Abstract

Software quality has always been an important criterion for assessing stability of a product. It is quite challenging for large-scale complex products, especially integrated products, to endure and withstand the competition after a new version release in its market domain. Unlike regular software, integrated software products require detailed exploration on the spread and impact of a defect to improve overall product quality. In this paper, we use heuristic approaches like generalized defect dependency approach, control flow graph based approach, and feature correlation based approach to study the widespread of defects in large software and suggest a metric called defect dependency metric to study the dependency of defects. We implemented the generalized defect dependency approach on an industry dataset and gathered noteworthy results. We provide a comparative a study of the heuristic approaches …

Abstract

Software engineering activities like code reviews, change management, knowledge management, issue tracking, etc. tend to be heavily process oriented. Gamification of such activities by composing the core activities with game design elements like badges and points can increase developers' interest in performing such activities. While there are various frameworks/applications that assist in gamification, extending the frameworks to add any/all desired game design elements has not been adequately addressed. In this paper, we propose an extensible architectural framework for gamification of software engineering activities where in the game design elements are modeled as services. We create an example instance of our framework by building a prototype for code review activity and note the challenges of designing such an extensible architectural framework. The example instance uses python's Flask micro …

Abstract

Energy efficiency is an area of growing importance in datacenters. While the energy proportionality wall poses a challenge to further improve the dynamic power range of servers, heterogeneous systems offer a new opportunity to achieve higher energy efficiency by improving the match between application workload demands on the large heterogeneous system configuration space. This paper proposes a model-driven energy proportionality analysis of heterogeneous clusters consisting of server nodes with different performance-to-power ratio (PPR). Our analysis shows that inter-node heterogeneity has a positive effect of scaling the energy proportionality wall by exposing configurations with sub-linear energy proportionality. Secondly, analysis of these sub-linear configurations on the 95th percentile response time shows that heterogeneity is beneficial in workloads where the PPR of wimpy nodes is higher than brawny nodes.

Abstract

Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture systems are becoming increasingly popular for HPC applications as they have the dual-advantage of accelerating vector processing and a general-purpose programming model. One of the key challenges for energy-efficient execution on MIC architecture systems is to determine time and energy-efficient configurations among a large system configuration space. Given a parallel program with an execution time deadline and an energy budget, we propose a measurement-based analytical modeling approach to determine these system configurations. In contrast to current approaches, we model both inter-and intra-core resource overlaps, memory contention among threads within a core and memory contention across multiple cores. The model is validated against direct measurement using six representative HPC applications on Intel Xeon Phi system. We show that a Pareto frontier consisting of optimal configurations exist for a parallel program executing on MIC architecture systems. To further understand the Pareto frontier, we use the performance-to-power ratio metric (PPR), that quantifies the amount of useful computations performed per unit energy during the execution. The proposed approach can be used to determine what thread affinity is suitable for offloading execution to accelerators such as Xeon Phi and save energy.

Abstract

We present the detailed results of the application of mathematical optimization algorithms to transistor sizing in a full-adder cell design, to obtain the maximum expected fabrication yield. The approach takes into account all the fabrication process parameter variations specified in an industrial PDK, in addition to operating condition range and NBTI aging. The final design solutions present transistor sizing, which depart from intuitive transistor sizing criteria and show dramatic yield improvements, which have been verified by Monte Carlo SPICE analysis.

Abstract

Computational modeling of the spontaneous dynamics over the whole brain provides critical insight into the spatiotemporal organization of brain dynamics at multiple resolutions and their alteration to changes in brain structure (e.g. in diseased states, aging, across individuals). Recent experimental evidence further suggests that the adverse effect of lesions is visible on spontaneous dynamics characterized by changes in resting state functional connectivity and its graph theoretical properties (e.g. modularity). These changes originate from altered neural dynamics in individual brain areas that are otherwise poised towards a homeostatic equilibrium to maintain a stable excitatory and inhibitory activity. In this work, we employ a homeostatic inhibitory mechanism, balancing excitation and inhibition in the local brain areas of the entire cortex under neurological impairments like lesions to understand global functional …

Abstract

Stroke is the leading cause of severe chronic disability and the second cause of death worldwide with 15 million new cases and 50 million stroke survivors. The post stroke chronic disability may be ameliorated with early neuro rehabilitation where non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques can be used as an adjuvant treatment to hasten the effects. However, the heterogeneity in the lesioned brain will require individualized NIBS intervention where innovative neuroimaging technologies of portable electroencephalography (EEG) and functional-near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can be leveraged for Brain State Dependent Electrotherapy (BSDE). In this hypothesis and theory article, we propose a computational approach based on excitation-inhibition (E-I) balance hypothesis to objectively quantify the post stroke individual brain state using online fNIRS-EEG joint imaging. One of the key events that occurs following Stroke is the imbalance in local excitation-inhibition (that is the ratio of Glutamate/GABA) which may be targeted with NIBS using a computational pipeline that includes individual “forward models” to predict current flow patterns through the lesioned brain or brain target region. The current flow will polarize the neurons which can be captured with excitation-inhibition based brain models. Furthermore, E-I balance hypothesis can be used to find the consequences of cellular polarization on neuronal information processing which can then be implicated in changes in function. We first review evidence that shows how this local imbalance between excitation-inhibition leading to functional

Abstract

An ElectroCardiogram (ECG) inter-patient heartbeat time series classification method by a hierarchical system of based on support vector machine and Decision rule, using full heart-beat time series by alignment of R-peaks of all beats, is proposed. PQRST Time series of heart-beats having converted into equal length series by alignment of R-peaks of all heart-beats based on R-peak of largest length PQRST series in the data and by padding zeroes to the smaller length series on either side, was used in this experimentation. The main objective of this paper is to identify the abnormalities in ECG heart beats based on AAMI Categorization. Experiments were conducted on ECG data of 44 patients obtained from MIT-BIH Arrhythmia database. Results were compared with existing methods such as weighted support vector machine (SVM), hierarchical SVM and weighted linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Comparative …

Abstract

The capacity to sequence information is central to human performance. Sequencing ability forms the foundation stone for higher order cognition related to language and goal-directed planning. Information related to the order of items, their timing, chunking and hierarchical organization are important aspects in sequencing. Past research on sequencing has emphasized two distinct and independent dichotomies: implicit versus explicit and goal-directed versus habits. We propose a theoretical framework unifying these two streams. Our proposal relies on brain's ability to implicitly extract statistical regularities from the stream of stimuli and with attentional engagement organizing sequences explicitly and hierarchically. Similarly, sequences that need to be assembled purposively to accomplish a goal require engagement of attentional processes. With repetition, these goal-directed plans become habits with concomitant disengagement of attention. Thus attention and awareness play a crucial role in the implicit-to-explicit transition as well as in how goal-directed plans become automatic habits. Cortico-subcortical loops ─ basal ganglia-frontal cortex and hippocampus-frontal cortex loops ─ mediate the transition process. We show how the computational principles of model-free and model-based learning paradigms, along with a pivotal role for attention and awareness, offer a unifying framework for these two dichotomies. Based on this framework, we make testable predictions related to the potential influence of response-to-stimulus interval (RSI) on developing awareness in implicit learning tasks.

Abstract

Early detection of cardiovascular diseases can prevent the premature deaths caused by abnormal heartbeat problems. Application of unsupervised classification by Extreme learning machine is addressed for ElectroCardiogram (ECG) heart-beat time series clustering by a hybrid of Extreme learning machine and Decision rule using full heart-beat time series by alignment of R-peaks of all beats is proposed in this work. PQRST Time series of heart-beats having converted into equal length series by alignment of R-peaks of all heart-beats based on R-peak of largest length PQRST series in the data and by padding zeroes to the smaller length series on either side, was used in this experimentation. The main objective of this paper is to identify the abnormalities in ECG heart beats based on AAMI Categorization. Because of the large patient specific characteristics in ECG heartbeat morphology across individuals, the …