IMPACCT: Methodology and Tools for Power-Aware Embedded Systems

Power-aware systems are those that must exploit a widerange of power/performance trade-offs in order to adapt to the power availabilityand application requirements. They require the integration of many novel powermanagement techniques, ranging from voltage scaling to subsystem shutdown.However, those techniques do not always compose synergistically with eachother; in fact, they can combine subtractively and often yield counterintuitive,and sometimes incorrect, results in the context of a complete system. Thiscan become a serious problem as more of these power aware systems are beingdeployed in mission critical applications.To address the problem of technique integration for power-aware embedded systems, we propose a new design tool framework called IMPACCT and the associated design methodology. The system modeling methodology includes application model for capturing timing/powerconstraints and mode dependencies at the system level. The tool performs power-awarescheduling and mode selection to ensure that all timing/power constraintsare satisfied and that all overhead is taken into account. IMPACCT then synthesizesthe implementation targeting a symmetric multiprocessor platform. Experimentalresults show that the increased dynamic range of power/performance settingsenabled a Mars rover to achieve significant acceleration while using lessenergy. More importantly, our tool correctly combines the state-of-the-arttechniques at the system level, thereby saving even experienced designersfrom many pitfalls of system-level power management.     

Production,Purification and Characterization of the Hen Egg-White Lysozyme Inhibitor from Enterobacter cloacae M-1002

Three hen egg-white lysozyme inhibitor producing strains, Enterobacter cloacae M-1002, E. sakazakii M-1204, and Erwinia rhapontici H-55, were isolated from the soils of Taiwan. E. cloacae M-1002 appeared to be a promising inhibitor producing strain. One inhibitor was isolated from the culture broth of this strain. Maximum lysozyme inhibitory activity was obtained when the bacterium was grown aerobically in a medium consisting of 0.75% glucose, 0.25% beef extract, 1.0% polypeptone, and 0.25% sodium L-glutamate (pH 70) at 37 °C after 36–48 hrs. A hen egg-white lysozyme inhibitor was isolated from the culture broth of this strain. The inhibitor was purified from the culture supernatant of E. cloacae M-1002 by ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography and Fractogel TSK HW-55 (S) gel chromatography. Molecular weight of the purified lysozyme inhibitor was estimated to be 18, 000–20, 000 by SDS-PAGE and HPLC, and was composed of 71% amino acid and 23% total sugar. Serine, glycine, and alanine in a 3:2:1 molar ratio were the major amino acids, calculated to be 32.8, 20.3, and 11.4% (mol%), respectively. Glucose and mannose were the major sugar components of the inhibitor. The inhibitor was stable at pH 5 to 8 and was stable under 50 °C. Only hen egg-white lysozyme was inhibited by the purified inhibitor but not the other tested enzymes such as lysozyme of celery, turnip; lytic enzyme of Pseudomonas aeruginosa M-1001; chitinase/lysozyme of P. aeruginosa K-187; or cellulase and xylanase of Streptomyces actuosus A-151 and Aspergillus sp. G-393. The inhibition of lysozyme to the bacterial cell lytic activity by the purified inhibitor was 100%.     

Characterization of micromachined silicon rectangular waveguide at 400 GHz

We present the first characterization of a micromachined silicon rectangular waveguide at 400GHz. The silicon waveguide has an average loss of 0.086dB/mm for a range of 350-460GHz. The waveguides are formed using well known microfabrication techniques and demonstrate a successful first step towards the use of silicon waveguides as a viable option for THz systems.     

Colossal magnetoresistance manganites: A new approach

Manganites of the LA_1−x Ca _x MnO₃ family show a variety of new and poorly understood electronic, magnetic and structural effects. Here we outline a new approach recently proposed by us, where we argue that due to strong Jahn-Teller (JT) coupling with phonons the twofold degeneratee _g states at the Mn sites dynamically reorganize themselves into localised, JT polaronsl with exponentially small inter-site hopping, and band-like, nonpolaronic statesb, leading to anew 2-band model for manganites which includes strong Coulomb and Hund’s couplings. We also discuss some results from a dynamical mean-field theory treatment of the model which explains quantitatively a wide variety of experimental results, including insulator-metal transitions and CMR, in terms of the influence of physical conditions on the relative energies and occupation of thel andb states. We argue that this microscopic coexistence of the two types of electronic states, and their relative occupation and spatial correlation is the key to manganite physics. Dedicated to Professor C N R Rao on his 70th birthday     

Preparation and evaluation of nickelmesogen for micropacked gas chromatography

The preparation and mesomorphic properties of a substituted bis(dithiolene)nickel complex derived from 4, 4'-dimethoxybenzil are reported. The phase transition temperatures were based on data obtained by polarized light microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The mesogenic phase existed over the temperature range from 77 to 175 degrees C. A novel micropacked column (1.5 or 3 m x 1 mm i.d.) prepared from the slurry of bis[1,2-bis(4-n-undecyloxyphenyl)ethane-1,2-dithiolene] nickel(II) (5%, w/w), coated on Chromosorb W was applied for the separation of dialkyl sulfides. The non-linearity (discontinuity) of Van't Hoff plots suggests that the liquid crystal property existed even in the coated phase. Factors affecting the retention and the sample selectivity on the prepared column were examined by using a flame photometric detector (FPD). The separation might be based on the mechanism of ligand exchange, shape selectivity and polarity interaction besides the vapor pressure. LOD for the determination of dialkyl sulfides was below 1 ng for most of the analytes.     

Synthèse du mèthyl-1 diformyl-2,3 pyrrole,de la méthyl-1 pyrrolo[2,3-d] pyridazine et de la méthyl-1 oxo-6 (6h)cycloheptatrieno[b] pyrrole

This communication describes the synthesis of l-methyl-2,3-diformylpyrrole. This new compound is used to prepare a new heterocycle, l-methylcyclohepta[b]pyrrol-6-one and thus allows a new synthesis of l-methylpyrrolo[2,3-d]pyridazine.     

Stereoselective reduction of β hydroxyketones to 1,3-diols highly selective 1,3-asymmetric induction via boron chelates

Highly selective asymmetric induction can be achieved in the reduction of acyclic β-hydroxyketones via boron chelates. Treatment of β-hydroxyketones (1) with tributyl or tri-isobutylborane and successively with sodium borohydride afforded syn-1,3-diols (3) in highly stereo-selective manner, Syn -α-substituted-β -hydroxyketones (8) were also reduced to give syn, syn-1,3-diols (9) exclusively. The reaction was further applied to the convenient preparation of 3-deoxy-hexoses.     

Facile Total Synthesis of (±)‐Nimbiol

A facile total synthesis of (±)‐nimbiol 1 has been achieved. In order to decrease the dioxo byproduct 2a , an improved oxidation system of CrO₃/H₂O/HOAc/NaOAc was used.     

Investigation of the complex formation of plutonium(VI) with 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone by solvent extraction

The co-ordination of plutonyl ions with 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (HTTA) has been investigated by distribution studies of²³⁹Pu between benzene and aqueous perchlorate medium at 25°C in order to understand the nature of the extracted species and their stability. The formation constants of the first and second complexes have been evaluated by Rydberg's graphical method as well as by least squares analysis of the distribution data using a computer programme. The overall formation constant (β₂) for Pu(VI)-HTTA system has been found to be of the order of 10¹².