Some primitives for the portable programming of array and vector processors

A high-level language for array and vector processors is analyzed by the methods of denotational semantics. The analysis leads to the identification of a set of primitives suitable for the portable programming of array and vector processors. Discussion of the primitives includes consideration of the efficiency with which they may be implemented on different machines, and their possible application to portable programming, the design of intermeiate languages, and the design of future array and vector processors.     

Orthogonal designs II

Orthogonal designs are a natural generalization of the Baumert-Hall arrays which have been used to construct Hadamard matrices. We continue our investigation of these designs and show that orthogonal designs of type (1,k) and ordern exist for everyk < n whenn = 2 ^t+2?3 andn = 2 ^t+2?5 (wheret is a positive integer). We also find orthogonal designs that exist in every order 2n and others that exist in every order 4n. Coupled with some results of earlier work, this means that theweighing matrix conjecture ‘For every ordern ≡ 0 (mod 4) there is, for eachk ?n, a square {0, 1, ? 1} matrixW = W(n, k) satisfyingWW ^t =kIn’ is resolved in the affirmative for all ordersn = 2^t+1?3,n = 2^t+1?5 (t a positive integer). The fact that the matrices we find are skew-symmetric for allk < n whenn ≡ 0 (mod 8) and because of other considerations we pose three other conjectures about weighing matrices having additional structure and resolve these conjectures affirmatively in a few cases. In an appendix we give a table of the known results for orders ? 64.     

Chiral metals? A chiral substrate for organic conductors and superconductors

Chiral metals are so far practically unknown. The synthesis of a chiral substrate for possible organic conductors and superconductors is described.     

On the growth of generating sets for direct powers of semigroups

For a semigroup S its d-sequence is d(S)=(d ₁,d ₂,d ₃,…), where d _i is the smallest number of elements needed to generate the ith direct power of S. In this paper we present a number of facts concerning the type of growth d(S) can have when S is an infinite semigroup, comparing them with the corresponding known facts for infinite groups, and also for finite groups and semigroups.     

Determination of Cefalothin and Cefazolin in Human Plasma,Urine and Peritoneal Dialysate by UHPLC‐MS/MS: application to a pilot pharmacokinetic study in humans

An ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐MS/MS) method for the analysis of cefazolin and cefalothin in human plasma (total and unbound), urine and peritoneal dialysate has been developed and validated. Total plasma concentrations are measured following protein precipitation and are suitable for the concentration range of 1–500 µg/mL. Unbound concentrations are measured from ultra‐filtered plasma acquired using Centrifree^® devices and are suitable for the concentration range of 0.1–500 µg/mL for cefazolin and 1–500 µg/mL for cefalothin. The urine method is suitable for a concentration range of 0.1–20 mg/mL for cefazolin and 0.2–20 mg/mL for cefalothin. Peritoneal dialysate concentrations are measured using direct injection, and are suitable for the concentration range of 0.2–100 µg/mL for both cefazolin and cefalothin. The cefazolin and cefalothin plasma (total and unbound), urine and peritoneal dialysate results are reported for recovery, inter‐assay precision and accuracy, and the lower limit of quantification, linearity, stability and matrix effects, with all results meeting acceptance criteria. The method was used successfully in a pilot pharmacokinetic study with patients with peritoneal dialysis‐associated peritonitis, receiving either intraperitoneal cefazolin or cefalothin. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tailoring electronic properties of atomic chains assembled by STM

Atomic chains were assembled from single Au and Pd atoms on a NiAl(110) surface, using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. The electronic properties of the chains were investigated by spatially resolved conductance spectroscopy and microscopy, revealing the development of a one-dimensional, free-electron-like band. Onset energy, effective electron mass, and spatial localization of the band were influenced by structural and chemical modifications of the chains. The experiments demonstrate the effects of interatomic spacing and elemental composition of the chains, as well as the roll of local impurities and adsorption on the properties of the one-dimensional electronic system. PACS 68.37.Ef; 73.21.Fg; 73.22.-f; 68.43.-h     

Pressure studies of conduction-band N-pair-state mixing in dilute GaAs1−xNx alloys

High-pressure photoluminescence (PL) experiments (at 9 K) are reported for GaAs_1−xN_x/GaAs quantum wells having N compositions (x=0.0025, 0.004) in the dilute regime where the GaAs_1−xN_x alloy conduction band (CB) evolves rapidly by incorporation of N-pair states. Under increasing pressure, the PL spectra exhibit several new N-pair features that derive from CB-resonant states at 1 atm. Two of these features appear strongly at sub-band-gap energies for P29 kbar in the x=0.0025 sample, but are absent for all pressures in the x=0.004 sample. Several competing PL assignments due to bound-exciton recombination at NN_i pairs (i=1–4 is the anion separation) are considered in light of prior findings for N-doped (10¹⁷ cm⁻³) GaAs. The absence of certain PL features in the x=0.004 sample shows that N-pair states mix into the CB-continuum via a selective process, and this selectivity offers an important test for band-structure calculations in dilute GaAs_1−xN_x alloys.     

SDML: A Multi-Agent Language for Organizational Modelling

A programming language which is optimized for modelling multi-agent interaction within articulated social structures such as organizations is described with several examples of its functionality. The language is SDML, a strictly declarative modelling language which has object-oriented features and corresponds to a fragment of strongly grounded autoepistemic logic. The virtues of SDML include the ease of building complex models and the facility for representing agents flexibly as models of cognition as well as modularity and code reusability. Two representations of cognitive agents within organizational structures are reported and a Soar-to-SDML compiler is described. One of the agent representations is a declarative implementation of a Soar agent taken from the Radar-Soar model of Ye and Carley (1995). The Ye-Carley results are replicated but the declarative SDML implementation is shown to be much less computationally expensive than the more procedural Soar implementation. As a result, it appears that SDML supports more elaborate representations of agent cognition together with more detailed articulation of organizational structure than we have seen in computational organization theory. Moreover, by representing Soar-cognitive agents declaratively within SDML, that implementation of the Ye-Carley specification is necessarily consistent and sound with respect to the formal logic to which SDML corresponds.     

The onset of slugging in horizontal stratified air-water flow

A simple criterion for the transition from stratified flow to the slug or plug flow regime in horizontal rectangular ducts is presented. A theoretical model is developed and shown to be consistent with data obtained by blowing air over stationary water in channels with a wide range of geometrical parameters. Some data for cocurrent and countercurrent flow are also correlated successfully.     

Synthesis and anti-HCV activity of 1-(1′,3′-O-anhydro-3′-C-methyl-β-d-psicofuranosyl)uracil

Synthesis of a novel 1′,2′-oxetane-uridine bearing a 2′-C-methyl substituent, [1-(1′,3′-O-anhydro-3′-C-methyl-β-d-psicofuranosyl)uracil], is described. Key to its construction was the use of 6-O-(p-toluoyl)-1,2:3,4-di-O-isopropylidene-3-C-methyl-d-psicofuranose as a nucleosidation substrate, which itself was derived from d-fructose. Anti-HCV activity was examined for the corresponding triphosphate which was not found to be an inhibitor of HCV NS5B 1b wild type polymerase in vitro. The 1′,2′-oxetane uridine triphosphate without 2′-C-methyl substitution was similarly inactive, however, the guanosine analog displayed modest inhibition (IC₅₀ = 10 μM).