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At least 451 records · Page 25

Fast GPU-Based Generation of Large Graph Networks From Degree Distributions

Synthetically generated, large graph networks serve as useful proxies to real-world networks for many graph-based applications. The ability to generate such networks helps overcome several limitations of real-world networks regarding their number, availability, and access. Here, we present the design, implementation, and performance study of a novel network generator that can produce very large graph networks conforming to any desired degree distribution. The generator is designed and implemented for efficient execution on modern graphics processing units (GPUs). Given an array of desired vertex degrees and number of vertices for each desired degree, our algorithm generates the edges of a random graph that satisfies the input degree distribution. Multiple runtime variants are implemented and tested: 1) a uniform static work assignment using a fixed thread launch scheme, 2) a load-balanced static work assignment also with fixed thread launch but with cost-aware task-to-thread mapping, and 3) a dynamic scheme with multiple GPU kernels asynchronously launched from the CPU. The generation is tested on a range of popular networks such as Twitter and Facebook, representing different scales and skews in degree distributions. Results show that, using our algorithm on a single modern GPU (NVIDIA Volta V100), it is possible to generate large-scale graph networks at rates exceeding 50 billion edges per second for a 69 billion-edge network. GPU profiling confirms high utilization and low branching divergence of our implementation from small to large network sizes. For networks with scattered distributions, we provide a coarsening method that further increases the GPU-based generation speed by up to a factor of 4 on tested input networks with over 45 billion edges.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sharing leaky-integrate-and-fire neurons for memory-efficient spiking neural networks

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) have gained increasing attention as energy-efficient neural networks owing to their binary and asynchronous computation. However, their non-linear activation, that is Leaky-Integrate-and-Fire (LIF) neuron, requires additional memory to store a membrane voltage to capture the temporal dynamics of spikes. Although the required memory cost for LIF neurons significantly increases as the input dimension goes larger, a technique to reduce memory for LIF neurons has not been explored so far. To address this, we propose a simple and effective solution, EfficientLIF-Net, which shares the LIF neurons across different layers and channels. Our EfficientLIF-Net achieves comparable accuracy with the standard SNNs while bringing up to ~4.3× forward memory efficiency and ~21.9× backward memory efficiency for LIF neurons. We conduct experiments on various datasets including CIFAR10, CIFAR100, TinyImageNet, ImageNet-100, and N-Caltech101. Furthermore, we show that our approach also offers advantages on Human Activity Recognition (HAR) datasets, which heavily rely on temporal information. The code has been released at https://github.com/Intelligent-Computing-Lab-Yale/EfficientLIF-Net.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Curcumin Nanodiscs Improve Solubility and Serve as Radiological Protectants against Ionizing Radiation Exposures in a Cell-Cycle Dependent Manner

Curcumin, a natural polyphenol derived from the spice turmeric (Curcuma longa), contains antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties. However, curcumin bioavailability is inherently low due to poor water solubility and rapid metabolism. Here, we further refined for use curcumin incorporated into “biomimetic” nanolipoprotein particles (cNLPs) consisting of a phospholipid bilayer surrounded by apolipoprotein A1 and amphipathic polymer scaffolding moieties. Our cNLP formulation improves the water solubility of curcumin over 30-fold and produces nanoparticles with ~350 µg/mL total loading capacity for downstream in vitro and in vivo applications. We found that cNLPs were well tolerated in AG05965/MRC-5 human primary lung fibroblasts compared to cultures treated with curcumin solubilized in DMSO (curDMSO). Pre-treatment with cNLPs of quiescent G0/G1-phase MRC-5 cultures improved cell survival following 137Cs gamma ray irradiations, although this finding was reversed in asynchronously cycling log-phase cell cultures. These findings may be useful for establishing cNLPs as a method to improve curcumin bioavailability for administration as a radioprotective and/or radiomitigative agent against ionizing radiation (IR) exposures in non-cycling cells or as a radiosensitizing agent for actively dividing cell populations, such as tumors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Qualitative properties of mathematical model for data flow

In this paper, properties of a recently proposed mathematical model for data flow in large-scale asynchronous computer systems are analyzed. In particular, the existence of special weak solutions based on propagating fronts is established. Qualitative properties of these solutions are investigated, both theoretically and numerically.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Observations of particle number size distributions and new particle formation in six Indian locations

Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is a crucial process driving aerosol number concentrations in the atmosphere; it can significantly impact the evolution of atmospheric aerosol and cloud processes. This study analyses at least 1 year of asynchronous particle number size distributions from six different locations in India. We also analyze the frequency of NPF and its contribution to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. We found that the NPF frequency has a considerable seasonal variability. At the measurement sites analyzed in this study, NPF frequently occurs in March–May (pre-monsoon, about 21% of the days) and is the least common in October–November (post-monsoon, about 7% of the days). Considering the NPF events in all locations, the particle formation rate (J SDS ) varied by more than 2 orders of magnitude (0.001–0.6 cm –3 s –1 ) and the growth rate between the smallest detectable size and 25nm (GR SDS-25nm ) by about 3 orders of magnitude (0.2–17.2nm h –1 ). We found that J SDS was higher by nearly 1 order of magnitude during NPF events in urban areas than mountain sites. GR SDS did not show a systematic difference. Our results showed that NPF events could significantly modulate the shape of particle number size distributions and CCN concentrations in India. The contribution of a given NPF event to CCN concentrations was the highest in urban locations (4.3 × 10 3 cm –3 per event and 1.2 × 10 3 cm –3 per event for 50 and 100nm, respectively) as compared to mountain background sites (2.7 × 10 3 cm –3 per event and 1.0 × 10 3 cm –3 per event, respectively). We emphasize that the physical and chemical pathways responsible for NPF and factors that control its contribution to CCN production require in situ field observations using recent advances in aerosol and its precursor gaseous measurement techniques.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Assessment of the sea surface temperature diurnal cycle in CNRM-CM6-1 based on its 1D coupled configuration

A single-column version of the CNRM-CM6-1 global climate model has been developed to ease development and validation of the boundary layer physics and air–sea coupling in a simplified environment. This framework is then used to assess the ability of the coupled model to represent the sea surface temperature (SST) diurnal cycle. To this aim, the atmospheric–ocean single-column model (AOSCM), called CNRM-CM6-1D, is implemented in a case study derived from the CINDY2011/DYNAMO campaign over the Indian Ocean, where large diurnal SST variabilities have been well documented. Comparing the AOSCM and its uncoupled components (atmospheric SCM and oceanic SCM, called OSCM) highlights the fact that the impact of coupling in the atmosphere results from both the possibility to take into account the diurnal variability of SST, which is not usually available in forcing products, and the change in mean state SST as simulated by the OSCM, with the ocean mean state not being heavily impacted by the coupling. This suggests that coupling feedbacks in the 3D model do not arise from the coupling of ocean and atmosphere vertical column physics but are more due to the large-scale dynamics resolved by the 3D model. Additionally, a sub-daily coupling frequency is needed to represent the SST diurnal variability, but the choice of the coupling time step between 15 min and 3 h does not impact the diurnal temperature range simulated much. The main drawback of a 3 h coupling is delaying the SST diurnal cycle by 5 h in asynchronous coupled models. Overall, the diurnal SST variability is reasonably well represented in CNRM-CM6-1 with a 1 h coupling time step and the upper-ocean model resolution of 1 m. This framework is shown to be a very valuable tool to develop and validate the boundary layer physics and the coupling interface. It highlights the interest to develop other atmosphere–ocean coupling case studies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Diversification of multipotential postmitotic mouse retinal ganglion cell precursors into discrete types

The genesis of broad neuronal classes from multipotential neural progenitor cells has been extensively studied, but less is known about the diversification of a single neuronal class into multiple types. We used single-cell RNA-seq to study how newly born (postmitotic) mouse retinal ganglion cell (RGC) precursors diversify into ~45 discrete types. Computational analysis provides evidence that RGC transcriptomic type identity is not specified at mitotic exit, but acquired by gradual, asynchronous restriction of postmitotic multipotential precursors. Some types are not identifiable until a week after they are generated. Immature RGCs may be specified to project ipsilaterally or contralaterally to the rest of the brain before their type identity emerges. Optimal transport inference identifies groups of RGC precursors with largely nonoverlapping fates, distinguished by selectively expressed transcription factors that could act as fate determinants. Our study provides a framework for investigating the molecular diversification of discrete types within a neuronal class.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Burst retransmission of PCM telemetry data.

Periodic burst technique for real-time retransmission of data from multiple asynchronous PCM telemetry links, providing accurate determination of individual sample time

DATA TRANSMISSION↗

Hazards in noncritical races.

Hazards in noncritical races, discussing minimum transition time coding of asynchronous sequential switching circuits

Collins, D. C.↗

A Computer Program for Simplifying Incompletely Specified Sequential Machines Using the Paull and Unger Technique

This report presents a description of a computer program mechanized to perform the Paull and Unger process of simplifying incompletely specified sequential machines. An understanding of the process, as given in Ref. 3, is a prerequisite to the use of the techniques presented in this report. This process has specific application in the design of asynchronous digital machines and was used in the design of operational support equipment for the Mariner 1966 central computer and sequencer. A typical sequential machine design problem is presented to show where the Paull and Unger process has application. A description of the Paull and Unger process together with a description of the computer algorithms used to develop the program mechanization are presented. Several examples are used to clarify the Paull and Unger process and the computer algorithms. Program flow diagrams, program listings, and a program user operating procedures are included as appendixes.

Ebersole, M. M.↗

Digital input is buffered to real-time analog display

Buffering technique utilizes nine-bit binary counter and holding register of eight flip-flops. These flip-flops form the memory device that allows precise asynchronous conversion of the digital source data. Counter generates a waveform which is passed through a low pass filter to recover data in analog form.

Bower, K. F.↗

Conceptual design of a 10 to the 8th power bit magnetic bubble domain mass storage unit and fabrication, test and delivery of a feasibility model

The conceptual design of a highly reliable 10 to the 8th power-bit bubble domain memory for the space program is described. The memory has random access to blocks of closed-loop shift registers, and utilizes self-contained bubble domain chips with on-chip decoding. Trade-off studies show that the highest reliability and lowest power dissipation is obtained when the memory is organized on a bit-per-chip basis. The final design has 800 bits/register, 128 registers/chip, 16 chips/plane, and 112 planes, of which only seven are activated at a time. A word has 64 data bits +32 checkbits, used in a 16-adjacent code to provide correction of any combination of errors in one plane. 100 KHz maximum rotational frequency keeps power low (equal to or less than, 25 watts) and also allows asynchronous operation. Data rate is 6.4 megabits/sec, access time is 200 msec to an 800-word block and an additional 4 msec (average) to a word. The fabrication and operation are also described for a 64-bit bubble domain memory chip designed to test the concept of on-chip magnetic decoding. Access to one of the chip's four shift registers for the read, write, and clear functions is by means of bubble domain decoders utilizing the interaction between a conductor line and a bubble.

Source record↗

A variable-data-rate, multimode quadriphase modem.

This paper describes the design and performance of a highly versatile modulator and demodulator recently developed to facilitate the evaluation of various digital communications links. The modem is capable of either PSK or QPSK operation and can accommodate a very wide range of continuously tunable data rates (1 kbps to 30 Mbps in each of two channels). In the QPSK mode, operation is possible using either a single serial data stream (single channel operation) or using two mutually independent, unrelated, and asynchronous data streams (dual-channel operation). Integrate and dump detectors are used at the demodulator for regeneration of the data stream(s). Measurements indicate that the performance of the overall system (including the bit detectors) is within 2 dB of the theoretically optimum performance of either PSK or QPSK at any rate within the range of rates provided by the modem, and is within 1 dB of theoretical over most of the range of rates.

Allen, R. W.↗

Low-distortion receiver for bilevel, baseband PCM waveforms

Digital receiver improves discrimination between information signals and noise and provides order to magnitude reduction in systematic distortion. Receiver combines advantages of band-limiting prefilter and high-amplitude thresholds to provide asynchronous discrimination between information signals and spurious signals.

Proch, G. E.↗