BDDT: Block-level Dynamic Dependence Analysis for Task-Based Parallelism

We present BDDT, a task-parallel runtime system that dynamically discovers and resolves dependencies among parallel tasks. BDDT allows the programmer to specify detailed task footprints on any memory address range, multidimensional array tile or dynamic region. BDDT uses a block-based dependence analysis with arbitrary granularity. The analysis is applicable to existing C programs without having to restructure object or array allocation, and provides flexibility in array layouts and tile dimensions.
We evaluate BDDT using a representative set of benchmarks, and we compare it to SMPSs (the equivalent runtime system in StarSs) and OpenMP. BDDT performs comparable to or better than SMPSs and is able to cope with task granularity as much as one order of magnitude finer than SMPSs. Compared to OpenMP, BDDT performs up to 3.9× better for benchmarks that benefit from dynamic dependence analysis. BDDT provides additional data annotations to bypass dependence analysis. Using these annotations, BDDT outperforms OpenMP also in benchmarks where dependence analysis does not discover additional parallelism, thanks to a more efficient implementation of the runtime system.

Hardware Comparison of the ISO/IEC 29192-2 Block Ciphers

As ubiquitous computing becomes a reality, sensitive information is increasingly processed and transmitted by smart cards, mobile devices and various types of embedded systems. This has led to the requirement of a new class of lightweight cryptographic algorithm to ensure security in these resource constrained environments. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has recently standardised two low-cost block ciphers for this purpose, Clefia and Present. In this paper we provide the first comprehensive hardware architecture comparison between these ciphers, as well as a comparison with the current National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standard, the Advanced Encryption Standard.

Nile blue-based nano-sized pH sensors for simultaneous far-red and near-infrared live bioimaging

Diblock copolymer vesicles are tagged with pH-responsive Nile Blue-based labels and used as a new type of pH-responsive colorimetric/fluorescent biosensor for far-red and near-infrared imaging of live cells. The diblock copolymer vesicles described herein are based on poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl phosphorylcholine-block-2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) [PMPC-PDPA]: the biomimetic PMPC block is known to facilitate rapid cell uptake for a wide range of cell lines, while the PDPA block constitutes the pH-responsive component that enables facile vesicle self-assembly in aqueous solution. These biocompatible vesicles can be utilized to detect interstitial hypoxic/acidic regions in a tumor model via a pH-dependent colorimetric shift. In addition, they are also useful for selective intracellular staining of lysosomes and early endosomes via subtle changes in fluorescence emission. Such nanoparticles combine efficient cellular uptake with a pH-responsive Nile Blue dye label to produce a highly versatile dual capability probe. This is in marked contrast to small molecule dyes, which are usually poorly uptaken by cells, frequently exhibit cytotoxicity, and are characterized by intracellular distributions invariably dictated by their hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance.

Orthogonal space-time block coded rate-adaptive modulation with outdated feedbasck

Abstract-Channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter can be used to adapt transmission rate or antenna gains in multi-antenna systems. We propose a rate-adaptive M-QAM scheme equipped with orthogonal space-time block coding with simple outdated, finite-rate feedback over independent flat fading channels. We obtain closed-form expressions for the average BER and throughput for our scheme, and analyze the effects of possibly delayed feedback on the performance gains. We derive optimal switching thresholds maximizing the average throughput under average and outage BER constraints with outdated feedback. Our numerical results illustrate the immunity of our optimal thresholds to delayed feedback.

Synthesis and characterization of amphiphilic star copolymers of 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate and methyl methacrylate: Effects of architecture and composition

Six amphiphilic star copolymers comprising hydrophilic units of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and hydrophobic units of methyl methacrylate (MMA) were prepared by the sequential group transfer polymerization (GTP) of the two comonomers and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) cross-linker. Four star-block copolymers of different compositions, one miktoarm star, and one statistical copolymer star were synthesized. The molecular weights (MWs) and MW distributions of all the star copolymers and their linear homopolymer and copolymer precursors were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), while the compositions of the stars were determined by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H-1 NMR) spectroscopy. Tetrahydrofuran (THF) solutions of all the star copolymers were characterized by static light scattering to determine the absolute weight-average MW ((M) over bar (w)) and the number of arms of the stars. The R, of the stars ranged between 359,000 and 565,000 g mol(-1), while their number of arms ranged between 39 and 120. The star copolymers were soluble in acidic water at pH 4 giving transparent or slightly opaque solutions, with the exception of the very hydrophobic DMAEMA(10)-b-MMA(30)-star, which gave a very opaque solution. Only the random copolymer star was completely dispersed in neutral water, giving a very opaque solution. The effective pKs of the copolymer stars were determined by hydrogen ion titration and were found to be in the range 6.5-7.6. The pHs of precipitation of the star copolymer solutions/dispersions were found to be between 8.8-10.1, except for the most hydrophobic DMA-EMA(10)-b-MMA(30)-Star, which gave a very opaque solution over the whole pH range. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facile synthesis of thiol-functionalized amphiphilic polylactide–methacrylic diblock copolymers

Biodegradable amphiphilic diblock copolymers based on an aliphatic ester block and various hydrophilic methacrylic monomers were synthesized using a novel hydroxyl-functionalized trithiocarbonate-based chain transfer agent. One protocol involved the one-pot simultaneous ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of the biodegradable monomer (3S)-cis-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-dioxane-2,5-dione (L-lactide, LA) and reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMA) or oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA) monomer, with 4-dimethylaminopyridine being used as the ROP catalyst and 2,2′-azobis(isobutyronitrile) as the initiator for the RAFT polymerization. Alternatively, a two-step protocol involving the initial polymerization of LA followed by the polymerization of DMA, glycerol monomethacrylate or 2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl phosphorylcholine using 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanovaleric acid) as a RAFT initiator was also explored. Using a solvent switch processing step, these amphiphilic diblock copolymers self-assemble in dilute aqueous solution. Their self-assembly provides various copolymer morphologies depending on the block compositions, as judged by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Two novel disulfide-functionalized PLA-branched block copolymers were also synthesized using simultaneous ROP of LA and RAFT copolymerization of OEGMA or DMA with a disulfide-based dimethacrylate. The disulfide bonds were reductively cleaved using tributyl phosphine to generate reactive thiol groups. Thiol–ene chemistry was utilized for further derivatization with thiol-based biologically important molecules and heavy metals for tissue engineering or bioimaging applications, respectively.