Portability, predictability and performance for parallel computing: BSP in practice

We report on practical experience using the Oxford BSP Library to parallelize a large electromagnetic code, the British Aerospace finite-difference time-domain code EMMA T:FD3D. The Oxford BS Library is one of the first realizations of the Bulk Synchronous Parallel computational model to be targeted at numerically intensive scientific (typically Fortran) computing. The BAe EMMA code is one of the first large-scale applications to be parallelized using this library, and it is an important demonstration of the cost effectiveness of the BSP approach. We illustrate how BSP cost-modelling techniques can be used to predict and optimize performance for single-source programs across different parallel platforms. We provide predicted and observed performance figures for an industrial-strength, single-source parallel code for a variety of real parallel architectures: shared memory multiprocessors, workstation clusters and massively parallel platforms.

Intelligent design assistant (IDA): a case base reasoning system for material and design

This paper describes the approach to the modelling of experiential knowledge in an industrial application of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR). The CBR involves retrieval techniques in conjunction with a relational database. The database is especially designed as a repository of experiential knowledge, and includes qualitative search indices. The system is intended to help design engineers and material engineers in the submarine cable industry. It consists of three parts: a materials database; a database of experiential knowledge; and a CBR system used to retrieve similar past designs based upon component and material qualitative descriptions. The system is currently undergoing user testing at the Alcatel Submarine Networks site in Greenwich.

Using computer models to identify optimal conditions for flip-chip assembly and reliability

Flip-chip assembly, developed in the early 1960s, is now being positioned as a key joining technology to achieve high-density mounting of electronic components on to printed circuit boards for high-volume, low-cost products. Computer models are now being used early within the product design stage to ensure that optimal process conditions are used. These models capture the governing physics taking place during the assembly process and they can also predict relevant defects that may occur. Describes the application of computational modelling techniques that have the ability to predict a range of interacting physical phenomena associated with the manufacturing process. For example, in the flip-chip assembly process we have solder paste deposition, solder joint shape formation, heat transfer, solidification and thermal stress. Illustrates the application of modelling technology being used as part of a larger UK study aiming to establish a process route for high-volume, low-cost, sub-100-micron pitch flip-chip assembly.

Requirements and design of an integrated European environmental information communication system, (IEEICS)

The needs for various forms of information systems relating to the European environment and ecosystem are reviewed, and limitations indicated. Existing information systems are reviewed and compared in terms of aims and functionalities. We consider TWO technical challenges involved in attempting to develop an IEEICS. First, there is the challenge of developing an Internet-based communication system which allows fluent access to information stored in a range of distributed databases. Some of the currently available solutions are considered, i.e. Web service federations. The second main challenge arises from the fact that there is general intra-national heterogeneity in the definitions adopted, and the measurement systems used throughout the nations of Europe. Integrated strategies are needed.

Models and tools for an integrated European environmental management and decision support system, (IEEMDSS)

This work proceeds from the assumption that a European environmental information and communication system (EEICS) is already established. In the context of primary users (land-use planners, conservationists, and environmental researchers) we ask what use may be made of the EEICS for building models and tools which is of use in building decision support systems for the land-use planner. The complex task facing the next generation of environmental and forest modellers is described, and a range of relevant modelling approaches are reviewed. These include visualization and GIS; statistical tabulation and database SQL, MDA and OLAP methods. The major problem of noncomparability of the definitions and measures of forest area and timber volume is introduced and the possibility of a model-based solution is considered. The possibility of using an ambitious and challenging biogeochemical modelling approach to understanding and managing European forests sustainably is discussed. It is emphasised that all modern methodological disciplines must be brought to bear, and a heuristic hybrid modelling approach should be used so as to ensure that the benefits of practical empirical modelling approaches are utilised in addition to the scientifically well-founded and holistic ecosystem and environmental modelling. The data and information system required is likely to end up as a grid-based-framework because of the heavy use of computationally intensive model-based facilities.

Microwave modelling and validation in food thawing applications

Developing temperature fields in frozen cheese sauce undergoing microwave heating were simulated and measured. Two scenarios were investigated: a centric and offset placement on the rotating turntable. Numerical modeling was performed using a dedicated electromagnetic Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) module that was two-way coupled to the PHYSICA multiphysics package. Two meshes were used: the food material and container were meshed for the heat transfer and the microwave oven cavity and waveguide were meshed for the microwave field. Power densities obtained on the structured FDTD mesh were mapped onto the unstructured finite volume method mesh for each time-step/turntable position. On heating for each specified time-step the temperature field was mapped back onto the FDTD mesh and the electromagnetic properties were updated accordingly. Changes in thermal/electric properties associated with the phase transition were fully accounted for as well as heat losses from product to cavity. Detailed comparisons were carried out for the centric and offset placements, comparing experimental temperature profiles during microwave thawing with those obtained by numerical simulation.

Multi-physics modelling for the fabrication, packaging and reliability of micro-systems components

The latest advances in multi-physics modelling both using high fidelity techniques and reduced order and behavioural models will be discussed. Particular focus will be given to the application and validation of these techniques for modelling the fabrication, packaging and subsequent reliability of micro-systems based components. The paper will discuss results from a number of research projects with particular emphasis on the techniques being developed in a major UK Goverment funded project - 3D-MINTEGRATION (www.3d-mintegration.com).

Comparison of encapsulant curing with convention and microwave systems

Comparison of the performance of a conventional convection oven system with a dual-section microwave system for curing thermosetting polymer encapsulant materials has been performed numerically. A numerical model capable of analysing both the convection and microwave cure processes has been developed and is breifly outliines. The model is used to analyse the curing of a commercially available encapsulant material using both systems. Results obtained from numerical solutions are presented, confirming that the VFM system enables the cure process to be carried out far more rapidly than with the convection oven system. This capability stems from the fundamental heating processes involved, namely that microwave processing enables the heating rate to be varied independently of the material temperature. Variations in cure times, curing rates, maximum temperatures and residual stresses between the processes are fully discussed.

Predictive reliability and prognostics for electronic components: current capabilities and future challenges

Future analysis tools that predict the behavior of electronic components, both during qualification testing and in-service lifetime assessment, will be very important in predicting product reliability and identifying when to undertake maintenance. This paper will discuss some of these techniques and illustrate these with examples. The paper will also discuss future challenges for these techniques.

Spaces of observation and obscurity: cinematic prisons of light and dark

In The Eye of Power, Foucault delineated the key concerns surrounding hospital architecture in the latter half of the eighteenth century as being the ‘visibility of bodies, individuals and things'. As such, the ‘new form of hospital' that came to be developed ‘was at once the effect and support of a new type of gaze'. This was a gaze that was not simply concerned with ways of minimising overcrowding or cross-contamination. Rather, this was a surveillance intended to produce knowledge about the pathological bodies contained within the hospital walls. This would then allow for their appropriate classification. Foucault went on to describe how these principles came to be applied to the architecture of prisons. This was exemplified for him in the distinct shape of Bentham's panopticon. This circular design, which has subsequently become an often misused synonym for a contemporary culture of surveillance, was premised on a binary of the seen and the not-seen. An individual observer could stand at the central point of the circle and observe the cells (and their occupants) on the perimeter whilst themselves remaining unseen. The panopticon in its purest form was never constructed, yet it conveys the significance of the production of knowledge through observation that became central to institutional design at this time and modern thought more broadly. What is curious though is that whilst the aim of those late eighteenth century buildings was to produce wellventilated spaces suffused with light, this provoked an interest in its opposite. The gothic movement in literature that was developing in parallel conversely took a ‘fantasy world of stone walls, darkness, hideouts and dungeons…' as its landscape (Vidler, 1992: 162). Curiously, despite these modern developments in prison design, the façade took on these characteristics. The gothic imagination came to describe that unseen world that lay behind the outer wall. This is what Evans refers to as an architectural ‘hoax'. The façade was taken to represent the world within the prison walls and it was the façade that came to inform the popular imagination about what occurred behind it. The rational, modern principles ordering the prison became conflated with the meanings projected by and onto the façade. This confusion of meanings have then been repeated and reenforced in the subsequent representations of the prison. This is of paramount importance since it is the cinematic and televisual representation of the prison, as I argue here and elsewhere, that maintain this erroneous set of meanings, this ‘hoax'.

Low temperature crystal structures of two rhodanine derivatives, 3-amino rhodanine and 3-methyl rhodanine: geometry of the rhodanine ring

Rhodanines (2-thio-4-oxothiazolidines) are synthetic small molecular weight organic molecules with diverse applications in biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, photochemistry, coordination chemistry and industry. The X-ray crystal structure determination of two rhodanine derivatives, namely (I), 3-aminorhodanine [3-amino-2-thio-4-oxothiazolidine], C3H4N2OS2, and (II) 3-methylrhodanine [3-methyl-2-thio-4-oxothiazolidine], C4H5NOS2, have been conducted at 100 K. I crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n with unit cell parameters a = 9.662(2), b = 9.234(2), c = 13.384(2) angstrom, beta = 105.425(3)degrees, V = 1151.1(3) angstrom(3), Z = 8 (2 independent molecules per asymmetric unit), density (calculated) = 1.710 mg/m(3), absorption coefficient = 0.815 mm(-1). II crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Iba2 with unit cell a = 20.117(4), b = 23.449(5), c = 7.852(2) angstrom, V = 3703.9(12) angstrom(3), Z = 24 (three independent molecules per asymmetric unit), density (calculated) = 1.584 mg/m(3), absorption coefficient 0.755 mm(-1). For I in the final refinement cycle the data/restraints/parameter ratios were 2639/0/161, goodness-of-fit on F-2 = 0.934, final R indices [I > 2sigma(I)] were R1 = 0.0299, wR2 = 0.0545 and R indices (all data) R1 = 0.0399, wR2 = 0.0568. The largest difference peak and hole were 0.402 and -0.259 e angstrom(-3). For II in the final refinement cycle the data/restraints/parameter ratios were 3372/1/221, goodness-of-fit on F(2) = 0.950, final R indices [I > 2sigma(I)] were R1 = 0.0407, wR2 = 0.1048 and R indices (all data) R1 = 0.0450, wR2 = 0.1088. The absolute structure parameter = 0.19(9) and largest difference peak and hole 0.934 and -0.301 e angstrom(-3). Details of the geometry of the five molecules (two for I and three for II) and the crystal structures are fully discussed. Corresponding features of the molecular geometry are highly consistent and firmly establish the geometry of the rhodanine

Central nervous system drugs: Low temperature X-ray structures of (I) the base 5-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)-2,4-diamino-6-fluoromethyl-pyrimidine (4030W92) and (II) 5-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-1-H-2,4-diamino-6-methyl-pyrimidine methanesulphonic acid salt (227C89)

The X-ray crystal structures of (I), the base 4030W92, 5-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)-2,4-diamino-6-fluoromethyl-pyrimidine, C11H9Cl2FN4, and (II) 227C89, the methanesulphonic acid salt of 5-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-1-H-2,4-diamino-6-methyl-pyrimidine, C11H11Cl2N4 center dot CH3O3S, have been carried out at low temperature. A detailed comparison of the two structures is given. Structure (I) is non-centrosymmetric, crystallizing in space group P2(1) with unit cell a = 10.821(3), b = 8.290(3), c = 13.819(4) angstrom, beta = 105.980(6)degrees, V = 1191.8(6) angstrom(3), Z = 4 (two molecules per asymmetric unit) and density (calculated) = 1.600 mg/m(3). Structure (II) crystallizes in the triclinic space group P (1) over bar with unit cell a = 7.686(2), b = 8.233(2), c = 12.234(2) angstrom, alpha = 78.379(4), beta = 87.195(4), gamma = 86.811(4)degrees, V = 756.6(2) angstrom(3), Z = 2, density (calculated) = 1.603 mg/m(3). Final R indices [I > 2sigma(I)] are R1 = 0.0572, wR2 = 0.1003 for (I) and R1 = 0.0558, wR2 = 0.0982 for (II). R indices (all data) are R1 = 0.0983, wR2 = 0.1116 for (I) and R1 = 0.1009, wR2 = 0.1117 for (II). 5- Phenyl-2,4 diaminopyrimidine and 6-phenyl-1,2,4 triazine derivatives, which include lamotrigine (3,5-diamino-6-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,4-triazine), have been investigated for some time for their effects on the central nervous system. The three dimensional structures reported here form part of a newly developed data base for the detailed investigation of members of this structural series and their biological activities.

Legal myth-making: Medea and the legal representation of the feminine ‘other'

The Law operates by, and through, the creation of ideal benchmarks of conduct that are deemed to be representative of the behavioural norm. It is in this sense that it could be contended that the Law utilises, and relies on, myths in the same way as do other disciplines, notably psycho-analysis. It is possible to go even further and argue that the use of a created narrative mythology is essential to the establishment of a defined legal benchmark of behaviour by which the female defendant is assessed, judged and punished. While mythology expresses and symbolizes cultural and political behaviour, it is the Law that embodies and prescribes punitive sanctions. This element represents a powerful literary strand in classical mythology. This may be seen, for instance, in Antigone’s appeal to the Law as justification for her conduct, as much as in Medea’s challenge to the Law though her desire for vengeance. Despite its image of neutral, objective rationality, the Law, in creating and sustaining the ideals of legally-sanctioned conduct, engages in the same literary processes of imagination, reason and emotion that are central to the creation and re-creation of myth. The (re-)presentation of the Medea myth in literature (especially in theatre) and in art, finds its echo in the theatre of the courtroom where wronged women who have refused to passively accept their place, have instead responded with violence. Consequently, the Medea myth, in its depiction of the (un)feminine, serves as a template for the Law’s judgment of ‘conventional’ feminine conduct in the roles of wife and mother. Medea is an image of deviant femininity, as is Lady Macbeth and the countless other un-feminine literary and mythological women who challenge the power of the dominant culture and its ally, the Law. These women stand opposed to the other dominant theme of both literature and Law: the conformist woman, the passive dupe, who are victims of male oppression – women such as Ariadne of Naxos and Tess of the D’Ubervilles – and who are subsequently consumed by the Law, much as Semele is consumed by the fire of Jupiter’s gaze upon her. All of these women, the former as well as the latter, have their real-life counterparts in the pages of the Law Reports. As Fox puts it, “these women have come to bear the weight of the cultural stereotypes and preconceptions about women who kill.”

Vibrational spectra and crystal structure of the di-amino acid peptide cyclo(L-Met-L-Met): Comparison of experimental data and DFT calculations

Experimental Raman and FT-IR spectra of solid-state non-deuterated and N-deuterated samples of cyclo(L-Met-L-Met) are reported and discussed. The Raman and FT-IR results show characteristic amide I vibrations (Raman: 1649 cm-1, infrared: 1675 cm-1) for molecules exhibiting a cis amide conformation. A Raman band, assigned to the cis amide II vibrational mode, is observed at sim1493 cm-1 but no IR band is observed in this region. Cyclo(L-Met-L-Met) crystallises in the triclinic space group P1 with one molecule per unit cell. The overall shape of the diketopiperazine (DKP) ring displays a (slightly distorted) boat conformation. The crystal packing employs two strong hydrogen bonds, which traverse the entire crystal via translational repeats. B3-LYP/cc-pVDZ calculations of the structure of the molecule predict a boat conformation for the DKP ring, in agreement with the experimentally determined X-ray structure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.