Over the past few years, multicore systems have become increasingly powerful and thereby very useful in high-performance computing. However, many applications, such as some linear algebra algorithms, still cannot take full advantage of these systems. This is mainly due to the shortage of optimization techniques dealing with irregular control structures. In particular, the well-known polyhedral model fails to optimize loop nests whose bounds and/or array references are not affine functions. This is more likely to occur when handling sparse matrices in their packed formats. In this article, we propose using 2d-packed layouts and simple affine transformations to enable optimization of triangular and banded matrix operations. The benefit of our proposal is shown through an experimental study over a set of linear algebra benchmarks.

In this work, an optimization study of the delivered power density by the solid oxide fuel cells is presented according to a thermodynamic model. The power density is defined by the current density, the Nernst potential and the three losses: concentration, activation and ohmic. A comparison between the Tafel and Butler-Volmer formulations was performed to quantify the activation loss. A program in FORTRAN language was developed locally for the resolution of the mathematical equations representing the used physical model. The obtained results show that the SOFCs power density is inversely proportional to the anode thickness, electrolyte thickness and cathode thickness. The optimum fuel water content ensures the maximum power density is 6.25%. The cell power density is proportional to the oxygen concentration in the oxidant, the operating temperature and the operating pressure.

Zn(1–x)MgxO thin films with various concentrations of magnesium were deposited using the spray pyrolysis method. The transmittance spectra recorded for all films exhibit maxima exceeding 90%. The band gap energy of the films with wurtzite structure increases from 3.22 up to 3.60 eV by incorporating Mg into ZnO. However, when the atomic ratio of Mg exceeded 0.4, a second crystalline phase (assigned to cubic MgO) became discernable in XRD patterns, a compressive strain was observed in the wurtzite lattice, and crystallite sizes decreased significantly. In accordance with these observations, finer grains with a pronounced columnar growth were observed in 3D AFM representations and the surface roughness decreases significantly. Finally, selective etching in water yields to porous films with a great surface-to-volume ratio, a lower refractive index and a better light transmission. These porous films with tunable band gap seem to be excellent candidates to various interesting applications.

Over the last few years, different traffic sign recognition systems were proposed. The present paper introduces an overview of some recent and efficient methods in the traffic sign detection and classification. Indeed, the main goal of detection methods is localizing regions of interest containing traffic sign, and we divide detection methods into three main categories: color-based (classified according to the color space), shape-based, and learning-based methods (including deep learning). In addition, we also divide classification methods into two categories: learning methods based on hand-crafted features (HOG, LBP, SIFT, SURF, BRISK) and deep learning methods. For easy reference, the different detection and classification methods are summarized in tables along with the different datasets. Furthermore, future research directions and recommendations are given in order to boost TSR’s performance.

The path-planning problem is commonly formulated to handle the obstacle avoidance constraints. This problem becomes more complicated when further restrictions are added. It often requires efficient algorithms to be solved. In this paper, a new approach is proposed where the path is described by means of Non Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS for short) with more additional constraints. An evolutionary technique called Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with three options of particles velocity updating offering three alternatives namely the PSO with inertia weight (PSO-W), the constriction factor PSO (PSO-C) and the combination of the two(PSO-WC); are used to optimize the weights of the control points that serve as parameters of the algorithm describing the path. Simulation results show how the mixture of the first two options produces a powerful algorithm, specifically (PSO-WC), in producing a compromise between fast convergence and large number of potential solution. In addition, the whole approach seems to be flexible, powerful and useful for the generation of successful smooth trajectories for robot manipulator which are independent from environment conditions.

In wireless sensor networks, one of the most important constraints is the low power consumption requirement. For that reason, several hierarchical or cluster-based routing methods have been proposed to provide an efficient way to save energy during communication. However, their main challenge is to have efficient mechanisms to achieve the trade-off between increasing the network lifetime and accomplishing acceptable transmission latency. In this paper, we propose a novel protocol for cluster-based wireless sensor networks called PEAL (Power Efficient and Adaptive Latency). Our simulation results show that PEAL can extend the network lifetime about 47% compared to the classic protocol LEACH (Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) and introduces an acceptable transmission latency compared to the energy conservation gain.

In this work, we present piecewise constant Galerkin method for a class of Cauchy singular integral equations of the second kind with constant coefficients in L2([0,1],C), using a sequence of orthogonal finite rank projections. We prove the existence and uniqueness theorems for the Cauchy integral equation and the approximate equation, respectively. We perform the error analysis for which we give new and improved estimates for the rates of convergence. Numerical example illustrates the theoretical results.

In this paper, a new junctionless optical controlled field effect transistor (JL-OCFET) and its comprehensive theoretical model is proposed to achieve high optical performance and low cost fabrication process. Exhaustive study of the device characteristics and comparison between the proposed junctionless design and the conventional inversion mode structure (IM-OCFET) for similar dimensions are performed. Our investigation reveals that the proposed design exhibits an outstanding capability to be an alternative to the IM-OCFET due to the high performance and the weak signal detection benefit offered by this design. Moreover, the developed analytical expressions are exploited to formulate the objective functions to optimize the device performance using Genetic Algorithms (GAs) approach. The optimized JL-OCFET not only demonstrates good performance in terms of derived drain current and responsivity, but also exhibits superior signal to noise ratio, low power consumption, high-sensitivity, high ION/IOFF ratio and high-detectivity as compared to the conventional IM-OCFET counterpart. These characteristics make the optimized JL-OCFET potentially suitable for developing low cost and ultrasensitive photodetectors for high-performance and low cost inter-chips data communication applications.

This study was planned to determine the frequency of β-thalassemia mutations in Batna region (Northeast Algeria). Nineteen blood samples of clinically thalassemic children patients were collected from Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Batna. We carried out the molecular genetics of beta globin gene by the method of minisequencing using Snapshot™ kit (Applied Biosystems) in search of the four most common HBB genetic variants including three β-thalassemia mutations: codon 39(C>T) (HBB: c.118C>T), IVSI-110(G>A) (HBB: c.93-21G>A), and IVSI-1-2(T>G) (HBB: c.92+2T>G), as well as the hemoglobin S variant (HBB: c.20A>T). We used direct DNA sequencing to detect the rare mutations of beta-globin gene. We have revealed the presence of four different β-globin gene mutations responsible for β-thalassemia in Batna region. According to our results, the nonsense mutation at codon 39 (C>T) is the most frequent mutation type in our province, the same as other geographical regions of Algeria. It is followed by codon 54(-T), detected in a second Algerian family (the proband was homozygote), and the first association of Hb Knossos: codon 27 (G>T) allele with codon 39 (C>T) in the Algerian population. Here we reportws also the association of codon 39(C>T) with IVS-I-110 (G>A). Our preliminary results show the predominance of codon 39 (c>t) mutation of HBB gene in Batna region