potential was studied as a function of applied parallel and perpendicular forces. The obtained results demonstrated that the output potential is linearly proportional to the applied force and that perpendicular forces are more efficient in all structures. However, nanotrees were found to have an increased sensitivity to parallel applied forces, which resulted in a large enhancement of the output efficiency. These results could then open a new path to increase the efficiency of piezoelectric nanogenerators.

Incentive Compatible Online Scheduling of Malleable Parallel Jobs with Individual Deadlines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carroll, Thomas E.; Grosu, Daniel

2010-09-13

We consider the online scheduling of malleable jobs on parallel systems, such as clusters, symmetric multiprocessing computers, and multi-core processor computers. Malleable jobs is a model of parallel processing in which jobs adapt to the number of processors assigned to them. This model permits the scheduler and resource manager to make more efficient use of the available resources. Each malleable job is characterized by arrival time, deadline, and value. If the job completes by its deadline, the user earns the payoff indicated by the value; otherwise, she earns a payoff of zero. The scheduling objective is to maximize the summore » of the values of the jobs that complete by their associated deadlines. Complicating the matter is that users in the real world are rational and they will attempt to manipulate the scheduler by misreporting their jobs’ parameters if it benefits them to do so. To mitigate this behavior, we design an incentive compatible online scheduling mechanism. Incentive compatibility assures us that the users will obtain the maximum payoff only if they truthfully report their jobs’ parameters to the scheduler. Finally, we simulate and study the mechanism to show the effects of misreports on the cheaters and on the system.« less

Extended RF shimming: Sequence-level parallel transmission optimization applied to steady-state free precession MRI of the heart.

PubMed

Beqiri, Arian; Price, Anthony N; Padormo, Francesco; Hajnal, Joseph V; Malik, Shaihan J

2017-06-01

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at high field presents challenges because of the high specific absorption rate and significant transmit field (B 1 + ) inhomogeneities. Parallel transmission MRI offers the ability to correct for both issues at the level of individual radiofrequency (RF) pulses, but must operate within strict hardware and safety constraints. The constraints are themselves affected by sequence parameters, such as the RF pulse duration and TR, meaning that an overall optimal operating point exists for a given sequence. This work seeks to obtain optimal performance by performing a 'sequence-level' optimization in which pulse sequence parameters are included as part of an RF shimming calculation. The method is applied to balanced steady-state free precession cardiac MRI with the objective of minimizing TR, hence reducing the imaging duration. Results are demonstrated using an eight-channel parallel transmit system operating at 3 T, with an in vivo study carried out on seven male subjects of varying body mass index (BMI). Compared with single-channel operation, a mean-squared-error shimming approach leads to reduced imaging durations of 32 ± 3% with simultaneous improvement in flip angle homogeneity of 32 ± 8% within the myocardium. © 2017 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Steady Boundary Layer Disturbances Created By Two-Dimensional Surface Ripples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuester, Matthew

2017-11-01

Multiple experiments have shown that surface roughness can enhance the growth of Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) waves in a laminar boundary layer. One of the common observations from these studies is a ``wall displacement'' effect, where the boundary layer profile shape remains relatively unchanged, but the origin of the profile pushes away from the wall. The objective of this work is to calculate the steady velocity field (including this wall displacement) of a laminar boundary layer over a surface with small, 2D surface ripples. The velocity field is a combination of a Blasius boundary layer and multiple disturbance modes, calculated using the linearized Navier-Stokes equations. The method of multiple scales is used to include non-parallel boundary layer effects of O (Rδ- 1) ; the non-parallel terms are necessary, because a wall displacement is mathematically inconsistent with a parallel boundary layer assumption. This technique is used to calculate the steady velocity field over ripples of varying height and wavelength, including cases where a separation bubble forms on the leeward side of the ripple. In future work, the steady velocity field will be the input for stability calculations, which will quantify the growth of T-S waves over rough surfaces. The author would like to acknowledge the support of the Kevin T. Crofton Aerospace & Ocean Engineering Department at Virginia Tech.

Strategies for Coordination of a Serosurvey in Parallel with an Immunization Coverage Survey

PubMed Central

Travassos, Mark A.; Beyene, Berhane; Adam, Zenaw; Campbell, James D.; Mulholland, Nigisti; Diarra, Seydou S.; Kassa, Tassew; Oot, Lisa; Sequeira, Jenny; Reymann, Mardi; Blackwelder, William C.; Pasetti, Marcela F.; Sow, Samba O.; Steinglass, Robert; Kebede, Amha; Levine, Myron M.

2015-01-01

A community-based immunization coverage survey is the standard way to estimate effective vaccination delivery to a target population in a region. Accompanying serosurveys can provide objective measures of protective immunity against vaccine-preventable diseases but pose considerable challenges with respect to specimen collection and preservation and community compliance. We performed serosurveys coupled to immunization coverage surveys in three administrative districts (woredas) in rural Ethiopia. Critical to the success of this effort were serosurvey equipment and supplies, team composition, and tight coordination with the coverage survey. Application of these techniques to future studies may foster more widespread use of serosurveys to derive more objective assessments of vaccine-derived seroprotection and monitor and compare the performance of immunization services in different districts of a country. PMID:26055737

Parallel-vector computation for structural analysis and nonlinear unconstrained optimization problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Duc T.

1990-01-01

Practical engineering application can often be formulated in the form of a constrained optimization problem. There are several solution algorithms for solving a constrained optimization problem. One approach is to convert a constrained problem into a series of unconstrained problems. Furthermore, unconstrained solution algorithms can be used as part of the constrained solution algorithms. Structural optimization is an iterative process where one starts with an initial design, a finite element structure analysis is then performed to calculate the response of the system (such as displacements, stresses, eigenvalues, etc.). Based upon the sensitivity information on the objective and constraint functions, an optimizer such as ADS or IDESIGN, can be used to find the new, improved design. For the structural analysis phase, the equation solver for the system of simultaneous, linear equations plays a key role since it is needed for either static, or eigenvalue, or dynamic analysis. For practical, large-scale structural analysis-synthesis applications, computational time can be excessively large. Thus, it is necessary to have a new structural analysis-synthesis code which employs new solution algorithms to exploit both parallel and vector capabilities offered by modern, high performance computers such as the Convex, Cray-2 and Cray-YMP computers. The objective of this research project is, therefore, to incorporate the latest development in the parallel-vector equation solver, PVSOLVE into the widely popular finite-element production code, such as the SAP-4. Furthermore, several nonlinear unconstrained optimization subroutines have also been developed and tested under a parallel computer environment. The unconstrained optimization subroutines are not only useful in their own right, but they can also be incorporated into a more popular constrained optimization code, such as ADS.

Unveiling the Galaxy Population at 1.3 < z < 4: the HUDF05 NICMOS Parallel Fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petty, Sara M.; deMello, Duilia F.; Wiklind, Tomy; Gardner, Jonathan P.; Mountain, Matt

2010-01-01

Using the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (HUDF-NICMOS) UDF05 parallel fields, we cross-matched 301 out of 630 galaxies with the ACS filters V606 and z850, NICMOS filters J110 and H160, and Spitzer IRAC filters at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 , and 8.0 (mu)m. We modeled the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to estimate: photometric redshifts, dust extinction, stellar mass, bolometric luminosity, starburst age and metallicity. To validate the photometric redshifts, comparisons with 16 spectroscopic redshifts give 75% within Delta < 0.2, which agrees with the sensitivities expected from the Balmer-break in our dataset. Five parallel fields observed by NICMOS have sensitivities in the H160-band of 80% at mAB = 25.4 and 50% at mAB = 26.7. Because the sample is H160-band selected, it is sensitive to stellar mass rather than UV luminosities. We also use Monte Carlo simulations to determine that the parameters from the best-fit SEDs are robust for the redshift ranges z > or approx. 1.3. Based on the robustness of the photometric redshifts, we analyze a subsample of the 301 galaxies at 1.3 < or = z < or = 2 (35 objects) and 3 < or = z < or = 4 (31 objects) and determine that L(BoI) and the star formation rate increase significantly from z approx. 1.5 to 4. The Balmer decrement is indicative of more evolved galaxies, and at high redshifts, they serve as records of some of the first galaxies. Therefore, the galaxies in this sample are great candidates for future surveys with the James Webb Space Telescope and Atacama Large Millimeter Array.

Visual Computing Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawrence, Charles; Putt, Charles W.

1997-01-01

The Visual Computing Environment (VCE) is a NASA Lewis Research Center project to develop a framework for intercomponent and multidisciplinary computational simulations. Many current engineering analysis codes simulate various aspects of aircraft engine operation. For example, existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes can model the airflow through individual engine components such as the inlet, compressor, combustor, turbine, or nozzle. Currently, these codes are run in isolation, making intercomponent and complete system simulations very difficult to perform. In addition, management and utilization of these engineering codes for coupled component simulations is a complex, laborious task, requiring substantial experience and effort. To facilitate multicomponent aircraft engine analysis, the CFD Research Corporation (CFDRC) is developing the VCE system. This system, which is part of NASA's Numerical Propulsion Simulation System (NPSS) program, can couple various engineering disciplines, such as CFD, structural analysis, and thermal analysis. The objectives of VCE are to (1) develop a visual computing environment for controlling the execution of individual simulation codes that are running in parallel and are distributed on heterogeneous host machines in a networked environment, (2) develop numerical coupling algorithms for interchanging boundary conditions between codes with arbitrary grid matching and different levels of dimensionality, (3) provide a graphical interface for simulation setup and control, and (4) provide tools for online visualization and plotting. VCE was designed to provide a distributed, object-oriented environment. Mechanisms are provided for creating and manipulating objects, such as grids, boundary conditions, and solution data. This environment includes parallel virtual machine (PVM) for distributed processing. Users can interactively select and couple any set of codes that have been modified to run in a parallel distributed fashion on a cluster of heterogeneous workstations. A scripting facility allows users to dictate the sequence of events that make up the particular simulation.

Lidar detection of underwater objects using a neuro-SVM-based architecture.

PubMed

Mitra, Vikramjit; Wang, Chia-Jiu; Banerjee, Satarupa

2006-05-01

This paper presents a neural network architecture using a support vector machine (SVM) as an inference engine (IE) for classification of light detection and ranging (Lidar) data. Lidar data gives a sequence of laser backscatter intensities obtained from laser shots generated from an airborne object at various altitudes above the earth surface. Lidar data is pre-filtered to remove high frequency noise. As the Lidar shots are taken from above the earth surface, it has some air backscatter information, which is of no importance for detecting underwater objects. Because of these, the air backscatter information is eliminated from the data and a segment of this data is subsequently selected to extract features for classification. This is then encoded using linear predictive coding (LPC) and polynomial approximation. The coefficients thus generated are used as inputs to the two branches of a parallel neural architecture. The decisions obtained from the two branches are vector multiplied and the result is fed to an SVM-based IE that presents the final inference. Two parallel neural architectures using multilayer perception (MLP) and hybrid radial basis function (HRBF) are considered in this paper. The proposed structure fits the Lidar data classification task well due to the inherent classification efficiency of neural networks and accurate decision-making capability of SVM. A Bayesian classifier and a quadratic classifier were considered for the Lidar data classification task but they failed to offer high prediction accuracy. Furthermore, a single-layered artificial neural network (ANN) classifier was also considered and it failed to offer good accuracy. The parallel ANN architecture proposed in this paper offers high prediction accuracy (98.9%) and is found to be the most suitable architecture for the proposed task of Lidar data classification.

The gist and details of sex differences in cognition and the brain: How parallels in sex differences across domains are shaped by the locus coeruleus and catecholamine systems.

PubMed

Ycaza Herrera, Alexandra; Wang, Jiaxi; Mather, Mara

2018-05-19

Across three different domains, there are similar sex differences in how men and women process information. There tends to be a male advantage in attending to and remembering the gist (essential central information of a scene or situation), but a female advantage in attending to and remembering the details (non-essential peripheral information of a scene or situation). This is seen in emotional memory, where emotion enhances gist memory more for males than for females, but enhances detail memory more for females than for males. It also occurs in spatial memory, where men tend to notice and remember the gist of where they or objects are in space, allowing them to more flexibly manipulate themselves or objects within that space, whereas women tend to recall the details of the space around them, allowing them to accurately remember the locations of objects. Finally, such sex differences have also been noted in perception of stimuli such that men attend to global aspects of stimuli (such as a large letter E) more than women, whereas women attend more to the local aspects (such as the many smaller letter Ts making up the E). We review the parallel sex differences seen across these domains in this paper and how they relate to the different brain systems involved in each of these task domains. In addition, we discuss how sex differences in evolutionary pressures and in the locus coeruleus and norepinephrine system may account for why parallel sex differences occur across these different task domains. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polarization characteristics of an altazimuth sky scanner

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garrison, L. M.; Blaszczak, Z.; Green, A. E. S.

1980-01-01

A theoretical description of the polarization characteristics of an altazimuth sky scanner optical system based on Mueller-Stokes calculus is presented. This computer-driven optical system was designed to perform laboratory studies of skylight and of celestial objects during day or night, and has no space limitations; however, the two parallel 45 deg tilt mirrors introduce some intrinsic polarization. Therefore, proper data interpretation requires a theoretical understanding of the polarization features of the instrument and accurate experimental determination of the Mueller-Stokes matrix elements describing the polarizing and depolarizing action of the system.

Mentat: An object-oriented macro data flow system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grimshaw, Andrew S.; Liu, Jane W. S.

1988-01-01

Mentat, an object-oriented macro data flow system designed to facilitate parallelism in distributed systems, is presented. The macro data flow model is a model of computation similar to the data flow model with two principal differences: the computational complexity of the actors is much greater than in traditional data flow systems, and there are persistent actors that maintain state information between executions. Mentat is a system that combines the object-oriented programming paradigm and the macro data flow model of computation. Mentat programs use a dynamic structure called a future list to represent the future of computations.

Coherent diffraction imaging by moving a lens.

PubMed

Shen, Cheng; Tan, Jiubin; Wei, Ce; Liu, Zhengjun

2016-07-25

A moveable lens is used for determining amplitude and phase on the object plane. The extended fractional Fourier transform is introduced to address the single lens imaging. We put forward a fast algorithm for the transform by convolution. Combined with parallel iterative phase retrieval algorithm, it is applied to reconstruct the complex amplitude of the object. Compared with inline holography, the implementation of our method is simple and easy. Without the oversampling operation, the computational load is less. Also the proposed method has a superiority of accuracy over the direct focusing measurement for the imaging of small size objects.

Magnetophoretic circuits for digital control of single particles and cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Byeonghwa; Reddy, Venu; Hu, Xinghao; Kim, Kunwoo; Jadhav, Mital; Abedini-Nassab, Roozbeh; Noh, Young-Woock; Lim, Yong Taik; Yellen, Benjamin B.; Kim, Cheolgi

2014-05-01

The ability to manipulate small fluid droplets, colloidal particles and single cells with the precision and parallelization of modern-day computer hardware has profound applications for biochemical detection, gene sequencing, chemical synthesis and highly parallel analysis of single cells. Drawing inspiration from general circuit theory and magnetic bubble technology, here we demonstrate a class of integrated circuits for executing sequential and parallel, timed operations on an ensemble of single particles and cells. The integrated circuits are constructed from lithographically defined, overlaid patterns of magnetic film and current lines. The magnetic patterns passively control particles similar to electrical conductors, diodes and capacitors. The current lines actively switch particles between different tracks similar to gated electrical transistors. When combined into arrays and driven by a rotating magnetic field clock, these integrated circuits have general multiplexing properties and enable the precise control of magnetizable objects.

Paradigms and strategies for scientific computing on distributed memory concurrent computers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foster, I.T.; Walker, D.W.

1994-06-01

In this work we examine recent advances in parallel languages and abstractions that have the potential for improving the programmability and maintainability of large-scale, parallel, scientific applications running on high performance architectures and networks. This paper focuses on Fortran M, a set of extensions to Fortran 77 that supports the modular design of message-passing programs. We describe the Fortran M implementation of a particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulation application, and discuss issues in the optimization of the code. The use of two other methodologies for parallelizing the PIC application are considered. The first is based on the shared object abstraction asmore » embodied in the Orca language. The second approach is the Split-C language. In Fortran M, Orca, and Split-C the ability of the programmer to control the granularity of communication is important is designing an efficient implementation.« less

Parallel, multi-stage processing of colors, faces and shapes in macaque inferior temporal cortex

PubMed Central

Lafer-Sousa, Rosa; Conway, Bevil R.

2014-01-01

Visual-object processing culminates in inferior temporal (IT) cortex. To assess the organization of IT, we measured fMRI responses in alert monkey to achromatic images (faces, fruit, bodies, places) and colored gratings. IT contained multiple color-biased regions, which were typically ventral to face patches and, remarkably, yoked to them, spaced regularly at four locations predicted by known anatomy. Color and face selectivity increased for more anterior regions, indicative of a broad hierarchical arrangement. Responses to non-face shapes were found across IT, but were stronger outside color-biased regions and face patches, consistent with multiple parallel streams. IT also contained multiple coarse eccentricity maps: face patches overlapped central representations; color-biased regions spanned mid-peripheral representations; and place-biased regions overlapped peripheral representations. These results suggest that IT comprises parallel, multi-stage processing networks subject to one organizing principle. PMID:24141314

Parallel file system with metadata distributed across partitioned key-value store c

DOEpatents

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary; Torres, Aaron

2017-09-19

Improved techniques are provided for storing metadata associated with a plurality of sub-files associated with a single shared file in a parallel file system. The shared file is generated by a plurality of applications executing on a plurality of compute nodes. A compute node implements a Parallel Log Structured File System (PLFS) library to store at least one portion of the shared file generated by an application executing on the compute node and metadata for the at least one portion of the shared file on one or more object storage servers. The compute node is also configured to implement a partitioned data store for storing a partition of the metadata for the shared file, wherein the partitioned data store communicates with partitioned data stores on other compute nodes using a message passing interface. The partitioned data store can be implemented, for example, using Multidimensional Data Hashing Indexing Middleware (MDHIM).

An Object Oriented Extensible Architecture for Affordable Aerospace Propulsion Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Follen, Gregory J.; Lytle, John K. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Driven by a need to explore and develop propulsion systems that exceeded current computing capabilities, NASA Glenn embarked on a novel strategy leading to the development of an architecture that enables propulsion simulations never thought possible before. Full engine 3 Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamic propulsion system simulations were deemed impossible due to the impracticality of the hardware and software computing systems required. However, with a software paradigm shift and an embracing of parallel and distributed processing, an architecture was designed to meet the needs of future propulsion system modeling. The author suggests that the architecture designed at the NASA Glenn Research Center for propulsion system modeling has potential for impacting the direction of development of affordable weapons systems currently under consideration by the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel (AVT). This paper discusses the salient features of the NPSS Architecture including its interface layer, object layer, implementation for accessing legacy codes, numerical zooming infrastructure and its computing layer. The computing layer focuses on the use and deployment of these propulsion simulations on parallel and distributed computing platforms which has been the focus of NASA Ames. Additional features of the object oriented architecture that support MultiDisciplinary (MD) Coupling, computer aided design (CAD) access and MD coupling objects will be discussed. Included will be a discussion of the successes, challenges and benefits of implementing this architecture.

Demonstration That Calibration of the Instrument Response to Polarizations Parallel and Perpendicular to the Object Space Projected Slit of an Imaging Spectrometer Enable Measurement of the Atmospheric Absorption Spectrum in Region of the Weak CO2 Band for the Case of Arbitrary Polarization: Implication for the Geocarb Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumer, J. B.; Rairden, R. L.; Polonsky, I. N.; O'Brien, D. M.

2014-12-01

The Tropospheric Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (TIMS) unit rebuilt to operate in a narrow spectral region, approximately 1603 to 1615 nm, of the weak CO2 band as described by Kumer et al. (2013, Proc. SPIE 8867, doi:10.1117/12.2022668) was used to conduct the demonstration. An integrating sphere (IS), linear polarizers and quarter wave plate were used to confirm that the instrument's spectral response to unpolarized light, to 45° linearly polarized light and to circular polarized light are identical. In all these cases the intensity components Ip = Is where Ip is the component parallel to the object space projected slit and Is is perpendicular to the slit. In the circular polarized case Ip = Is in the time averaged sense. The polarizer and IS were used to characterize the ratio Rθ of the instrument response to linearly polarized light at the angle θ relative to parallel from the slit, for increments of θ from 0 to 90°, to that of the unpolarized case. Spectra of diffusely reflected sunlight passed through the polarizer in increments of θ, and divided by the respective Rθ showed identical results, within the noise limit, for solar spectrum multiplied by the atmospheric transmission and convolved by the Instrument Line Shape (ILS). These measurements demonstrate that unknown polarization in the diffusely reflected sunlight on this small spectral range affect only the slow change across the narrow band in spectral response relative to that of unpolarized light and NOT the finely structured / high contrast spectral structure of the CO2 atmospheric absorption that is used to retrieve the atmospheric content of CO2. The latter is one of the geoCARB mission objectives (Kumer et al, 2013). The situation is similar for the other three narrow geoCARB bands; O2 A band 757.9 to 768.6 nm; strong CO2 band 2045.0 to 2085.0 nm; CH4 and CO region 2300.6 to 2345.6 nm. Polonsky et al have repeated the mission simulation study doi:10.5194/amt-7-959-2014 assuming no use of a geoCARB depolarizer or polarizer. Enabled by measurement of the geoCARB grating efficiencies the simulated intensities Ism include the slow polarization induced spectral change across the band. These Ism are input to the retrieval SW that was used in the original study. There is no significant change to the very positive previous results for the mission objective of gas column retrieval.

BPF-type region-of-interest reconstruction for parallel translational computed tomography.

PubMed

Wu, Weiwen; Yu, Hengyong; Wang, Shaoyu; Liu, Fenglin

2017-01-01

The objective of this study is to present and test a new ultra-low-cost linear scan based tomography architecture. Similar to linear tomosynthesis, the source and detector are translated in opposite directions and the data acquisition system targets on a region-of-interest (ROI) to acquire data for image reconstruction. This kind of tomographic architecture was named parallel translational computed tomography (PTCT). In previous studies, filtered backprojection (FBP)-type algorithms were developed to reconstruct images from PTCT. However, the reconstructed ROI images from truncated projections have severe truncation artefact. In order to overcome this limitation, we in this study proposed two backprojection filtering (BPF)-type algorithms named MP-BPF and MZ-BPF to reconstruct ROI images from truncated PTCT data. A weight function is constructed to deal with data redundancy for multi-linear translations modes. Extensive numerical simulations are performed to evaluate the proposed MP-BPF and MZ-BPF algorithms for PTCT in fan-beam geometry. Qualitative and quantitative results demonstrate that the proposed BPF-type algorithms cannot only more accurately reconstruct ROI images from truncated projections but also generate high-quality images for the entire image support in some circumstances.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Collett, Raymond; Howland, James; Venkiteswaran, Prasad

This report examines the benefits of Parker Hannifin hydraulic hybrid brake energy recovery systems used in commercial applications for vocational purposes. A detailed background on the problem statement being addressed as well as the solution set specific for parcel delivery will be provided. Objectives of the demonstration performed in high start & stop applications included opportunities in fuel usage reduction, emissions reduction, vehicle productivity, and vehicle maintenance. Completed findings during the demonstration period and parallel investigations with NREL, CALSTART, along with a literature review will be provided herein on this research area. Lastly, results identified in the study by thirdmore » parties validated the savings potential in fuel reduction of on average of 19% to 52% over the baseline in terms of mpg (Lammert, 2014, p11), Parker data for parcel delivery vehicles in the field parallels this at a range of 35% - 50%, emissions reduction of 17.4% lower CO2 per mile and 30.4% lower NOx per mile (Gallo, 2014, p15), with maintenance improvement in the areas of brake and starter replacement, while leaving room for further study in the area of productivity in terms of specific metrics that can be applied and studied.« less

Variable-Complexity Multidisciplinary Optimization on Parallel Computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grossman, Bernard; Mason, William H.; Watson, Layne T.; Haftka, Raphael T.

1998-01-01

This report covers work conducted under grant NAG1-1562 for the NASA High Performance Computing and Communications Program (HPCCP) from December 7, 1993, to December 31, 1997. The objective of the research was to develop new multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) techniques which exploit parallel computing to reduce the computational burden of aircraft MDO. The design of the High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) air-craft was selected as a test case to demonstrate the utility of our MDO methods. The three major tasks of this research grant included: development of parallel multipoint approximation methods for the aerodynamic design of the HSCT, use of parallel multipoint approximation methods for structural optimization of the HSCT, mathematical and algorithmic development including support in the integration of parallel computation for items (1) and (2). These tasks have been accomplished with the development of a response surface methodology that incorporates multi-fidelity models. For the aerodynamic design we were able to optimize with up to 20 design variables using hundreds of expensive Euler analyses together with thousands of inexpensive linear theory simulations. We have thereby demonstrated the application of CFD to a large aerodynamic design problem. For the predicting structural weight we were able to combine hundreds of structural optimizations of refined finite element models with thousands of optimizations based on coarse models. Computations have been carried out on the Intel Paragon with up to 128 nodes. The parallel computation allowed us to perform combined aerodynamic-structural optimization using state of the art models of a complex aircraft configurations.

PFLOTRAN User Manual: A Massively Parallel Reactive Flow and Transport Model for Describing Surface and Subsurface Processes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lichtner, Peter C.; Hammond, Glenn E.; Lu, Chuan

PFLOTRAN solves a system of generally nonlinear partial differential equations describing multi-phase, multicomponent and multiscale reactive flow and transport in porous materials. The code is designed to run on massively parallel computing architectures as well as workstations and laptops (e.g. Hammond et al., 2011). Parallelization is achieved through domain decomposition using the PETSc (Portable Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computation) libraries for the parallelization framework (Balay et al., 1997). PFLOTRAN has been developed from the ground up for parallel scalability and has been run on up to 218 processor cores with problem sizes up to 2 billion degrees of freedom. Writtenmore » in object oriented Fortran 90, the code requires the latest compilers compatible with Fortran 2003. At the time of this writing this requires gcc 4.7.x, Intel 12.1.x and PGC compilers. As a requirement of running problems with a large number of degrees of freedom, PFLOTRAN allows reading input data that is too large to fit into memory allotted to a single processor core. The current limitation to the problem size PFLOTRAN can handle is the limitation of the HDF5 file format used for parallel IO to 32 bit integers. Noting that 2 32 = 4; 294; 967; 296, this gives an estimate of the maximum problem size that can be currently run with PFLOTRAN. Hopefully this limitation will be remedied in the near future.« less

Far-infrared observations of the exciting stars of Herbig-Haro objects. III - Circumstellar disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cohen, M.; Harvey, P. M.; Schwartz, R. D.

1985-01-01

Far-infrared observations of the exciting stars of Herbig-Haro objects are presented that (1) show these stars to be of low luminosity; (2) indicate that it is not usual for these objects themselves to be visible at far-infrared wavelengths; and (3) demonstrate the existence of spatially resolved, physically large, potentially disklike structures. These latter structures are resolved perpendicular to the directions of flow from the stars, but not parallel to the flows. In addition to these general properties, two new HH-exciting stars were discovered by searching along the extrapolated proper motion vectors for these HHs; and the jetlike object 'DG Tau B' was also detected.

The correlation study of parallel feature extractor and noise reduction approaches

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dewi, Deshinta Arrova; Sundararajan, Elankovan; Prabuwono, Anton Satria

2015-05-15

This paper presents literature reviews that show variety of techniques to develop parallel feature extractor and finding its correlation with noise reduction approaches for low light intensity images. Low light intensity images are normally displayed as darker images and low contrast. Without proper handling techniques, those images regularly become evidences of misperception of objects and textures, the incapability to section them. The visual illusions regularly clues to disorientation, user fatigue, poor detection and classification performance of humans and computer algorithms. Noise reduction approaches (NR) therefore is an essential step for other image processing steps such as edge detection, image segmentation,more » image compression, etc. Parallel Feature Extractor (PFE) meant to capture visual contents of images involves partitioning images into segments, detecting image overlaps if any, and controlling distributed and redistributed segments to extract the features. Working on low light intensity images make the PFE face challenges and closely depend on the quality of its pre-processing steps. Some papers have suggested many well established NR as well as PFE strategies however only few resources have suggested or mentioned the correlation between them. This paper reviews best approaches of the NR and the PFE with detailed explanation on the suggested correlation. This finding may suggest relevant strategies of the PFE development. With the help of knowledge based reasoning, computational approaches and algorithms, we present the correlation study between the NR and the PFE that can be useful for the development and enhancement of other existing PFE.« less

On the Use of CAD and Cartesian Methods for Aerodynamic Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nemec, M.; Aftosmis, M. J.; Pulliam, T. H.

2004-01-01

The objective for this paper is to present the development of an optimization capability for Curt3D, a Cartesian inviscid-flow analysis package. We present the construction of a new optimization framework and we focus on the following issues: 1) Component-based geometry parameterization approach using parametric-CAD models and CAPRI. A novel geometry server is introduced that addresses the issue of parallel efficiency while only sparingly consuming CAD resources; 2) The use of genetic and gradient-based algorithms for three-dimensional aerodynamic design problems. The influence of noise on the optimization methods is studied. Our goal is to create a responsive and automated framework that efficiently identifies design modifications that result in substantial performance improvements. In addition, we examine the architectural issues associated with the deployment of a CAD-based approach in a heterogeneous parallel computing environment that contains both CAD workstations and dedicated compute engines. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework for a design problem that features topology changes and complex geometry.

The GBS code for tokamak scrape-off layer simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Halpern, F.D., E-mail: federico.halpern@epfl.ch; Ricci, P.; Jolliet, S.

2016-06-15

We describe a new version of GBS, a 3D global, flux-driven plasma turbulence code to simulate the turbulent dynamics in the tokamak scrape-off layer (SOL), superseding the code presented by Ricci et al. (2012) [14]. The present work is driven by the objective of studying SOL turbulent dynamics in medium size tokamaks and beyond with a high-fidelity physics model. We emphasize an intertwining framework of improved physics models and the computational improvements that allow them. The model extensions include neutral atom physics, finite ion temperature, the addition of a closed field line region, and a non-Boussinesq treatment of the polarizationmore » drift. GBS has been completely refactored with the introduction of a 3-D Cartesian communicator and a scalable parallel multigrid solver. We report dramatically enhanced parallel scalability, with the possibility of treating electromagnetic fluctuations very efficiently. The method of manufactured solutions as a verification process has been carried out for this new code version, demonstrating the correct implementation of the physical model.« less

Observation of the Chiral and Achiral Hexatic Phases of Self-assembled Micellar polymers

PubMed Central

Pal, Antara; Kamal, Md. Arif; Raghunathan, V. A.

2016-01-01

We report the discovery of a thermodynamically stable line hexatic (N + 6) phase in a three-dimensional (3D) system made up of self-assembled polymer-like micelles of amphiphilic molecules. The experimentally observed phase transition sequence nematic (N)  N + 6  two-dimensional hexagonal (2D-H) is in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. Further, the present study also brings to light the effect of chirality on the N + 6 phase. In the chiral N + 6 phase the bond-orientational order within each “polymer” bundle is found to be twisted about an axis parallel to the average polymer direction. This structure is consistent with the theoretically envisaged Moiré state, thereby providing the first experimental demonstration of the Moiré structure. In addition to confirming the predictions of fundamental theories of two-dimensional melting, these results are relevant in a variety of situations in chemistry, physics and biology, where parallel packing of polymer-like objects are encountered. PMID:27577927

Random-subset fitting of digital holograms for fast three-dimensional particle tracking [invited].

PubMed

Dimiduk, Thomas G; Perry, Rebecca W; Fung, Jerome; Manoharan, Vinothan N

2014-09-20

Fitting scattering solutions to time series of digital holograms is a precise way to measure three-dimensional dynamics of microscale objects such as colloidal particles. However, this inverse-problem approach is computationally expensive. We show that the computational time can be reduced by an order of magnitude or more by fitting to a random subset of the pixels in a hologram. We demonstrate our algorithm on experimentally measured holograms of micrometer-scale colloidal particles, and we show that 20-fold increases in speed, relative to fitting full frames, can be attained while introducing errors in the particle positions of 10 nm or less. The method is straightforward to implement and works for any scattering model. It also enables a parallelization strategy wherein random-subset fitting is used to quickly determine initial guesses that are subsequently used to fit full frames in parallel. This approach may prove particularly useful for studying rare events, such as nucleation, that can only be captured with high frame rates over long times.

Military Performance and Health Monitoring in Extreme Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-01

radiation and wind to give a true temperature reading . At high ambient temperatures, in particular in combination with solar radiation, objects may...Equivital multi-sensor unit enabling the real-time, parallel and continuous assessment of EKG (and heart rate), respiration (and respiration rate), skin

Paradise: A Parallel Information System for EOSDIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeWitt, David

1996-01-01

The Paradise project was begun-in 1993 in order to explore the application of the parallel and object-oriented database system technology developed as a part of the Gamma, Exodus. and Shore projects to the design and development of a scaleable, geo-spatial database system for storing both massive spatial and satellite image data sets. Paradise is based on an object-relational data model. In addition to the standard attribute types such as integers, floats, strings and time, Paradise also provides a set of and multimedia data types, designed to facilitate the storage and querying of complex spatial and multimedia data sets. An individual tuple can contain any combination of this rich set of data types. For example, in the EOSDIS context, a tuple might mix terrain and map data for an area along with the latest satellite weather photo of the area. The use of a geo-spatial metaphor simplifies the task of fusing disparate forms of data from multiple data sources including text, image, map, and video data sets.

Parallel algorithms for the molecular conformation problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajan, Kumar

Given a set of objects, and some of the pairwise distances between them, the problem of identifying the positions of the objects in the Euclidean space is referred to as the molecular conformation problem. This problem is known to be computationally difficult. One of the most important applications of this problem is the determination of the structure of molecules. In the case of molecular structure determination, usually only the lower and upper bounds on some of the interatomic distances are available. The process of obtaining a tighter set of bounds between all pairs of atoms, using the available interatomic distance bounds is referred to as bound-smoothing . One method for bound-smoothing is to use the limits imposed by the triangle inequality. The distance bounds so obtained can often be tightened further by applying the tetrangle inequality---the limits imposed on the six pairwise distances among a set of four atoms (instead of three for the triangle inequalities). The tetrangle inequality is expressed by the Cayley-Menger determinants. The sequential tetrangle-inequality bound-smoothing algorithm considers a quadruple of atoms at a time, and tightens the bounds on each of its six distances. The sequential algorithm is computationally expensive, and its application is limited to molecules with up to a few hundred atoms. Here, we conduct an experimental study of tetrangle-inequality bound-smoothing and reduce the sequential time by identifying the most computationally expensive portions of the process. We also present a simple criterion to determine which of the quadruples of atoms are likely to be tightened the most by tetrangle-inequality bound-smoothing. This test could be used to enhance the applicability of this process to large molecules. We map the problem of parallelizing tetrangle-inequality bound-smoothing to that of generating disjoint packing designs of a certain kind. We map this, in turn, to a regular-graph coloring problem, and present a simple, parallel algorithm for tetrangle-inequality bound-smoothing. We implement the parallel algorithm on the Intel Paragon X/PS, and apply it to real-life molecules. Our results show that with this parallel algorithm, tetrangle inequality can be applied to large molecules in a reasonable amount of time. We extend the regular graph to represent more general packing designs, and present a coloring algorithm for this graph. This can be used to generate constant-weight binary codes in parallel. Once a tighter set of distance bounds is obtained, the molecular conformation problem is usually formulated as a non-linear optimization problem, and a global optimization algorithm is then used to solve the problem. Here we present a parallel, deterministic algorithm for the optimization problem based on Interval Analysis. We implement our algorithm, using dynamic load balancing, on a network of Sun Ultra-Sparc workstations. Our experience with this algorithm shows that its application is limited to small instances of the molecular conformation problem, where the number of measured, pairwise distances is close to the maximum value. However, since the interval method eliminates a substantial portion of the initial search space very quickly, it can be used to prune the search space before any of the more efficient, nondeterministic methods can be applied.

SPOTting Model Parameters Using a Ready-Made Python Package

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houska, Tobias; Kraft, Philipp; Chamorro-Chavez, Alejandro; Breuer, Lutz

2017-04-01

The choice for specific parameter estimation methods is often more dependent on its availability than its performance. We developed SPOTPY (Statistical Parameter Optimization Tool), an open source python package containing a comprehensive set of methods typically used to calibrate, analyze and optimize parameters for a wide range of ecological models. SPOTPY currently contains eight widely used algorithms, 11 objective functions, and can sample from eight parameter distributions. SPOTPY has a model-independent structure and can be run in parallel from the workstation to large computation clusters using the Message Passing Interface (MPI). We tested SPOTPY in five different case studies to parameterize the Rosenbrock, Griewank and Ackley functions, a one-dimensional physically based soil moisture routine, where we searched for parameters of the van Genuchten-Mualem function and a calibration of a biogeochemistry model with different objective functions. The case studies reveal that the implemented SPOTPY methods can be used for any model with just a minimal amount of code for maximal power of parameter optimization. They further show the benefit of having one package at hand that includes number of well performing parameter search methods, since not every case study can be solved sufficiently with every algorithm or every objective function.

SPOTting Model Parameters Using a Ready-Made Python Package.

PubMed

Houska, Tobias; Kraft, Philipp; Chamorro-Chavez, Alejandro; Breuer, Lutz

2015-01-01

The choice for specific parameter estimation methods is often more dependent on its availability than its performance. We developed SPOTPY (Statistical Parameter Optimization Tool), an open source python package containing a comprehensive set of methods typically used to calibrate, analyze and optimize parameters for a wide range of ecological models. SPOTPY currently contains eight widely used algorithms, 11 objective functions, and can sample from eight parameter distributions. SPOTPY has a model-independent structure and can be run in parallel from the workstation to large computation clusters using the Message Passing Interface (MPI). We tested SPOTPY in five different case studies to parameterize the Rosenbrock, Griewank and Ackley functions, a one-dimensional physically based soil moisture routine, where we searched for parameters of the van Genuchten-Mualem function and a calibration of a biogeochemistry model with different objective functions. The case studies reveal that the implemented SPOTPY methods can be used for any model with just a minimal amount of code for maximal power of parameter optimization. They further show the benefit of having one package at hand that includes number of well performing parameter search methods, since not every case study can be solved sufficiently with every algorithm or every objective function.

SPOTting Model Parameters Using a Ready-Made Python Package

PubMed Central

Houska, Tobias; Kraft, Philipp; Chamorro-Chavez, Alejandro; Breuer, Lutz

2015-01-01

The choice for specific parameter estimation methods is often more dependent on its availability than its performance. We developed SPOTPY (Statistical Parameter Optimization Tool), an open source python package containing a comprehensive set of methods typically used to calibrate, analyze and optimize parameters for a wide range of ecological models. SPOTPY currently contains eight widely used algorithms, 11 objective functions, and can sample from eight parameter distributions. SPOTPY has a model-independent structure and can be run in parallel from the workstation to large computation clusters using the Message Passing Interface (MPI). We tested SPOTPY in five different case studies to parameterize the Rosenbrock, Griewank and Ackley functions, a one-dimensional physically based soil moisture routine, where we searched for parameters of the van Genuchten-Mualem function and a calibration of a biogeochemistry model with different objective functions. The case studies reveal that the implemented SPOTPY methods can be used for any model with just a minimal amount of code for maximal power of parameter optimization. They further show the benefit of having one package at hand that includes number of well performing parameter search methods, since not every case study can be solved sufficiently with every algorithm or every objective function. PMID:26680783

The eudaimonic component of satisfaction with life and psychological well-being in Spanish cultures.

PubMed

Díaz, Darío; Stavraki, María; Blanco, Amalio; Gandarillas, Beatriz

2015-01-01

In the study of well-being there are two partially overlapping traditions that have been developed in parallel. Subjective well-being (SWB) has been associated with the hedonistic approach of well-being, and psychological well-being (PWB) with the eudaimonistic one. However, satisfaction with life, the most common SWB indicator, is not strictly a hedonic concept and contains many eudaimonic components. The objective of this research is to examine whether a Eudaimonic Well-being G-Factor of Satisfaction with Life (SWLS) and Psychological Well-being Scales (PWBS) emerges. 400 people from the general population of Colombia (Study 1) and 401 from Spain (Study 2), recruited via advertisement, voluntarily participated and filled in a booklet containing, in order of appearance, the PWBS and the SWLS. According to our hypothesis, parallel analysis, eigenvalues, scree plot graphs and exploratory factor analysis (Study 1) suggested the existence of a one-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2) indicated that this one-factor model provided excellent data fit. Results of a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis confirmed cross-cultural factor invariance. These results question the view that the satisfaction with life indicator is uniquely hedonic and point to the need for a greater integration between hedonic and eudaimonic traditions.

Distributed parameter system coupled ARMA expansion identification and adaptive parallel IIR filtering - A unified problem statement. [Auto Regressive Moving-Average

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, C. R., Jr.; Balas, M. J.

1980-01-01

A novel interconnection of distributed parameter system (DPS) identification and adaptive filtering is presented, which culminates in a common statement of coupled autoregressive, moving-average expansion or parallel infinite impulse response configuration adaptive parameterization. The common restricted complexity filter objectives are seen as similar to the reduced-order requirements of the DPS expansion description. The interconnection presents the possibility of an exchange of problem formulations and solution approaches not yet easily addressed in the common finite dimensional lumped-parameter system context. It is concluded that the shared problems raised are nevertheless many and difficult.

Scheduling Jobs with Variable Job Processing Times on Unrelated Parallel Machines

PubMed Central

Zhang, Guang-Qian; Wang, Jian-Jun; Liu, Ya-Jing

2014-01-01

m unrelated parallel machines scheduling problems with variable job processing times are considered, where the processing time of a job is a function of its position in a sequence, its starting time, and its resource allocation. The objective is to determine the optimal resource allocation and the optimal schedule to minimize a total cost function that dependents on the total completion (waiting) time, the total machine load, the total absolute differences in completion (waiting) times on all machines, and total resource cost. If the number of machines is a given constant number, we propose a polynomial time algorithm to solve the problem. PMID:24982933

Evaluating Nextgen Closely Spaced Parallel Operations Concepts with Validated Human Performance Models: Flight Deck Guidelines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hooey, Becky Lee; Gore, Brian Francis; Mahlstedt, Eric; Foyle, David C.

2013-01-01

The objectives of the current research were to develop valid human performance models (HPMs) of approach and land operations; use these models to evaluate the impact of NextGen Closely Spaced Parallel Operations (CSPO) on pilot performance; and draw conclusions regarding flight deck display design and pilot-ATC roles and responsibilities for NextGen CSPO concepts. This document presents guidelines and implications for flight deck display designs and candidate roles and responsibilities. A companion document (Gore, Hooey, Mahlstedt, & Foyle, 2013) provides complete scenario descriptions and results including predictions of pilot workload, visual attention and time to detect off-nominal events.

An investigation of the effect of instruction in physics on the formation of mental models for problem-solving in the context of simple electric circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beh, Kian Lim

2000-10-01

This study was designed to explore the effect of a typical traditional method of instruction in physics on the formation of useful mental models among college students for problem-solving using simple electric circuits as a context. The study was also aimed at providing a comprehensive description of the understanding regarding electric circuits among novices and experts. In order to achieve these objectives, the following two research approaches were employed: (1) A students survey to collect data from 268 physics students; and (2) An interview protocol to collect data from 23 physics students and 24 experts (including 10 electrical engineering graduates, 4 practicing electrical engineers, 2 secondary school physics teachers, 8 physics lecturers, and 4 electrical engineers). Among the major findings are: (1) Most students do not possess accurate models of simple electric circuits as presented implicitly in physics textbooks; (2) Most students display good procedural understanding for solving simple problems concerning electric circuits but have no in-depth conceptual understanding in terms of practical knowledge of current, voltage, resistance, and circuit connections; (3) Most students encounter difficulty in discerning parallel connections that are drawn in a non-conventional format; (4) After a year of college physics, students show significant improvement in areas, including practical knowledge of current and voltage, ability to compute effective resistance and capacitance, ability to identify circuit connections, and ability to solve problems; however, no significance was found in practical knowledge of resistance and ability to connect circuits; and (5) The differences and similarities between the physics students and the experts include: (a) Novices perceive parallel circuits more in terms of 'branch', 'current', and 'resistors with the same resistance' while experts perceive parallel circuits more in terms of 'node', 'voltage', and 'less resistance'; and (b) Both novices and experts use phrases such as 'side-by side' and 'one on top of the other' in describing parallel circuits which emphasize the geometry of the standard circuit drawing when describing parallel resistors.

OFF, Open source Finite volume Fluid dynamics code: A free, high-order solver based on parallel, modular, object-oriented Fortran API

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaghi, S.

2014-07-01

OFF, an open source (free software) code for performing fluid dynamics simulations, is presented. The aim of OFF is to solve, numerically, the unsteady (and steady) compressible Navier-Stokes equations of fluid dynamics by means of finite volume techniques: the research background is mainly focused on high-order (WENO) schemes for multi-fluids, multi-phase flows over complex geometries. To this purpose a highly modular, object-oriented application program interface (API) has been developed. In particular, the concepts of data encapsulation and inheritance available within Fortran language (from standard 2003) have been stressed in order to represent each fluid dynamics "entity" (e.g. the conservative variables of a finite volume, its geometry, etc…) by a single object so that a large variety of computational libraries can be easily (and efficiently) developed upon these objects. The main features of OFF can be summarized as follows: Programming LanguageOFF is written in standard (compliant) Fortran 2003; its design is highly modular in order to enhance simplicity of use and maintenance without compromising the efficiency; Parallel Frameworks Supported the development of OFF has been also targeted to maximize the computational efficiency: the code is designed to run on shared-memory multi-cores workstations and distributed-memory clusters of shared-memory nodes (supercomputers); the code's parallelization is based on Open Multiprocessing (OpenMP) and Message Passing Interface (MPI) paradigms; Usability, Maintenance and Enhancement in order to improve the usability, maintenance and enhancement of the code also the documentation has been carefully taken into account; the documentation is built upon comprehensive comments placed directly into the source files (no external documentation files needed): these comments are parsed by means of doxygen free software producing high quality html and latex documentation pages; the distributed versioning system referred as git has been adopted in order to facilitate the collaborative maintenance and improvement of the code; CopyrightsOFF is a free software that anyone can use, copy, distribute, study, change and improve under the GNU Public License version 3. The present paper is a manifesto of OFF code and presents the currently implemented features and ongoing developments. This work is focused on the computational techniques adopted and a detailed description of the main API characteristics is reported. OFF capabilities are demonstrated by means of one and two dimensional examples and a three dimensional real application.

Study of noise propagation and the effects of insufficient numbers of projection angles and detector samplings for iterative reconstruction using planar-integral data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, B.; Zeng, G. L.

2006-09-15

A rotating slat collimator can be used to acquire planar-integral data. It achieves higher geometric efficiency than a parallel-hole collimator by accepting more photons, but the planar-integral data contain less tomographic information that may result in larger noise amplification in the reconstruction. Lodge evaluated the rotating slat system and the parallel-hole system based on noise behavior for an FBP reconstruction. Here, we evaluate the noise propagation properties of the two collimation systems for iterative reconstruction. We extend Huesman's noise propagation analysis of the line-integral system to the planar-integral case, and show that approximately 2.0(D/dp) SPECT angles, 2.5(D/dp) self-spinning angles atmore » each detector position, and a 0.5dp detector sampling interval are required in order for the planar-integral data to be efficiently utilized. Here, D is the diameter of the object and dp is the linear dimension of the voxels that subdivide the object. The noise propagation behaviors of the two systems are then compared based on a least-square reconstruction using the ratio of the SNR in the image reconstructed using a planar-integral system to that reconstructed using a line-integral system. The ratio is found to be proportional to {radical}(F/D), where F is a geometric efficiency factor. This result has been verified by computer simulations. It confirms that for an iterative reconstruction, the noise tradeoff of the two systems is not only dependent on the increase of the geometric efficiency afforded by the planar projection method, but also dependent on the size of the object. The planar-integral system works better for small objects, while the line-integral system performs better for large ones. This result is consistent with Lodge's results based on the FBP method.« less

Two spatial memories are not better than one: evidence of exclusivity in memory for object location.

PubMed

Baguley, Thom; Lansdale, Mark W; Lines, Lorna K; Parkin, Jennifer K

2006-05-01

This paper studies the dynamics of attempting to access two spatial memories simultaneously and its implications for the accuracy of recall. Experiment 1 demonstrates in a range of conditions that two cues pointing to different experiences of the same object location produce little or no higher recall than that observed with a single cue. Experiment 2 confirms this finding in a within-subject design where both cues have previously elicited recall. Experiment 3 shows that these findings are only consistent with a model in which two representations of the same object location are mutually exclusive at both encoding and retrieval, and inconsistent with models that assume information from both representations is available. We propose that these representations quantify directionally specific judgments of location relative to specific anchor points in the stimulus; a format that precludes the parallel processing of like representations. Finally, we consider the apparent paradox of how such representations might contribute to the acquisition of spatial knowledge from multiple experiences of the same stimuli.

Performance Analysis of an Actor-Based Distributed Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoeffler, James D.

1998-01-01

Object-oriented design of simulation programs appears to be very attractive because of the natural association of components in the simulated system with objects. There is great potential in distributing the simulation across several computers for the purpose of parallel computation and its consequent handling of larger problems in less elapsed time. One approach to such a design is to use "actors", that is, active objects with their own thread of control. Because these objects execute concurrently, communication is via messages. This is in contrast to an object-oriented design using passive objects where communication between objects is via method calls (direct calls when they are in the same address space and remote procedure calls when they are in different address spaces or different machines). This paper describes a performance analysis program for the evaluation of a design for distributed simulations based upon actors.

Detecting Planar Surfaces in Outdoor Urban Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

coplanar or parallel scene points and lines. Sturm and Maybank (18) perform 3D reconstruction given user-provided coplanarity, perpendicularity, and... Maybank , S. J. A method for intactive 3d reconstruction of piercewise planar objects from single images. in BMVC, 1999, 265–274 [19] Schaffalitzky, F

Tapping into Parallel Universes: Using Superhero Comic Books in Sociology Courses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Kelley J.; Lucal, Betsy

1999-01-01

Provides objectives and guidelines for preparing and executing a classroom exercise using superhero comic books. Discusses variations on the exercise for topics such as sociology of gender, social inequality, research methods, and introduction to sociology. Addresses purchasing comic books for the course. (CMK)

Use of inertial properties to orient tomatoes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Recent theoretical and experimental results have demonstrated that it is possible to orient quasi-round objects such as apples by taking advantage of inertial-effects during rotation. In practice, an apple rolled down a track consisting of two parallel rails tends to move to an orientation where the...

Apparatus for Teaching Physics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottlieb, Herbert H., Ed.

1981-01-01

Describes: (1) a seven-segment LED display successfully used as an "illuminated" object for introductory optics experiments and advantages for its use; (2) a series/parallel circuit demonstration especially useful in introductory courses for nonmajors; and (3) a method for igniting a sodium arc lamp with an incandescent lamp. (JN)

Implementation of an Object-Oriented Flight Simulator D.C. Electrical System on a Hypercube Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-01

abstract data type is, what an object-oriented design is and how to apply "software engineering" principles to the design of both of them. I owe a great... Program (ASVP), a research and development effort by two aerospace contractors to redesign and implement subsets of two existing flight simulators in...effort addresses how to implement a simulator designed using the SEI OOD Paradigm on a distributed, parallel, multiple instruction, multiple data (MIMD

Motorboat propeller injuries.

PubMed

Di Nunno, N; Di Nunno, C

2000-07-01

The authors analyze the case of an Albanian refugee who was killed by the propellers of the outboard engine of a rubber dinghy while illegally attempting to reach Italy. The finding of multiple parallel, deep clear-cut injuries is uncommon, but highly characteristic of the object producing the lesions. These are typical and cannot be mistaken with those produced by sharp objects or shark bites. The description of the injuries is vital for establishing the position of the victim with regard to the propeller that struck him.

Object Recognition Using Range Images.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-12-01

and Reflectance Data to Find Planar Suface Regions," IEEE Transactions on Pattern Reco1iio n and Machine Intelligence , PAMI-l: 259-271 (July 1979...large number of data points. The dashed curve in the second through fourth qua- drants was drawn so as to parallel the curve in the first quadrant. One...find too much data . This lack of data has to do with the discri- mination ability of SDFs for objects of which the SDF’s are not composed. Thus for

Time to contact and the control of manual prehension.

PubMed

Watson, M K; Jakobson, L S

1997-11-01

In the present study, a kinematic analysis was made of unconstrained, natural prehension movements directed toward an object approaching the observer on a conveyor belt at one of three constant velocities, from one of three different directions (head-on or along the fronto-parallel plane coming either from the subject's left or right). Subjects were required to grasp the object when it reached a target located 20 cm directly in front of the hand's start position. The kinematic analysis revealed that both the transport and grasp components of the movement changed in response to the experimental manipulations, but did so in a manner that guaranteed that, for objects approaching from a given direction, hand closure would begin at a constant time prior to object contact (regardless of the object's approach speed). The kinematic analysis also revealed, however, that the onset of hand closure began earlier with objects approaching from the right than from other directions -- an effect which would not be predicted if time to contact was the key variable controlling the onset of hand closure. These results, then, lend only partial support to the theory that temporal coordination between the transport and grasp components of prehension is ensured through their common dependence on time to contact information.

Parallel object-oriented data mining system

DOEpatents

Kamath, Chandrika; Cantu-Paz, Erick

2004-01-06

A data mining system uncovers patterns, associations, anomalies and other statistically significant structures in data. Data files are read and displayed. Objects in the data files are identified. Relevant features for the objects are extracted. Patterns among the objects are recognized based upon the features. Data from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty Centimeters (FIRST) sky survey was used to search for bent doubles. This test was conducted on data from the Very Large Array in New Mexico which seeks to locate a special type of quasar (radio-emitting stellar object) called bent doubles. The FIRST survey has generated more than 32,000 images of the sky to date. Each image is 7.1 megabytes, yielding more than 100 gigabytes of image data in the entire data set.

Three-dimensional object surface identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celenk, Mehmet

1995-03-01

This paper describes a computationally efficient matching method for inspecting 3D objects using their serial cross sections. Object regions of interest in cross-sectional binary images of successive slices are aligned with those of the models. Cross-sectional differences between the object and the models are measured in the direction of the gradient of the cross section boundary. This is repeated in all the cross-sectional images. The model with minimum average cross-sectional difference is selected as the best match to the given object (i.e., no defect). The method is tested using various computer generated surfaces and matching results are presented. It is also demonstrated using Symult S-2010 16-node system that the method is suitable for parallel implementation in massage passing processors with the maximum attainable speedup (close to 16 for S-2010).

Do apes and monkeys rely upon conceptual reversibility? : A review of studies using seriated nesting cups in children and nonhuman primates.

PubMed

Johnson-Pynn, J; Fragaszy, D M

2001-11-01

The ability to seriate nesting cups as a sensorimotor task has posed interesting questions for cognitive scientists. Greenfield et al. [(1972) Cognit Psychol 3:291-310] found parallels between children's combinatorial activity with nesting cups and patterns of phonological and grammatical constructions. The parallels suggested the possibility of a neurally based developmental homology between language and instrumental action [Greenfield (1991) Behav Brain Sci 14:531-595]. Children who predominantly used subassembly, a hierarchical method of combining cups, succeeded at seriating nesting cups more often than those who did not. Greenfield and others [e.g., Piaget and Inhelder (1969) The psychology of the child. Basic Books, New York; DeLoache et al. (1985) Child Dev 56:928-939] argued that success in seriation reflects the child's growing recognition of a reversible relationship: a particular element in a series is conceived of as being smaller than the previous element and larger than the subsequent element. But is a concept of reversibility or a hierarchical form of object manipulation necessary to seriate cups? In this article, we review studies with very young children and nonhuman primates to determine how individuals that do not evidence conceptual reversibility manage the seriation task. We argue that the development of skill in seriation is experientially, rather than conceptually, driven and that it may be unnecessary to link seriation with cognitive conceptions of reversibility or linguistic capacities. Rather, in ordering a set of objects by size, perceptual-motor learning may enable contemplative refinement.

Lifespan development of attentiveness in domestic dogs: drawing parallels with humans

PubMed Central

Wallis, Lisa J.; Range, Friederike; Müller, Corsin A.; Serisier, Samuel; Huber, Ludwig; Zsó, Virányi

2014-01-01

Attention is pivotal to consciousness, perception, cognition, and working memory in all mammals, and therefore changes in attention over the lifespan are likely to influence development and aging of all of these functions. Due to their evolutionary and developmental history, the dog is being recognized as an important species for modeling human healthspan, aging and associated diseases. In this study, we investigated the normal lifespan development of attentiveness of pet dogs in naturalistic situations, and compared the resulting cross-sectional developmental trajectories with data from previous studies in humans. We tested a sample of 145 Border collies (6 months to 14 years) with humans and objects or food as attention attractors, in order to assess their attentional capture, sustained and selective attention, and sensorimotor abilities. Our results reveal differences in task relevance in sustained attentional performance when watching a human or a moving object, which may be explained by life-long learning processes involving such stimuli. During task switching we found that dogs’ selective attention and sensorimotor abilities showed differences between age groups, with performance peaking at middle age. Dogs’ sensorimotor abilities showed a quadratic distribution with age and were correlated with selective attention performance. Our results support the hypothesis that the development and senescence of sensorimotor and attentional control may be fundamentally interrelated. Additionally, attentional capture, sustained attention, and sensorimotor control developmental trajectories paralleled those found in humans. Given that the development of attention is similar across humans and dogs, we propose that the same regulatory mechanisms are likely to be present in both species. Finally, this cross-sectional study provides the first description of age group changes in attention over the lifespan of pet dogs. PMID:24570668

Encapsulating model complexity and landscape-scale analyses of state-and-transition simulation models: an application of ecoinformatics and juniper encroachment in sagebrush steppe ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Donnell, Michael

2015-01-01

State-and-transition simulation modeling relies on knowledge of vegetation composition and structure (states) that describe community conditions, mechanistic feedbacks such as fire that can affect vegetation establishment, and ecological processes that drive community conditions as well as the transitions between these states. However, as the need for modeling larger and more complex landscapes increase, a more advanced awareness of computing resources becomes essential. The objectives of this study include identifying challenges of executing state-and-transition simulation models, identifying common bottlenecks of computing resources, developing a workflow and software that enable parallel processing of Monte Carlo simulations, and identifying the advantages and disadvantages of different computing resources. To address these objectives, this study used the ApexRMS® SyncroSim software and embarrassingly parallel tasks of Monte Carlo simulations on a single multicore computer and on distributed computing systems. The results demonstrated that state-and-transition simulation models scale best in distributed computing environments, such as high-throughput and high-performance computing, because these environments disseminate the workloads across many compute nodes, thereby supporting analysis of larger landscapes, higher spatial resolution vegetation products, and more complex models. Using a case study and five different computing environments, the top result (high-throughput computing versus serial computations) indicated an approximate 96.6% decrease of computing time. With a single, multicore compute node (bottom result), the computing time indicated an 81.8% decrease relative to using serial computations. These results provide insight into the tradeoffs of using different computing resources when research necessitates advanced integration of ecoinformatics incorporating large and complicated data inputs and models. - See more at: http://aimspress.com/aimses/ch/reader/view_abstract.aspx?file_no=Environ2015030&flag=1#sthash.p1XKDtF8.dpuf

An Adaptive Memory Interface Controller for Improving Bandwidth Utilization of Hybrid and Reconfigurable Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Castellana, Vito G.; Tumeo, Antonino; Ferrandi, Fabrizio

Emerging applications such as data mining, bioinformatics, knowledge discovery, social network analysis are irregular. They use data structures based on pointers or linked lists, such as graphs, unbalanced trees or unstructures grids, which generates unpredictable memory accesses. These data structures usually are large, but difficult to partition. These applications mostly are memory bandwidth bounded and have high synchronization intensity. However, they also have large amounts of inherent dynamic parallelism, because they potentially perform a task for each one of the element they are exploring. Several efforts are looking at accelerating these applications on hybrid architectures, which integrate general purpose processorsmore » with reconfigurable devices. Some solutions, which demonstrated significant speedups, include custom-hand tuned accelerators or even full processor architectures on the reconfigurable logic. In this paper we present an approach for the automatic synthesis of accelerators from C, targeted at irregular applications. In contrast to typical High Level Synthesis paradigms, which construct a centralized Finite State Machine, our approach generates dynamically scheduled hardware components. While parallelism exploitation in typical HLS-generated accelerators is usually bound within a single execution flow, our solution allows concurrently running multiple execution flow, thus also exploiting the coarser grain task parallelism of irregular applications. Our approach supports multiple, multi-ported and distributed memories, and atomic memory operations. Its main objective is parallelizing as many memory operations as possible, independently from their execution time, to maximize the memory bandwidth utilization. This significantly differs from current HLS flows, which usually consider a single memory port and require precise scheduling of memory operations. A key innovation of our approach is the generation of a memory interface controller, which dynamically maps concurrent memory accesses to multiple ports. We present a case study on a typical irregular kernel, Graph Breadth First search (BFS), exploring different tradeoffs in terms of parallelism and number of memories.« less

Acoustic Parametric Array for Identifying Standoff Targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinders, M. K.; Rudd, K. E.

2010-02-01

An integrated simulation method for investigating nonlinear sound beams and 3D acoustic scattering from any combination of complicated objects is presented. A standard finite-difference simulation method is used to model pulsed nonlinear sound propagation from a source to a scattering target via the KZK equation. Then, a parallel 3D acoustic simulation method based on the finite integration technique is used to model the acoustic wave interaction with the target. Any combination of objects and material layers can be placed into the 3D simulation space to study the resulting interaction. Several example simulations are presented to demonstrate the simulation method and 3D visualization techniques. The combined simulation method is validated by comparing experimental and simulation data and a demonstration of how this combined simulation method assisted in the development of a nonlinear acoustic concealed weapons detector is also presented.

A Note on Compiling Fortran

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Busby, L. E.

Fortran modules tend to serialize compilation of large Fortran projects, by introducing dependencies among the source files. If file A depends on file B, (A uses a module defined by B), you must finish compiling B before you can begin compiling A. Some Fortran compilers (Intel ifort, GNU gfortran and IBM xlf, at least) offer an option to ‘‘verify syntax’’, with the side effect of also producing any associated Fortran module files. As it happens, this option usually runs much faster than the object code generation and optimization phases. For some projects on some machines, it can be advantageous tomore » compile in two passes: The first pass generates the module files, quickly; the second pass produces the object files, in parallel. We achieve a 3.8× speedup in the case study below.« less

Mental rotation training: transfer and maintenance effects on spatial abilities.

PubMed

Meneghetti, Chiara; Borella, Erika; Pazzaglia, Francesca

2016-01-01

One of the aims of research in spatial cognition is to examine whether spatial skills can be enhanced. The goal of the present study was thus to assess the benefit and maintenance effects of mental rotation training in young adults. Forty-eight females took part in the study: 16 were randomly assigned to receive the mental rotation training (based on comparing pairs of 2D or 3D objects and rotation games), 16 served as active controls (performing parallel non-spatial activities), and 16 as passive controls. Transfer effects to both untrained spatial tasks (testing both object rotation and perspective taking) and visual and verbal tasks were examined. Across the training sessions, the group given mental rotation training revealed benefits in the time it took to make judgments when comparing 3D and 2D objects, but their mental rotation speed did not improve. When compared with the other groups, the mental rotation training group did show transfer effects, however, in tasks other than those practiced (i.e., in object rotation and perspective-taking tasks), and these benefits persisted after 1 month. The training had no effect on visual or verbal tasks. These findings are discussed from the spatial cognition standpoint and with reference to the (rotation) training literature.

Space shuttle system program definition. Volume 2: Technical report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

The Phase B Extension of the Space Shuttle System Program Definition study was redirected to apply primary effort to consideration of space shuttle systems utilizing either recoverable pressure fed liquids or expendable solid rocket motor boosters. Two orbiter configurations were to be considered, one with a 15x60 foot payload bay with a 65,000 lb, due East, up-payload capability and the other with a 14x45 payload bay with 45,000 lb, of due East, up-payload. Both were to use three SSME engines with 472,000 lb of vacuum thrust each. Parallel and series burn ascent modes were to be considered for the launch configurations of primary interest. A recoverable pump-fed booster is included in the study in a series burn configuration with the 15x60 orbiter. To explore the potential of the swing engine orbiter configuration in the pad abort case, it is included in the study matrix in two launch configurations, a series burn pressure fed BRB and a parallel burn SRM. The resulting matrix of configuration options is shown. The principle objectives of this study are to evaluate the cost and technical differences between the liquid and solid propellant booster systems and to assess the development and operational cost savings available with a smaller orbiter.

Concurrent Probabilistic Simulation of High Temperature Composite Structural Response

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abdi, Frank

1996-01-01

A computational structural/material analysis and design tool which would meet industry's future demand for expedience and reduced cost is presented. This unique software 'GENOA' is dedicated to parallel and high speed analysis to perform probabilistic evaluation of high temperature composite response of aerospace systems. The development is based on detailed integration and modification of diverse fields of specialized analysis techniques and mathematical models to combine their latest innovative capabilities into a commercially viable software package. The technique is specifically designed to exploit the availability of processors to perform computationally intense probabilistic analysis assessing uncertainties in structural reliability analysis and composite micromechanics. The primary objectives which were achieved in performing the development were: (1) Utilization of the power of parallel processing and static/dynamic load balancing optimization to make the complex simulation of structure, material and processing of high temperature composite affordable; (2) Computational integration and synchronization of probabilistic mathematics, structural/material mechanics and parallel computing; (3) Implementation of an innovative multi-level domain decomposition technique to identify the inherent parallelism, and increasing convergence rates through high- and low-level processor assignment; (4) Creating the framework for Portable Paralleled architecture for the machine independent Multi Instruction Multi Data, (MIMD), Single Instruction Multi Data (SIMD), hybrid and distributed workstation type of computers; and (5) Market evaluation. The results of Phase-2 effort provides a good basis for continuation and warrants Phase-3 government, and industry partnership.

A Verification System for Distributed Objects with Asynchronous Method Calls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahrendt, Wolfgang; Dylla, Maximilian

We present a verification system for Creol, an object-oriented modeling language for concurrent distributed applications. The system is an instance of KeY, a framework for object-oriented software verification, which has so far been applied foremost to sequential Java. Building on KeY characteristic concepts, like dynamic logic, sequent calculus, explicit substitutions, and the taclet rule language, the system presented in this paper addresses functional correctness of Creol models featuring local cooperative thread parallelism and global communication via asynchronous method calls. The calculus heavily operates on communication histories which describe the interfaces of Creol units. Two example scenarios demonstrate the usage of the system.

Redundancy Matters: Flexible Learning of Multiple Contingencies in Infants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sloutsky, Vladimir M.; Robinson, Christopher W.

2013-01-01

Many objects and events can be categorized in different ways, and learning multiple categories in parallel often requires flexibly attending to different stimulus dimensions in different contexts. Although infants and young children often exhibit poor attentional control, several theoretical proposals argue that such flexibility can be achieved…

E-Learning and Lifelong Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mouzakitis, George S.; Tuncay, Nazime

2011-01-01

It is supported that the object of education is to provide results. Hence, it is of crucial importance to economic development globally. In our era, globalization is a highly disputable event with strong persuasive arguments and equally solid disagreements. The impact of globalization in our everyday activities has been increased. In parallel,…

Know Your Laws.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Joan Q.

These 24 self-contained competency-based modules are designed to acquaint Florida adult students with laws they will meet in everyday life; fundamentals of local, state, and federal governments; and the criminal and juvenile justice systems. (The 130 objectives are categorized in the first three levels of the Cognitive Domain and parallel the…

Mix It Up

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasquez-Mireles, Selina; West, Sandra

2007-01-01

A correlated science lesson is characterized as an integrated science lesson in that it may incorporate traditionally integrated activities and use math as a tool. However, a correlated math-science lesson also: (1) has the pertinent math and science objectives aligned with state standards; and (2) teaches parallel science and math ideas equally.…

Structure and Deterioration of Semantic Memory: A Neuropsychological and Computational Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, Timothy T.; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A.; Garrard, Peter; Bozeat, Sasha; McClelland, James L.; Hodges, John R.; Patterson, Karalyn

2004-01-01

Wernicke (1900, as cited in G. H. Eggert, 1977) suggested that semantic knowledge arises from the interaction of perceptual representations of objects and words. The authors present a parallel distributed processing implementation of this theory, in which semantic representations emerge from mechanisms that acquire the mappings between visual…

Quark structure of static correlators in high temperature QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernard, Claude; DeGrand, Thomas A.; DeTar, Carleton; Gottlieb, Steven; Krasnitz, A.; Ogilvie, Michael C.; Sugar, R. L.; Toussaint, D.

1992-07-01

We present results of numerical simulations of quantum chromodynamics at finite temperature with two flavors of Kogut-Susskind quarks on the Intel iPSC/860 parallel processor. We investigate the properties of the objects whose exchange gives static screening lengths by reconstructing their correlated quark-antiquark structure.

Automated design of spacecraft systems power subsystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Terrile, Richard J.; Kordon, Mark; Mandutianu, Dan; Salcedo, Jose; Wood, Eric; Hashemi, Mona

2006-01-01

This paper discusses the application of evolutionary computing to a dynamic space vehicle power subsystem resource and performance simulation in a parallel processing environment. Our objective is to demonstrate the feasibility, application and advantage of using evolutionary computation techniques for the early design search and optimization of space systems.

Vocational Training Council Annual Report 1987/88.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vocational Training Council (Hong Kong).

Presented is the bilingual annual report of the Hong Kong Vocational Training Council, arranged in parallel English and Chinese texts. After the council chairman's foreword, the report contains the objectives of the council; a list of council members; and descriptions of the council's activities involving industrial training, technical education,…

Effects of Dynamically Weighting Autonomous Rules in an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Flocking Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-18

methods of flight plan optimization, and yielded such techniques as: parallel A* (Gudaitis, 1994), Multi-Objective Traveling Salesman algorithms...1 Problem Statement...currently their utilization comes with a price: Problem Statement “Today’s unmanned systems require significant human interaction to operate. As

PFLOTRAN: Reactive Flow & Transport Code for Use on Laptops to Leadership-Class Supercomputers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hammond, Glenn E.; Lichtner, Peter C.; Lu, Chuan

PFLOTRAN, a next-generation reactive flow and transport code for modeling subsurface processes, has been designed from the ground up to run efficiently on machines ranging from leadership-class supercomputers to laptops. Based on an object-oriented design, the code is easily extensible to incorporate additional processes. It can interface seamlessly with Fortran 9X, C and C++ codes. Domain decomposition parallelism is employed, with the PETSc parallel framework used to manage parallel solvers, data structures and communication. Features of the code include a modular input file, implementation of high-performance I/O using parallel HDF5, ability to perform multiple realization simulations with multiple processors permore » realization in a seamless manner, and multiple modes for multiphase flow and multicomponent geochemical transport. Chemical reactions currently implemented in the code include homogeneous aqueous complexing reactions and heterogeneous mineral precipitation/dissolution, ion exchange, surface complexation and a multirate kinetic sorption model. PFLOTRAN has demonstrated petascale performance using 2{sup 17} processor cores with over 2 billion degrees of freedom. Accomplishments achieved to date include applications to the Hanford 300 Area and modeling CO{sub 2} sequestration in deep geologic formations.« less

Distributed Finite Element Analysis Using a Transputer Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, James; Favenesi, James; Danial, Albert; Tombrello, Joseph; Yang, Dabby; Reynolds, Brian; Turrentine, Ronald; Shephard, Mark; Baehmann, Peggy

1989-01-01

The principal objective of this research effort was to demonstrate the extraordinarily cost effective acceleration of finite element structural analysis problems using a transputer-based parallel processing network. This objective was accomplished in the form of a commercially viable parallel processing workstation. The workstation is a desktop size, low-maintenance computing unit capable of supercomputer performance yet costs two orders of magnitude less. To achieve the principal research objective, a transputer based structural analysis workstation termed XPFEM was implemented with linear static structural analysis capabilities resembling commercially available NASTRAN. Finite element model files, generated using the on-line preprocessing module or external preprocessing packages, are downloaded to a network of 32 transputers for accelerated solution. The system currently executes at about one third Cray X-MP24 speed but additional acceleration appears likely. For the NASA selected demonstration problem of a Space Shuttle main engine turbine blade model with about 1500 nodes and 4500 independent degrees of freedom, the Cray X-MP24 required 23.9 seconds to obtain a solution while the transputer network, operated from an IBM PC-AT compatible host computer, required 71.7 seconds. Consequently, the $80,000 transputer network demonstrated a cost-performance ratio about 60 times better than the $15,000,000 Cray X-MP24 system.

Frequent Statement and Dereference Elimination for Imperative and Object-Oriented Distributed Programs

PubMed Central

El-Zawawy, Mohamed A.

2014-01-01

This paper introduces new approaches for the analysis of frequent statement and dereference elimination for imperative and object-oriented distributed programs running on parallel machines equipped with hierarchical memories. The paper uses languages whose address spaces are globally partitioned. Distributed programs allow defining data layout and threads writing to and reading from other thread memories. Three type systems (for imperative distributed programs) are the tools of the proposed techniques. The first type system defines for every program point a set of calculated (ready) statements and memory accesses. The second type system uses an enriched version of types of the first type system and determines which of the ready statements and memory accesses are used later in the program. The third type system uses the information gather so far to eliminate unnecessary statement computations and memory accesses (the analysis of frequent statement and dereference elimination). Extensions to these type systems are also presented to cover object-oriented distributed programs. Two advantages of our work over related work are the following. The hierarchical style of concurrent parallel computers is similar to the memory model used in this paper. In our approach, each analysis result is assigned a type derivation (serves as a correctness proof). PMID:24892098

Design of an auto change mechanism and intelligent gripper for the space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dehoff, Paul H.; Naik, Dipak P.

1989-01-01

Robot gripping of objects in space is inherently demanding and dangerous and nowhere is this more clearly reflected than in the design of the robot gripper. An object which escapes the gripper in a micro g environment is launched not dropped. To prevent this, the gripper must have sensors and signal processing to determine that the object is properly grasped, e.g., grip points and gripping forces and, if not, to provide information to the robot to enable closed loop corrections to be made. The sensors and sensor strategies employed in the NASA/GSFC Split-Rail Parallel Gripper are described. Objectives and requirements are given followed by the design of the sensor suite, sensor fusion techniques and supporting algorithms.

Cortical regions recruited for complex active-learning strategies and action planning exhibit rapid reactivation during memory retrieval.

PubMed

Voss, Joel L; Galvan, Ashley; Gonsalves, Brian D

2011-12-01

Memory retrieval can involve activity in the same sensory cortical regions involved in perception of the original event, and this neural "reactivation" has been suggested as an important mechanism of memory retrieval. However, it is still unclear if fragments of experience other than sensory information are retained and later reactivated during retrieval. For example, learning in non-laboratory settings generally involves active exploration of memoranda, thus requiring the generation of action plans for behavior and the use of strategies deployed to improve subsequent memory performance. Is information pertaining to action planning and strategic processing retained and reactivated during retrieval? To address this question, we compared ERP correlates of memory retrieval for objects that had been studied in an active manner involving action planning and strategic processing to those for objects that had been studied passively. Memory performance was superior for actively studied objects, and unique ERP retrieval correlates for these objects were identified when subjects remembered the specific spatial locations at which objects were studied. Early-onset frontal shifts in ERP correlates of retrieval were noted for these objects, which parallel the recruitment of frontal cortex during learning object locations previously identified using fMRI with the same paradigm. Notably, ERPs during recall for items studied with a specific viewing strategy localized to the same supplementary motor cortex region previously identified with fMRI when this strategy was implemented during study, suggesting rapid reactivation of regions directly involved in strategic action planning. Collectively, these results implicate neural populations involved in learning in important retrieval functions, even for those populations involved in strategic control and action planning. Notably, these episodic features are not generally reported during recollective experiences, suggesting that reactivation is a more general property of memory retrieval that extends beyond those fragments of perceptual information that might be needed to re-live the past. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design and Implementation of High-Performance GIS Dynamic Objects Rendering Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Y.; Wang, S.; Li, R.; Yun, W.; Song, G.

2017-12-01

Spatio-temporal dynamic visualization is more vivid than static visualization. It important to use dynamic visualization techniques to reveal the variation process and trend vividly and comprehensively for the geographical phenomenon. To deal with challenges caused by dynamic visualization of both 2D and 3D spatial dynamic targets, especially for different spatial data types require high-performance GIS dynamic objects rendering engine. The main approach for improving the rendering engine with vast dynamic targets relies on key technologies of high-performance GIS, including memory computing, parallel computing, GPU computing and high-performance algorisms. In this study, high-performance GIS dynamic objects rendering engine is designed and implemented for solving the problem based on hybrid accelerative techniques. The high-performance GIS rendering engine contains GPU computing, OpenGL technology, and high-performance algorism with the advantage of 64-bit memory computing. It processes 2D, 3D dynamic target data efficiently and runs smoothly with vast dynamic target data. The prototype system of high-performance GIS dynamic objects rendering engine is developed based SuperMap GIS iObjects. The experiments are designed for large-scale spatial data visualization, the results showed that the high-performance GIS dynamic objects rendering engine have the advantage of high performance. Rendering two-dimensional and three-dimensional dynamic objects achieve 20 times faster on GPU than on CPU.

Identification of vehicle suspension parameters by design optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tey, J. Y.; Ramli, R.; Kheng, C. W.; Chong, S. Y.; Abidin, M. A. Z.

2014-05-01

The design of a vehicle suspension system through simulation requires accurate representation of the design parameters. These parameters are usually difficult to measure or sometimes unavailable. This article proposes an efficient approach to identify the unknown parameters through optimization based on experimental results, where the covariance matrix adaptation-evolutionary strategy (CMA-es) is utilized to improve the simulation and experimental results against the kinematic and compliance tests. This speeds up the design and development cycle by recovering all the unknown data with respect to a set of kinematic measurements through a single optimization process. A case study employing a McPherson strut suspension system is modelled in a multi-body dynamic system. Three kinematic and compliance tests are examined, namely, vertical parallel wheel travel, opposite wheel travel and single wheel travel. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem with 40 objectives and 49 design parameters. A hierarchical clustering method based on global sensitivity analysis is used to reduce the number of objectives to 30 by grouping correlated objectives together. Then, a dynamic summation of rank value is used as pseudo-objective functions to reformulate the multi-objective optimization to a single-objective optimization problem. The optimized results show a significant improvement in the correlation between the simulated model and the experimental model. Once accurate representation of the vehicle suspension model is achieved, further analysis, such as ride and handling performances, can be implemented for further optimization.

The influence of hand positions on biomechanical injury risk factors at the wrist joint during the round-off skills in female gymnastics.

PubMed

Farana, Roman; Jandacka, Daniel; Uchytil, Jaroslav; Zahradnik, David; Irwin, Gareth

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the biomechanical injury risk factors at the wrist, including joint kinetics, kinematics and stiffness in the first and second contact limb for parallel and T-shape round-off (RO) techniques. Seven international-level female gymnasts performed 10 trials of the RO to back handspring with parallel and T-shape hand positions. Synchronised kinematic (3D motion analysis system; 247 Hz) and kinetic (two force plates; 1235 Hz) data were collected for each trial. A two-way repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) assessed differences in the kinematic and kinetic parameters between the techniques for each contact limb. The main findings highlighted that in both the RO techniques, the second contact limb wrist joint is exposed to higher mechanical loads than the first contact limb demonstrated by increased axial compression force and loading rate. In the parallel technique, the second contact limb wrist joint is exposed to higher axial compression load. Differences between wrist joint kinetics highlight that the T-shape technique may potentially lead to reducing these bio-physical loads and consequently protect the second contact limb wrist joint from overload and biological failure. Highlighting the biomechanical risk factors facilitates the process of technique selection making more objective and safe.

Contribution to Terminology Internationalization by Word Alignment in Parallel Corpora

PubMed Central

Deléger, Louise; Merkel, Magnus; Zweigenbaum, Pierre

2006-01-01

Background and objectives Creating a complete translation of a large vocabulary is a time-consuming task, which requires skilled and knowledgeable medical translators. Our goal is to examine to which extent such a task can be alleviated by a specific natural language processing technique, word alignment in parallel corpora. We experiment with translation from English to French. Methods Build a large corpus of parallel, English-French documents, and automatically align it at the document, sentence and word levels using state-of-the-art alignment methods and tools. Then project English terms from existing controlled vocabularies to the aligned word pairs, and examine the number and quality of the putative French translations obtained thereby. We considered three American vocabularies present in the UMLS with three different translation statuses: the MeSH, SNOMED CT, and the MedlinePlus Health Topics. Results We obtained several thousand new translations of our input terms, this number being closely linked to the number of terms in the input vocabularies. Conclusion Our study shows that alignment methods can extract a number of new term translations from large bodies of text with a moderate human reviewing effort, and thus contribute to help a human translator obtain better translation coverage of an input vocabulary. Short-term perspectives include their application to a corpus 20 times larger than that used here, together with more focused methods for term extraction. PMID:17238328

Assessment of the radioanatomic positioning of the osteoarthritic knee in serial radiographs: comparison of three acquisition techniques.

PubMed

Le Graverand, M-P H; Mazzuca, S; Lassere, M; Guermazi, A; Pickering, E; Brandt, K; Peterfy, C; Cline, G; Nevitt, M; Woodworth, T; Conaghan, P; Vignon, E

2006-01-01

Recent studies using various standardized radiographic acquisition techniques have demonstrated the necessity of reproducible radioanatomic alignment of the knee to assure precise measurements of medial tibiofemoral joint space width (JSW). The objective of the present study was to characterize the longitudinal performance of several acquisition techniques with respect to long-term reproducibility of positioning of the knee, and the impact of changes in positioning on the rate and variability of joint space narrowing (JSN). Eighty subjects were randomly selected from each of three cohorts followed in recent studies of the radiographic progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA): the Health ABC study (paired fixed-flexion [FF] radiographs taken at a 36-month interval); the Glucosamine Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT) (paired metatarsophalangeal [MTP] radiographs obtained at a 12-month interval), and a randomized clinical trial of doxycycline (fluoroscopically assisted semiflexed anteroposterior (AP) radiographs taken at a 16-month interval). Manual measurements were obtained from each radiograph to represent markers of radioanatomic positioning of the knee (alignment of the medial tibial plateau and X-ray beam, knee rotation, femorotibial angle) and to evaluate minimum JSW (mJSW) in the medial tibiofemoral compartment. The effects on the mean annualized rate of JSN and on the variability of that rate of highly reproduced vs variable positioning of the knee in serial radiographs were evaluated. Parallel or near-parallel alignment was achieved significantly more frequently with the fluoroscopically guided positioning used in the semiflexed AP protocol than with either the non-fluoroscopic FF or MTP protocol (68% vs 14% for both FF and MTP protocols when measured at the midpoint of the medial compartment; 75% vs 26% and 34% for the FF and MTP protocols, respectively, when measured at the site of mJSW; P<0.001 for each). Knee rotation was reproduced more frequently in semiflexed AP radiographs than in FF radiographs (66% vs 45%, P<0.01). In contrast, the FF technique yielded a greater proportion of paired radiographs in which the femorotibial angle was accurately reproduced than the semiflexed AP or MTP protocol (78% vs 59% and 56%, respectively, P<0.01 for each). Notably, only paired radiographs with parallel or near-parallel alignment exhibited a mean rate of JSN (+/-SD) in the OA knee that was more rapid and less variable than that measured in all knees (0.186+/-0.274 mm/year, standardized response to mean [SRM]=0.68 vs 0.128+/-0.291 mm/year, SRM=0.44). This study confirms the importance of parallel radioanatomic alignment of the anterior and posterior margins of the medial tibial plateau in detecting JSN in subjects with knee OA. The use of radiographic methods that assure parallel alignment during serial X-ray examinations will permit the design of more efficient studies of biomarkers of OA progression and of structure modification in knee OA.

Efficient testing methodologies for microcameras in a gigapixel imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Youn, Seo Ho; Marks, Daniel L.; McLaughlin, Paul O.; Brady, David J.; Kim, Jungsang

2013-04-01

Multiscale parallel imaging--based on a monocentric optical design--promises revolutionary advances in diverse imaging applications by enabling high resolution, real-time image capture over a wide field-of-view (FOV), including sport broadcast, wide-field microscopy, astronomy, and security surveillance. Recently demonstrated AWARE-2 is a gigapixel camera consisting of an objective lens and 98 microcameras spherically arranged to capture an image over FOV of 120° by 50°, using computational image processing to form a composite image of 0.96 gigapixels. Since microcameras are capable of individually adjusting exposure, gain, and focus, true parallel imaging is achieved with a high dynamic range. From the integration perspective, manufacturing and verifying consistent quality of microcameras is a key to successful realization of AWARE cameras. We have developed an efficient testing methodology that utilizes a precisely fabricated dot grid chart as a calibration target to extract critical optical properties such as optical distortion, veiling glare index, and modulation transfer function to validate imaging performance of microcameras. This approach utilizes an AWARE objective lens simulator which mimics the actual objective lens but operates with a short object distance, suitable for a laboratory environment. Here we describe the principles of the methodologies developed for AWARE microcameras and discuss the experimental results with our prototype microcameras. Reference Brady, D. J., Gehm, M. E., Stack, R. A., Marks, D. L., Kittle, D. S., Golish, D. R., Vera, E. M., and Feller, S. D., "Multiscale gigapixel photography," Nature 486, 386--389 (2012).

mm_par2.0: An object-oriented molecular dynamics simulation program parallelized using a hierarchical scheme with MPI and OPENMP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Kwang Jin; Kang, Ji Hoon; Myung, Hun Joo

2012-02-01

We have revised a general purpose parallel molecular dynamics simulation program mm_par using the object-oriented programming. We parallelized the revised version using a hierarchical scheme in order to utilize more processors for a given system size. The benchmark result will be presented here. New version program summaryProgram title: mm_par2.0 Catalogue identifier: ADXP_v2_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADXP_v2_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC license, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 2 390 858 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 25 068 310 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: C++ Computer: Any system operated by Linux or Unix Operating system: Linux Classification: 7.7 External routines: We provide wrappers for FFTW [1], Intel MKL library [2] FFT routine, and Numerical recipes [3] FFT, random number generator, and eigenvalue solver routines, SPRNG [4] random number generator, Mersenne Twister [5] random number generator, space filling curve routine. Catalogue identifier of previous version: ADXP_v1_0 Journal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Comm. 174 (2006) 560 Does the new version supersede the previous version?: Yes Nature of problem: Structural, thermodynamic, and dynamical properties of fluids and solids from microscopic scales to mesoscopic scales. Solution method: Molecular dynamics simulation in NVE, NVT, and NPT ensemble, Langevin dynamics simulation, dissipative particle dynamics simulation. Reasons for new version: First, object-oriented programming has been used, which is known to be open for extension and closed for modification. It is also known to be better for maintenance. Second, version 1.0 was based on atom decomposition and domain decomposition scheme [6] for parallelization. However, atom decomposition is not popular due to its poor scalability. On the other hand, domain decomposition scheme is better for scalability. It still has a limitation in utilizing a large number of cores on recent petascale computers due to the requirement that the domain size is larger than the potential cutoff distance. To go beyond such a limitation, a hierarchical parallelization scheme has been adopted in this new version and implemented using MPI [7] and OPENMP [8]. Summary of revisions: (1) Object-oriented programming has been used. (2) A hierarchical parallelization scheme has been adopted. (3) SPME routine has been fully parallelized with parallel 3D FFT using volumetric decomposition scheme [9]. K.J.O. thanks Mr. Seung Min Lee for useful discussion on programming and debugging. Running time: Running time depends on system size and methods used. For test system containing a protein (PDB id: 5DHFR) with CHARMM22 force field [10] and 7023 TIP3P [11] waters in simulation box having dimension 62.23 Å×62.23 Å×62.23 Å, the benchmark results are given in Fig. 1. Here the potential cutoff distance was set to 12 Å and the switching function was applied from 10 Å for the force calculation in real space. For the SPME [12] calculation, K, K, and K were set to 64 and the interpolation order was set to 4. To do the fast Fourier transform, we used Intel MKL library. All bonds including hydrogen atoms were constrained using SHAKE/RATTLE algorithms [13,14]. The code was compiled using Intel compiler version 11.1 and mvapich2 version 1.5. Fig. 2 shows performance gains from using CUDA-enabled version [15] of mm_par for 5DHFR simulation in water on Intel Core2Quad 2.83 GHz and GeForce GTX 580. Even though mm_par2.0 is not ported yet for GPU, its performance data would be useful to expect mm_par2.0 performance on GPU. Timing results for 1000 MD steps. 1, 2, 4, and 8 in the figure mean the number of OPENMP threads. Timing results for 1000 MD steps from double precision simulation on CPU, single precision simulation on GPU, and double precision simulation on GPU.

Portable parallel stochastic optimization for the design of aeropropulsion components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sues, Robert H.; Rhodes, G. S.

1994-01-01

This report presents the results of Phase 1 research to develop a methodology for performing large-scale Multi-disciplinary Stochastic Optimization (MSO) for the design of aerospace systems ranging from aeropropulsion components to complete aircraft configurations. The current research recognizes that such design optimization problems are computationally expensive, and require the use of either massively parallel or multiple-processor computers. The methodology also recognizes that many operational and performance parameters are uncertain, and that uncertainty must be considered explicitly to achieve optimum performance and cost. The objective of this Phase 1 research was to initialize the development of an MSO methodology that is portable to a wide variety of hardware platforms, while achieving efficient, large-scale parallelism when multiple processors are available. The first effort in the project was a literature review of available computer hardware, as well as review of portable, parallel programming environments. The first effort was to implement the MSO methodology for a problem using the portable parallel programming language, Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM). The third and final effort was to demonstrate the example on a variety of computers, including a distributed-memory multiprocessor, a distributed-memory network of workstations, and a single-processor workstation. Results indicate the MSO methodology can be well-applied towards large-scale aerospace design problems. Nearly perfect linear speedup was demonstrated for computation of optimization sensitivity coefficients on both a 128-node distributed-memory multiprocessor (the Intel iPSC/860) and a network of workstations (speedups of almost 19 times achieved for 20 workstations). Very high parallel efficiencies (75 percent for 31 processors and 60 percent for 50 processors) were also achieved for computation of aerodynamic influence coefficients on the Intel. Finally, the multi-level parallelization strategy that will be needed for large-scale MSO problems was demonstrated to be highly efficient. The same parallel code instructions were used on both platforms, demonstrating portability. There are many applications for which MSO can be applied, including NASA's High-Speed-Civil Transport, and advanced propulsion systems. The use of MSO will reduce design and development time and testing costs dramatically.

User's Guide for TOUGH2-MP - A Massively Parallel Version of the TOUGH2 Code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Earth Sciences Division; Zhang, Keni; Zhang, Keni

TOUGH2-MP is a massively parallel (MP) version of the TOUGH2 code, designed for computationally efficient parallel simulation of isothermal and nonisothermal flows of multicomponent, multiphase fluids in one, two, and three-dimensional porous and fractured media. In recent years, computational requirements have become increasingly intensive in large or highly nonlinear problems for applications in areas such as radioactive waste disposal, CO2 geological sequestration, environmental assessment and remediation, reservoir engineering, and groundwater hydrology. The primary objective of developing the parallel-simulation capability is to significantly improve the computational performance of the TOUGH2 family of codes. The particular goal for the parallel simulator ismore » to achieve orders-of-magnitude improvement in computational time for models with ever-increasing complexity. TOUGH2-MP is designed to perform parallel simulation on multi-CPU computational platforms. An earlier version of TOUGH2-MP (V1.0) was based on the TOUGH2 Version 1.4 with EOS3, EOS9, and T2R3D modules, a software previously qualified for applications in the Yucca Mountain project, and was designed for execution on CRAY T3E and IBM SP supercomputers. The current version of TOUGH2-MP (V2.0) includes all fluid property modules of the standard version TOUGH2 V2.0. It provides computationally efficient capabilities using supercomputers, Linux clusters, or multi-core PCs, and also offers many user-friendly features. The parallel simulator inherits all process capabilities from V2.0 together with additional capabilities for handling fractured media from V1.4. This report provides a quick starting guide on how to set up and run the TOUGH2-MP program for users with a basic knowledge of running the (standard) version TOUGH2 code, The report also gives a brief technical description of the code, including a discussion of parallel methodology, code structure, as well as mathematical and numerical methods used. To familiarize users with the parallel code, illustrative sample problems are presented.« less

The effect of earthquake on architecture geometry with non-parallel system irregularity configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teddy, Livian; Hardiman, Gagoek; Nuroji; Tudjono, Sri

2017-12-01

Indonesia is an area prone to earthquake that may cause casualties and damage to buildings. The fatalities or the injured are not largely caused by the earthquake, but by building collapse. The collapse of the building is resulted from the building behaviour against the earthquake, and it depends on many factors, such as architectural design, geometry configuration of structural elements in horizontal and vertical plans, earthquake zone, geographical location (distance to earthquake center), soil type, material quality, and construction quality. One of the geometry configurations that may lead to the collapse of the building is irregular configuration of non-parallel system. In accordance with FEMA-451B, irregular configuration in non-parallel system is defined to have existed if the vertical lateral force-retaining elements are neither parallel nor symmetric with main orthogonal axes of the earthquake-retaining axis system. Such configuration may lead to torque, diagonal translation and local damage to buildings. It does not mean that non-parallel irregular configuration should not be formed on architectural design; however the designer must know the consequence of earthquake behaviour against buildings with irregular configuration of non-parallel system. The present research has the objective to identify earthquake behaviour in architectural geometry with irregular configuration of non-parallel system. The present research was quantitative with simulation experimental method. It consisted of 5 models, where architectural data and model structure data were inputted and analyzed using the software SAP2000 in order to find out its performance, and ETAB2015 to determine the eccentricity occurred. The output of the software analysis was tabulated, graphed, compared and analyzed with relevant theories. For areas of strong earthquake zones, avoid designing buildings which wholly form irregular configuration of non-parallel system. If it is inevitable to design a building with building parts containing irregular configuration of non-parallel system, make it more rigid by forming a triangle module, and use the formula.A good collaboration is needed between architects and structural experts in creating earthquake architecture.

LMI-Based Fuzzy Optimal Variance Control of Airfoil Model Subject to Input Constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swei, Sean S.M.; Ayoubi, Mohammad A.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a study of fuzzy optimal variance control problem for dynamical systems subject to actuator amplitude and rate constraints. Using Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy modeling and dynamic Parallel Distributed Compensation technique, the stability and the constraints can be cast as a multi-objective optimization problem in the form of Linear Matrix Inequalities. By utilizing the formulations and solutions for the input and output variance constraint problems, we develop a fuzzy full-state feedback controller. The stability and performance of the proposed controller is demonstrated through its application to the airfoil flutter suppression.

Model Driven Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaševic, Dragan; Djuric, Dragan; Devedžic, Vladan

A relevant initiative from the software engineering community called Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is being developed in parallel with the Semantic Web (Mellor et al. 2003a). The MDE approach to software development suggests that one should first develop a model of the system under study, which is then transformed into the real thing (i.e., an executable software entity). The most important research initiative in this area is the Model Driven Architecture (MDA), which is Model Driven Architecture being developed under the umbrella of the Object Management Group (OMG). This chapter describes the basic concepts of this software engineering effort.

Stage Cylindrical Immersive Display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abramyan, Lucy; Norris, Jeffrey S.; Powell, Mark W.; Mittman, David S.; Shams, Khawaja S.

2011-01-01

Panoramic images with a wide field of view intend to provide a better understanding of an environment by placing objects of the environment on one seamless image. However, understanding the sizes and relative positions of the objects in a panorama is not intuitive and prone to errors because the field of view is unnatural to human perception. Scientists are often faced with the difficult task of interpreting the sizes and relative positions of objects in an environment when viewing an image of the environment on computer monitors or prints. A panorama can display an object that appears to be to the right of the viewer when it is, in fact, behind the viewer. This misinterpretation can be very costly, especially when the environment is remote and/or only accessible by unmanned vehicles. A 270 cylindrical display has been developed that surrounds the viewer with carefully calibrated panoramic imagery that correctly engages their natural kinesthetic senses and provides a more accurate awareness of the environment. The cylindrical immersive display offers a more natural window to the environment than a standard cubic CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), and the geometry allows multiple collocated users to simultaneously view data and share important decision-making tasks. A CAVE is an immersive virtual reality environment that allows one or more users to absorb themselves in a virtual environment. A common CAVE setup is a room-sized cube where the cube sides act as projection planes. By nature, all cubic CAVEs face a problem with edge matching at edges and corners of the display. Modern immersive displays have found ways to minimize seams by creating very tight edges, and rely on the user to ignore the seam. One significant deficiency of flat-walled CAVEs is that the sense of orientation and perspective within the scene is broken across adjacent walls. On any single wall, parallel lines properly converge at their vanishing point as they should, and the sense of perspective within the scene contained on only one wall has integrity. Unfortunately, parallel lines that lie on adjacent walls do not necessarily remain parallel. This results in inaccuracies in the scene that can distract the viewer and subtract from the immersive experience of the CAVE.

Comparative efficacy and safety of two 0.025% tretinoin gels: results from a multicenter double-blind, parallel study.

PubMed

Lucky, A W; Cullen, S I; Jarratt, M T; Quigley, J W

1998-04-01

The addition of polyolprepolymer-2 in tretinoin formulations may reduce tretinoin-induced cutaneous irritation. This study compared the efficacy and safety of a new 0.025% tretinoin gel containing polyolprepolymer-2, its vehicle, and a commercially-available 0.025% tretinoin gel in patients with mild to moderate acne vulgaris. In this 12-week multicenter, double-blind, parallel group study, efficacy was evaluated by objective lesion counts and the investigators' global evaluations. Subjective assessment of cutaneous irritation by the investigators and patients evaluated safety. The efficacy of the two active treatments in this 215 patient study was comparable, and both treatments were statistically significantly more effective than vehicle. When compared with the commercially-available tretinoin gel, the formulation containing polyolprepolymer-2 demonstrated statistically significantly less peeling at days 28, 56, and 84, statistically significantly less dryness by day 84, and statistically significantly less itching at day 14. Irritation scores for the formulation containing polyolprepolymer-2 were numerically lower but not statistically different from those of the commercially-available gel for erythema and burning. The number of cutaneous and noncutaneous adverse events were similar for both active medications. The two 0.025% gels studied demonstrated comparable efficacy. However, the gel formulation containing polyolprepolymer-2 caused significantly less peeling and drying than the commercially-available formulation by day 84 of the study.

An Efficient Objective Analysis System for Parallel Computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stobie, J.

1999-01-01

A new atmospheric objective analysis system designed for parallel computers will be described. The system can produce a global analysis (on a 1 X 1 lat-lon grid with 18 levels of heights and winds and 10 levels of moisture) using 120,000 observations in 17 minutes on 32 CPUs (SGI Origin 2000). No special parallel code is needed (e.g. MPI or multitasking) and the 32 CPUs do not have to be on the same platform. The system is totally portable and can run on several different architectures at once. In addition, the system can easily scale up to 100 or more CPUS. This will allow for much higher resolution and significant increases in input data. The system scales linearly as the number of observations and the number of grid points. The cost overhead in going from 1 to 32 CPUs is 18%. In addition, the analysis results are identical regardless of the number of processors used. This system has all the characteristics of optimal interpolation, combining detailed instrument and first guess error statistics to produce the best estimate of the atmospheric state. Static tests with a 2 X 2.5 resolution version of this system showed it's analysis increments are comparable to the latest NASA operational system including maintenance of mass-wind balance. Results from several months of cycling test in the Goddard EOS Data Assimilation System (GEOS DAS) show this new analysis retains the same level of agreement between the first guess and observations (O-F statistics) as the current operational system.

Trace: a high-throughput tomographic reconstruction engine for large-scale datasets.

PubMed

Bicer, Tekin; Gürsoy, Doğa; Andrade, Vincent De; Kettimuthu, Rajkumar; Scullin, William; Carlo, Francesco De; Foster, Ian T

2017-01-01

Modern synchrotron light sources and detectors produce data at such scale and complexity that large-scale computation is required to unleash their full power. One of the widely used imaging techniques that generates data at tens of gigabytes per second is computed tomography (CT). Although CT experiments result in rapid data generation, the analysis and reconstruction of the collected data may require hours or even days of computation time with a medium-sized workstation, which hinders the scientific progress that relies on the results of analysis. We present Trace, a data-intensive computing engine that we have developed to enable high-performance implementation of iterative tomographic reconstruction algorithms for parallel computers. Trace provides fine-grained reconstruction of tomography datasets using both (thread-level) shared memory and (process-level) distributed memory parallelization. Trace utilizes a special data structure called replicated reconstruction object to maximize application performance. We also present the optimizations that we apply to the replicated reconstruction objects and evaluate them using tomography datasets collected at the Advanced Photon Source. Our experimental evaluations show that our optimizations and parallelization techniques can provide 158× speedup using 32 compute nodes (384 cores) over a single-core configuration and decrease the end-to-end processing time of a large sinogram (with 4501 × 1 × 22,400 dimensions) from 12.5 h to <5 min per iteration. The proposed tomographic reconstruction engine can efficiently process large-scale tomographic data using many compute nodes and minimize reconstruction times.

Spatio-temporal dynamics of processing non-symbolic number: An ERP source localization study

PubMed Central

Hyde, Daniel C.; Spelke, Elizabeth S.

2013-01-01

Coordinated studies with adults, infants, and nonhuman animals provide evidence for two distinct systems of non-verbal number representation. The ‘parallel individuation’ system selects and retains information about 1–3 individual entities and the ‘numerical magnitude’ system establishes representations of the approximate cardinal value of a group. Recent ERP work has demonstrated that these systems reliably evoke functionally and temporally distinct patterns of brain response that correspond to established behavioral signatures. However, relatively little is known about the neural generators of these ERP signatures. To address this question, we targeted known ERP signatures of these systems, by contrasting processing of small versus large non-symbolic numbers, and used a source localization algorithm (LORETA) to identify their cortical origins. Early processing of small numbers, showing the signature effects of parallel individuation on the N1 (∼150 ms), was localized primarily to extrastriate visual regions. In contrast, qualitatively and temporally distinct processing of large numbers, showing the signatures of approximate number representation on the mid-latency P2p (∼200–250 ms), was localized primarily to right intraparietal regions. In comparison, mid-latency small number processing was localized to the right temporal-parietal junction and left-lateralized intraparietal regions. These results add spatial information to the emerging ERP literature documenting the process by which we represent number. Furthermore, these results substantiate recent claims that early attentional processes determine whether a collection of objects will be represented through parallel individuation or as an approximate numerical magnitude by providing evidence that downstream processing diverges to distinct cortical regions. PMID:21830257

A Fast MHD Code for Gravitationally Stratified Media using Graphical Processing Units: SMAUG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffiths, M. K.; Fedun, V.; Erdélyi, R.

2015-03-01

Parallelization techniques have been exploited most successfully by the gaming/graphics industry with the adoption of graphical processing units (GPUs), possessing hundreds of processor cores. The opportunity has been recognized by the computational sciences and engineering communities, who have recently harnessed successfully the numerical performance of GPUs. For example, parallel magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) algorithms are important for numerical modelling of highly inhomogeneous solar, astrophysical and geophysical plasmas. Here, we describe the implementation of SMAUG, the Sheffield Magnetohydrodynamics Algorithm Using GPUs. SMAUG is a 1-3D MHD code capable of modelling magnetized and gravitationally stratified plasma. The objective of this paper is to present the numerical methods and techniques used for porting the code to this novel and highly parallel compute architecture. The methods employed are justified by the performance benchmarks and validation results demonstrating that the code successfully simulates the physics for a range of test scenarios including a full 3D realistic model of wave propagation in the solar atmosphere.

Graphics Processing Unit Assisted Thermographic Compositing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ragasa, Scott; McDougal, Matthew; Russell, Sam

2012-01-01

Objective: To develop a software application utilizing general purpose graphics processing units (GPUs) for the analysis of large sets of thermographic data. Background: Over the past few years, an increasing effort among scientists and engineers to utilize the GPU in a more general purpose fashion is allowing for supercomputer level results at individual workstations. As data sets grow, the methods to work them grow at an equal, and often great, pace. Certain common computations can take advantage of the massively parallel and optimized hardware constructs of the GPU to allow for throughput that was previously reserved for compute clusters. These common computations have high degrees of data parallelism, that is, they are the same computation applied to a large set of data where the result does not depend on other data elements. Signal (image) processing is one area were GPUs are being used to greatly increase the performance of certain algorithms and analysis techniques. Technical Methodology/Approach: Apply massively parallel algorithms and data structures to the specific analysis requirements presented when working with thermographic data sets.

Dynamic Analysis and Control of Lightweight Manipulators with Flexible Parallel Link Mechanisms. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Jeh Won

1990-01-01

The objective is the theoretical analysis and the experimental verification of dynamics and control of a two link flexible manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism. Nonlinear equations of motion of the lightweight manipulator are derived by the Lagrangian method in symbolic form to better understand the structure of the dynamic model. The resulting equation of motion have a structure which is useful to reduce the number of terms calculated, to check correctness, or to extend the model to higher order. A manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism is a constrained dynamic system whose equations are sensitive to numerical integration error. This constrained system is solved using singular value decomposition of the constraint Jacobian matrix. Elastic motion is expressed by the assumed mode method. Mode shape functions of each link are chosen using the load interfaced component mode synthesis. The discrepancies between the analytical model and the experiment are explained using a simplified and a detailed finite element model.

Pine Gene Discovery Project - Final Report - 08/31/1997 - 02/28/2001

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Whetten, R. W.; Sederoff, R. R.; Kinlaw, C.

2001-04-30

Integration of pines into the large scope of plant biology research depends on study of pines in parallel with study of annual plants, and on availability of research materials from pine to plant biologists interested in comparing pine with annual plant systems. The objectives of the Pine Gene Discovery Project were to obtain 10,000 partial DNA sequences of genes expressed in loblolly pine, to determine which of those pine genes were similar to known genes from other organisms, and to make the DNA sequences and isolated pine genes available to plant researchers to stimulate integration of pines into the widermore » scope of plant biology research. Those objectives have been completed, and the results are available to the public. Requests for pine genes have been received from a number of laboratories that would otherwise not have included pine in their research, indicating that progress is being made toward the goal of integrating pine research into the larger molecular biology research community.« less

Dakota, a multilevel parallel object-oriented framework for design optimization, parameter estimation, uncertainty quantification, and sensitivity analysis :

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adams, Brian M.; Ebeida, Mohamed Salah; Eldred, Michael S.

The Dakota (Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Terascale Applications) toolkit provides a exible and extensible interface between simulation codes and iterative analysis methods. Dakota contains algorithms for optimization with gradient and nongradient-based methods; uncertainty quanti cation with sampling, reliability, and stochastic expansion methods; parameter estimation with nonlinear least squares methods; and sensitivity/variance analysis with design of experiments and parameter study methods. These capabilities may be used on their own or as components within advanced strategies such as surrogate-based optimization, mixed integer nonlinear programming, or optimization under uncertainty. By employing object-oriented design to implement abstractions of the key components requiredmore » for iterative systems analyses, the Dakota toolkit provides a exible and extensible problem-solving environment for design and performance analysis of computational models on high performance computers. This report serves as a user's manual for the Dakota software and provides capability overviews and procedures for software execution, as well as a variety of example studies.« less

How to Assess Quality of Research in Iran, From Input to Impact? Introduction of Peer-Based Research Evaluation Model in Iran.

PubMed

Ebadifar, Asghar; Baradaran Eftekhari, Monir; Owlia, Parviz; Habibi, Elham; Ghalenoee, Elham; Bagheri, Mohammad Reza; Falahat, Katayoun; Eltemasi, Masoumeh; Sobhani, Zahra; Akhondzadeh, Shahin

2017-11-01

Research evaluation is a systematic and objective process to measure relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of research activities, and peer review is one of the most important tools for assessing quality of research. The aim of this study was introducing research evaluation indicators based on peer reviewing. This study was implemented in 4 stages. A list of objective-oriented evaluation indicators were designed in 4 axes, including; governance and leadership, structure, knowledge production and research impact. The top 10% medical sciences research centers (RCs) were evaluated based on peer review. Adequate equipment and laboratory instruments, high quality research publication and national or international cooperation were the main strengths in medical sciences RCs and the most important weaknesses included failure to adhere to strategic plans, parallel actions in similar fields, problems in manpower recruitment, knowledge translation & exchange (KTE) in service providers and policy makers' levels. Peer review evaluation can improve the quality of research.

Open-Label, Randomized, Parallel-Group Controlled Clinical Trial of Massage for Treatment of Depression in HIV-Infected Subjects

PubMed Central

Gertsik, Lev; Favreau, Joya T.; Smith, Shawnee I.; Mirocha, James M.; Rao, Uma; Daar, Eric S.

2013-01-01

Abstract Objectives The study objectives were to determine whether massage therapy reduces symptoms of depression in subjects with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Design Subjects were randomized non-blinded into one of three parallel groups to receive Swedish massage or to one of two control groups, touch or no intervention for eight weeks. Settings/location The study was conducted at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, which provided primary clinical care in an institutional setting. Subjects Study inclusion required being at least 16 years of age, HIV-seropositive, with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Subjects had to be on a stable neuropsychiatric, analgesic, and antiretroviral regimen for >30 days with no plans to modify therapy for the duration of the study. Approximately 40% of the subjects were currently taking antidepressants. All subjects were medically stable. Fifty-four (54) subjects were randomized, 50 completed at least 1 week (intent-to-treat; ITT), and 37 completed the study (completers). Interventions Swedish massage and touch subjects visited the massage therapist for 1 hour twice per week. The touch group had a massage therapist place both hands on the subject with slight pressure, but no massage, in a uniform distribution in the same pattern used for the massage subjects. Outcome measures The primary outcome measure was the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score, with the secondary outcome measure being the Beck Depression Inventory. Results For both the ITT and completers analyses, massage significantly reduced the severity of depression beginning at week 4 (p≤0.04) and continuing at weeks 6 (p≤0.03) and 8 (p≤0.005) compared to no intervention and/or touch. Conclusions The results indicate that massage therapy can reduce symptoms of depression in subjects with HIV disease. The durability of the response, optimal “dose” of massage, and mechanisms by which massage exerts its antidepressant effects remain to be determined. PMID:23098696

DOE SBIR Phase-1 Report on Hybrid CPU-GPU Parallel Development of the Eulerian-Lagrangian Barracuda Multiphase Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dr. Dale M. Snider

2011-02-28

This report gives the result from the Phase-1 work on demonstrating greater than 10x speedup of the Barracuda computer program using parallel methods and GPU processors (General-Purpose Graphics Processing Unit or Graphics Processing Unit). Phase-1 demonstrated a 12x speedup on a typical Barracuda function using the GPU processor. The problem test case used about 5 million particles and 250,000 Eulerian grid cells. The relative speedup, compared to a single CPU, increases with increased number of particles giving greater than 12x speedup. Phase-1 work provided a path for reformatting data structure modifications to give good parallel performance while keeping a friendlymore » environment for new physics development and code maintenance. The implementation of data structure changes will be in Phase-2. Phase-1 laid the ground work for the complete parallelization of Barracuda in Phase-2, with the caveat that implemented computer practices for parallel programming done in Phase-1 gives immediate speedup in the current Barracuda serial running code. The Phase-1 tasks were completed successfully laying the frame work for Phase-2. The detailed results of Phase-1 are within this document. In general, the speedup of one function would be expected to be higher than the speedup of the entire code because of I/O functions and communication between the algorithms. However, because one of the most difficult Barracuda algorithms was parallelized in Phase-1 and because advanced parallelization methods and proposed parallelization optimization techniques identified in Phase-1 will be used in Phase-2, an overall Barracuda code speedup (relative to a single CPU) is expected to be greater than 10x. This means that a job which takes 30 days to complete will be done in 3 days. Tasks completed in Phase-1 are: Task 1: Profile the entire Barracuda code and select which subroutines are to be parallelized (See Section Choosing a Function to Accelerate) Task 2: Select a GPU consultant company and jointly parallelize subroutines (CPFD chose the small business EMPhotonics for the Phase-1 the technical partner. See Section Technical Objective and Approach) Task 3: Integrate parallel subroutines into Barracuda (See Section Results from Phase-1 and its subsections) Task 4: Testing, refinement, and optimization of parallel methodology (See Section Results from Phase-1 and Section Result Comparison Program) Task 5: Integrate Phase-1 parallel subroutines into Barracuda and release (See Section Results from Phase-1 and its subsections) Task 6: Roadmap of Phase-2 (See Section Plan for Phase-2) With the completion of Phase 1 we have the base understanding to completely parallelize Barracuda. An overview of the work to move Barracuda to a parallelized code is given in Plan for Phase-2.« less

Effect of IQoro® training on impaired postural control and oropharyngeal motor function in patients with dysphagia after stroke.

PubMed

Hägg, Mary; Tibbling, Lita

2016-07-01

Conclusion All patients with dysphagia after stroke have impaired postural control. IQoro® screen (IQS) training gives a significant and lasting improvement of postural control running parallel with significant improvement of oropharyngeal motor dysfunction (OPMD). Objectives The present investigation aimed at studying the frequency of impaired postural control in patients with stroke-related dysphagia and if IQS training has any effect on impaired postural control in parallel with effect on OPMD. Method A prospective clinical study was carried out with 26 adult patients with stroke-related dysphagia. The training effect was compared between patients consecutively investigated at two different time periods, the first period with 15 patients included in the study more than half a year after stroke, the second period with 11 patients included within 1 month after stroke. Postural control tests and different oropharyngeal motor tests were performed before and after 3 months of oropharyngeal sensorimotor training with an IQS, and at a late follow-up (median 59 weeks after end of training). Result All patients had impaired postural control at baseline. Significant improvement in postural control and OPMD was observed after the completion of IQS training in both intervention groups. The improvements were still present at the late follow-up.

Sample size calculations for stepped wedge and cluster randomised trials: a unified approach

PubMed Central

Hemming, Karla; Taljaard, Monica

2016-01-01

Objectives To clarify and illustrate sample size calculations for the cross-sectional stepped wedge cluster randomized trial (SW-CRT) and to present a simple approach for comparing the efficiencies of competing designs within a unified framework. Study Design and Setting We summarize design effects for the SW-CRT, the parallel cluster randomized trial (CRT), and the parallel cluster randomized trial with before and after observations (CRT-BA), assuming cross-sectional samples are selected over time. We present new formulas that enable trialists to determine the required cluster size for a given number of clusters. We illustrate by example how to implement the presented design effects and give practical guidance on the design of stepped wedge studies. Results For a fixed total cluster size, the choice of study design that provides the greatest power depends on the intracluster correlation coefficient (ICC) and the cluster size. When the ICC is small, the CRT tends to be more efficient; when the ICC is large, the SW-CRT tends to be more efficient and can serve as an alternative design when the CRT is an infeasible design. Conclusion Our unified approach allows trialists to easily compare the efficiencies of three competing designs to inform the decision about the most efficient design in a given scenario. PMID:26344808

High-Sensitivity Measurement of Density by Magnetic Levitation.

PubMed

Nemiroski, Alex; Kumar, A A; Soh, Siowling; Harburg, Daniel V; Yu, Hai-Dong; Whitesides, George M

2016-03-01

This paper presents methods that use Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) to measure very small differences in density of solid diamagnetic objects suspended in a paramagnetic medium. Previous work in this field has shown that, while it is a convenient method, standard MagLev (i.e., where the direction of magnetization and gravitational force are parallel) cannot resolve differences in density <10(-4) g/cm(3) for macroscopic objects (>mm) because (i) objects close in density prevent each other from reaching an equilibrium height due to hard contact and excluded volume, and (ii) using weaker magnets or reducing the magnetic susceptibility of the medium destabilizes the magnetic trap. The present work investigates the use of weak magnetic gradients parallel to the faces of the magnets as a means of increasing the sensitivity of MagLev without destabilization. Configuring the MagLev device in a rotated state (i.e., where the direction of magnetization and gravitational force are perpendicular) relative to the standard configuration enables simple measurements along the axes with the highest sensitivity to changes in density. Manipulating the distance of separation between the magnets or the lengths of the magnets (along the axis of measurement) enables the sensitivity to be tuned. These modifications enable an improvement in the resolution up to 100-fold over the standard configuration, and measurements with resolution down to 10(-6) g/cm(3). Three examples of characterizing the small differences in density among samples of materials having ostensibly indistinguishable densities-Nylon spheres, PMMA spheres, and drug spheres-demonstrate the applicability of rotated Maglev to measuring the density of small (0.1-1 mm) objects with high sensitivity. This capability will be useful in materials science, separations, and quality control of manufactured objects.

Stuart Appleton Courtis: Tester, Reformer and Progressive.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johanningmeier, E. V.

The career of Stuart Appleton Courtis in the growth of testing and educational measurement parallels the development of progressive education in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1909 he developed the standardized Courtis Arithmetic Test, Series A, the first objective test used in any city public schools. Continuing his work in testing,…

Predicting Database Requirements for Geographic Information Systems in the Year 2000: Long-Term Design Issues for GRASS

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-08-01

Image Processing. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley (1977). Graefe, G., "Parallelizing the Volcano Query Processor," Proc. IEEE COMPCON 90...Approach to a Next Generation of Hypermedia System," Proc. IEEE COMPCON 90 (February 1990), pp 520-527. Jellinghaus, R., " Eiffel Linda: An Object

On Parallel Software Engineering Education Using Python

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marowka, Ami

2018-01-01

Python is gaining popularity in academia as the preferred language to teach novices serial programming. The syntax of Python is clean, easy, and simple to understand. At the same time, it is a high-level programming language that supports multi programming paradigms such as imperative, functional, and object-oriented. Therefore, by default, it is…

Locating Object Knowledge in the Brain: Comment on Bowers's (2009) Attempt to Revive the Grandmother Cell Hypothesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plaut, David C.; McClelland, James L.

2010-01-01

According to Bowers, the finding that there are neurons with highly selective responses to familiar stimuli supports theories positing localist representations over approaches positing the type of distributed representations typically found in parallel distributed processing (PDP) models. However, his conclusions derive from an overly narrow view…

Multi-Objective Parallel Test-Sheet Composition Using Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Tsu-Feng; Yin, Peng-Yeng; Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Shyu, Shyong Jian; Yean, Ya-Nan

2009-01-01

For large-scale tests, such as certification tests or entrance examinations, the composed test sheets must meet multiple assessment criteria. Furthermore, to fairly compare the knowledge levels of the persons who receive tests at different times owing to the insufficiency of available examination halls or the occurrence of certain unexpected…

Competence and Employment Forum: Linking HRD and HRM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siikaniemi, Lena

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find a model for the individual employee, the employer, the supervisors and the personnel at HR to manage organizational and individual changes. The objective of the model is to manage the changes in parallel with the competence (HRD) and employment (HRM) aspects. Design/methodology/approach: The research…

Poisson Spot with Magnetic Levitation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoover, Matthew; Everhart, Michael; D'Arruda, Jose

2010-01-01

In this paper we describe a unique method for obtaining the famous Poisson spot without adding obstacles to the light path, which could interfere with the effect. A Poisson spot is the interference effect from parallel rays of light diffracting around a solid spherical object, creating a bright spot in the center of the shadow.

An Advanced Simulation Framework for Parallel Discrete-Event Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, P. P.; Tyrrell, R. Yeung D.; Adhami, N.; Li, T.; Henry, H.

1994-01-01

Discrete-event simulation (DEVS) users have long been faced with a three-way trade-off of balancing execution time, model fidelity, and number of objects simulated. Because of the limits of computer processing power the analyst is often forced to settle for less than desired performances in one or more of these areas.

Refining the oak-fire hypothesis for management of oak-dominated forests of the eastern United States

Treesearch

Mary A. Arthur; Heather D. Alexander; Daniel C. Dey; Callie J. Schweitzer; David L. Loftis

2012-01-01

Prescribed fires are increasingly implemented throughout eastern deciduous forests to accomplish various management objectives, including maintenance of oak-dominated (Quercus spp.) forests. Despite a regional research-based understanding of prehistoric and historic fire regimes, a parallel understanding of contemporary fire use to preserve oak...

Modifying the Test of Understanding Graphs in Kinematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zavala, Genaro; Tejeda, Santa; Barniol, Pablo; Beichner, Robert J.

2017-01-01

In this article, we present several modifications to the Test of Understanding Graphs in Kinematics. The most significant changes are (i) the addition and removal of items to achieve parallelism in the objectives (dimensions) of the test, thus allowing comparisons of students' performance that were not possible with the original version, and (ii)…

Parallels in Conflict: The American Revolution and the Vietnam War

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-05-01

in World War * 14 II. American forces were psychologically ill-prepared to fight a jungle war against highly motivated, indigenous Communist forces... atar - : a by/ necessity a realistic consequLence cf that ob 1,ecz~e The- ’::nm- tainment" objective spawned a political polt- wh-c :ra’-e dilemma

New synchrotron powder diffraction facility for long-duration experiments

PubMed Central

Murray, Claire A.; Potter, Jonathan; Day, Sarah J.; Baker, Annabelle R.; Thompson, Stephen P.; Kelly, Jon; Morris, Christopher G.; Tang, Chiu C.

2017-01-01

A new synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction instrument has been built and commissioned for long-duration experiments on beamline I11 at Diamond Light Source. The concept is unique, with design features to house multiple experiments running in parallel, in particular with specific stages for sample environments to study slow kinetic systems or processes. The instrument benefits from a high-brightness X-ray beam and a large area detector. Diffraction data from the commissioning work have shown that the objectives and criteria are met. Supported by two case studies, the results from months of measurements have demonstrated the viability of this large-scale instrument, which is the world’s first dedicated facility for long-term studies (weeks to years) using synchrotron radiation. PMID:28190992

Systematic procedure for designing processes with multiple environmental objectives.

PubMed

Kim, Ki-Joo; Smith, Raymond L

2005-04-01

Evaluation of multiple objectives is very important in designing environmentally benign processes. It requires a systematic procedure for solving multiobjective decision-making problems due to the complex nature of the problems, the need for complex assessments, and the complicated analysis of multidimensional results. In this paper, a novel systematic procedure is presented for designing processes with multiple environmental objectives. This procedure has four steps: initialization, screening, evaluation, and visualization. The first two steps are used for systematic problem formulation based on mass and energy estimation and order of magnitude analysis. In the third step, an efficient parallel multiobjective steady-state genetic algorithm is applied to design environmentally benign and economically viable processes and to provide more accurate and uniform Pareto optimal solutions. In the last step a new visualization technique for illustrating multiple objectives and their design parameters on the same diagram is developed. Through these integrated steps the decision-maker can easily determine design alternatives with respect to his or her preferences. Most importantly, this technique is independent of the number of objectives and design parameters. As a case study, acetic acid recovery from aqueous waste mixtures is investigated by minimizing eight potential environmental impacts and maximizing total profit. After applying the systematic procedure, the most preferred design alternatives and their design parameters are easily identified.

Parallel solution of sparse one-dimensional dynamic programming problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicol, David M.

1989-01-01

Parallel computation offers the potential for quickly solving large computational problems. However, it is often a non-trivial task to effectively use parallel computers. Solution methods must sometimes be reformulated to exploit parallelism; the reformulations are often more complex than their slower serial counterparts. We illustrate these points by studying the parallelization of sparse one-dimensional dynamic programming problems, those which do not obviously admit substantial parallelization. We propose a new method for parallelizing such problems, develop analytic models which help us to identify problems which parallelize well, and compare the performance of our algorithm with existing algorithms on a multiprocessor.

Tiger LDRD final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steich, D J; Brugger, S T; Kallman, J S

2000-02-01

This final report describes our efforts on the Three-Dimensional Massively Parallel CEM Technologies LDRD project (97-ERD-009). Significant need exists for more advanced time domain computational electromagnetics modeling. Bookkeeping details and modifying inflexible software constitute a vast majority of the effort required to address such needs. The required effort escalates rapidly as problem complexity increases. For example, hybrid meshes requiring hybrid numerics on massively parallel platforms (MPPs). This project attempts to alleviate the above limitations by investigating flexible abstractions for these numerical algorithms on MPPs using object-oriented methods, providing a programming environment insulating physics from bookkeeping. The three major design iterationsmore » during the project, known as TIGER-I to TIGER-III, are discussed. Each version of TIGER is briefly discussed along with lessons learned during the development and implementation. An Application Programming Interface (API) of the object-oriented interface for Tiger-III is included in three appendices. The three appendices contain the Utilities, Entity-Attribute, and Mesh libraries developed during the project. The API libraries represent a snapshot of our latest attempt at insulated the physics from the bookkeeping.« less

WaveJava: Wavelet-based network computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Kun; Jiao, Licheng; Shi, Zhuoer

1997-04-01

Wavelet is a powerful theory, but its successful application still needs suitable programming tools. Java is a simple, object-oriented, distributed, interpreted, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, high-performance, multi- threaded, dynamic language. This paper addresses the design and development of a cross-platform software environment for experimenting and applying wavelet theory. WaveJava, a wavelet class library designed by the object-orient programming, is developed to take advantage of the wavelets features, such as multi-resolution analysis and parallel processing in the networking computing. A new application architecture is designed for the net-wide distributed client-server environment. The data are transmitted with multi-resolution packets. At the distributed sites around the net, these data packets are done the matching or recognition processing in parallel. The results are fed back to determine the next operation. So, the more robust results can be arrived quickly. The WaveJava is easy to use and expand for special application. This paper gives a solution for the distributed fingerprint information processing system. It also fits for some other net-base multimedia information processing, such as network library, remote teaching and filmless picture archiving and communications.

Creating ensembles of oblique decision trees with evolutionary algorithms and sampling

DOEpatents

Cantu-Paz, Erick [Oakland, CA; Kamath, Chandrika [Tracy, CA

2006-06-13

A decision tree system that is part of a parallel object-oriented pattern recognition system, which in turn is part of an object oriented data mining system. A decision tree process includes the step of reading the data. If necessary, the data is sorted. A potential split of the data is evaluated according to some criterion. An initial split of the data is determined. The final split of the data is determined using evolutionary algorithms and statistical sampling techniques. The data is split. Multiple decision trees are combined in ensembles.

BATMAN: MOS Spectroscopy on Demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molinari, E.; Zamkotsian, F.; Moschetti, M.; Spano, P.; Boschin, W.; Cosentino, R.; Ghedina, A.; González, M.; Pérez, H.; Lanzoni, P.; Ramarijaona, H.; Riva, M.; Zerbi, F.; Nicastro, L.; Valenziano, L.; Di Marcantonio, P.; Coretti, I.; Cirami, R.

2016-10-01

Multi-Object Spectrographs (MOS) are the major instruments for studying primary galaxies and remote and faint objects. Current object selection systems are limited and/or difficult to implement in next generation MOS for space and ground-based telescopes. A promising solution is the use of MOEMS devices such as micromirror arrays, which allow the remote control of the multi-slit configuration in real time. TNG is hosting a novelty project for real-time, on-demand MOS masks based on MOEMS programmable slits. We are developing a 2048×1080 Digital-Micromirror-Device-based (DMD) MOS instrument to be mounted on the Galileo telescope, called BATMAN. It is a two-arm instrument designed for providing in parallel imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. With a field of view of 6.8×3.6 arcmin and a plate scale of 0.2 arcsec per micromirror, this astronomical setup can be used to investigate the formation and evolution of galaxies. The wavelength range is in the visible and the spectral resolution is R=560 for a 1 arcsec object, and the two arms will have 2k × 4k CCD detectors. ROBIN, a BATMAN demonstrator, has been designed, realized and integrated. We plan to have BATMAN first light by mid-2016.

Motion-seeded object-based attention for dynamic visual imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huber, David J.; Khosla, Deepak; Kim, Kyungnam

2017-05-01

This paper† describes a novel system that finds and segments "objects of interest" from dynamic imagery (video) that (1) processes each frame using an advanced motion algorithm that pulls out regions that exhibit anomalous motion, and (2) extracts the boundary of each object of interest using a biologically-inspired segmentation algorithm based on feature contours. The system uses a series of modular, parallel algorithms, which allows many complicated operations to be carried out by the system in a very short time, and can be used as a front-end to a larger system that includes object recognition and scene understanding modules. Using this method, we show 90% accuracy with fewer than 0.1 false positives per frame of video, which represents a significant improvement over detection using a baseline attention algorithm.

Acoustic imaging system

DOEpatents

Smith, Richard W.

1979-01-01

An acoustic imaging system for displaying an object viewed by a moving array of transducers as the array is pivoted about a fixed point within a given plane. A plurality of transducers are fixedly positioned and equally spaced within a laterally extending array and operatively directed to transmit and receive acoustic signals along substantially parallel transmission paths. The transducers are sequentially activated along the array to transmit and receive acoustic signals according to a preestablished sequence. Means are provided for generating output voltages for each reception of an acoustic signal, corresponding to the coordinate position of the object viewed as the array is pivoted. Receptions from each of the transducers are presented on the same display at coordinates corresponding to the actual position of the object viewed to form a plane view of the object scanned.