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In typical computer system design flows, hardware microarchitecture is commonly considered a dynamically developing domain, where abstract mechanisms remain mostly in conceptual form and exhibit poor source code reuse in designs. However, many important basic mechanisms appear to be pervasive and persistent. This paper summarizes original efforts to propose generic implementations of microarchitectural mechanisms for in-order and out-of-order microarchitectures and various demo designs based on these implementations. The basic EDA components proposed for this design approach are “Kernel IP (KIP) cores”—open-source collection of programmable hardware generators inferred from microarchitectural templates. KIP cores feasibility for their role is demonstrated from the viewpoints of abstract representation of microarchitectural mechanisms, support of functional differentiation of designs, and generic optimizations. Experimental designing according to this approach has shown useful separation of concerns in hardware design activities, lower design effort, and increased formalization and code reuse.

Artificial intelligence has become a frequent subject of discussion at different international forums in recent years. Classified by the European Union as one of the “most strategic technologies in the 21st century”, in 2018 the EU Commission mandated a 52-member strong High-Level Expert Group on AI to discuss the ethical, legal, economic and social impact of this promising technology. Providing a holistic view on the main ethical and legal questions surrounding AI-powered systems, this chapter intends to explore the latest EU initiatives on AI governance with a view to identifying the main challenges ahead for the EU to become a “leader in cutting-edge AI that can be trusted throughout the world”.

Before the NATO-Russia Council’s cooperation with Russia was suspended in 2014 against the background of the Ukraine crisis, it contributed in various fields as a platform for various cooperation projects. However, little research has been achieved so far on the function of the NRC in terms of international relations theories. This paper intends to analyse the NRC from neorealism and liberal institutionalism perspectives, trying to elucidate and discuss whether NATO’s cooperation with Russia within the NRC had benefitted their mutual security before the Kremlin’s illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014.

The article describes results of our research of hardware implementation efficiency of sorting algorithms created by using of Xilinx’s High-Level Synthesis tools, the Vivado HLS package, and FPGAs. The term efficiency, used in the research, defined as a function of the performance, estimated in time for sorting a random generated array, and hardware “cost”, estimated in utilized FPGA resources. In the research, a simulation modeling and a comparative analysis was carried out for the wide range of sorting algorithms implemented on a universal processor and on the Xilinx’s FPGAs. The research results prove that hardware implementations of the sorting algorithms, synthesized by Xilinx HLS tool, do not always provide higher performance comparing with the implementations of the same algorithms on a universal processor. The article shows that the hardware implementation of the Merge sort algorithm, created by Xilinx’s HLS tool, can speed up, comparing with software implementation, the process of sorting arrays of small and medium size.

The driving forces for this project are demands for a hardware, reconfigurable, high performance, low cost and low power solution that could be used in a widest range of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The solution should be able to secure computer networks against emerging threats and vulnerabilities, sustaining privacy and trust This paper presents an approach for developing a novel hardware platform for Ethernet-based network firewall security services for IP networks. The article highlights functional and structural levels of the proposed hardware architecture, performance estimations and a trade-off between performance and hardware cost. Some implementation details, including HDL used, testing approaches and design tools are provided as well.

X-ray graphite optics consists of thin layers of Pyrolytic Graphite (PG) attached to a substrate of focusing shape. Pyrolytic Graphite is a perfect artificial graphite obtained by annealing of carbon deposit at temperatures about 3000 &deg, C under deformation. By varying the annealing conditions, one could get PG of different mosaic structure and mechanical properties. A wide variability of the reflecting layer characteristics and optics shape makes the graphite optics useful in an extended range of applications. The optics could be adjusted to applications that require moderate resolution as EDXRF (energy dispersive X-Ray fluorescence) and as well as for high-resolution applications as EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure), XANES (X-ray absorption near-edge structure) and XES (X-ray emission spectroscopy). To realize the optics with theoretically optimized parameters the relationship between the production procedure and the mosaicity and reflectivity of the optics was experimentally studied. The influence of thickness, the type of PG (Highly Oriented PG (HOPG) or Highly Annealed PG (HAPG)) and substrate characteristics on the optics performance is presented.

The general-purpose networks-on-chip (GP-NoC) has recently attracted the attention of the research and industry as a way to support the growing demands of computing systems. The design and the development of the communications and networking functions for such a large-scale versatile systems require knowledge of the traffic exchanged between the computing nodes. The object of the study in this paper is the last-level shared cache interface that is likely to be a traffic bottleneck in future GP-NoC architectures. First, using the direct measurements, we report on the stochastic traffic properties at large-scales, provide first two moments and distribution functions. Complementing measurements with fine-grained cycle-accurate CPU simulations, we then analyze the small-scale traffic behavior. We show that even for the simplest applications such as reading or writing of data, the nature of the traffic is stochastic, depends on the number of active cores, and irrespective of the application type, has an explicit batch structure. We further reveal that the batch sizes and inter-batch intervals can be well approximated by geometric distribution and the approximation becomes better when the number of active cores increases. These properties identify a simple arrival model that can be used in the analytical or simulation-based performance evaluation studies of the shared interface technologies in prospective NoCs.

Highly annealed pyrolytic graphite (HAPG) is an advanced type of pyrolytic graphite that, as a mosaic crystal, combines high integral reflectivity with a very low mosaicity of typically less than 0.1°. When used as dispersive X-ray optics, a high resolving power has been observed, rendering HAPG very suitable for applications in high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, which conventionally relies on ideal crystals. For the design and modelling of HAPG crystals in applications requiring high spectral resolution, the diffraction properties must be known very accurately. To close this gap, a comprehensive characterization of HAPG crystals was performed that allows for modelling of the diffraction properties in different diffraction orders over a broad spectral range. The crystal properties under investigation are the mosaic spread, the peak reflectivity and the intrinsic reflection width. The investigations were carried out for different thickness crystal films, which were mounted adhesively on a substrate. It is shown that the diffraction properties are strongly correlated to the grade of adhesion, which depends crucially on the substrate material and its surface properties. The investigations were performed using monochromated tunable synchrotron radiation of high spectral purity with a high-precision experimental setup and calibrated detection devices at the electron storage ring BESSY II.

Graphite oxide has a complex structure that can be modified in many ways to obtain materials for a wide range of applications. It is known that the graphite precursor has an important role in the synthesis of graphite oxide. In the present study, the basal-plane surface of highly annealed pyrolythic graphite (HAPG) was oxidized by Hummers’ method and investigated by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. HAPG was used as a graphite precursor because its surface after cleavage contains well-ordered millimeter-sized regions. The treatment resulted in graphite intercalation by sulfuric acid and blister formation all over the surface. Surprisingly, the destruction of the sp2-lattice was not detected in the ordered regions. We suggest that the reagent diffusion under the basal plane surface occurred through the cleavage steps and dislocations with the Burgers vector parallel to the c-axis in graphite.

For critical aerospace applications that experience a high intensity of single event upsets, the cache of a processor has to be protected against soft errors. This poses a challenge for cache design, since implemented redundancy causes timing and performance degradation of a processor. Sound design decisions should be made based on evaluations at every design stage. In this paper we present a platform-oriented design methodology for evaluation of processor vulnerability to soft errors in cache. Results of complex design evaluation for vulnerability, timing and chip area for an FPGA-based design of a typical RISC processor with first level instruction and data caches are presented as well.

Computing the funding valuation adjustment (FVA) is hard, as it requires the numerical solution of generally non-linear partial differential equations . In this paper, Alexander Antonov, Marco Bianchetti and Ion Mihai develop a universal and efficient approach to numerical FVA calculation for portfolios of general instruments with multiple stochastic assets and funding sources.

La Compañía Minera CUZCATLÁN S.A. de C.V., subsidiaria de la empresa FORTUNA SILVER MINES INC. (El Cliente), explota un yacimiento de oro y plata por métodos subterráneos, que son procesados en su planta concentradora en la Unidad Minera San José, ubicada en el Municipio de San José del Progreso, Distrito de Ocotlán, Estado de Oaxaca, México. Los relaves generados en dicha planta son almacenados actualmente en una presa, siguiendo el método convencional de almacenamiento en pulpa. Considerando que el Cliente tiene proyectado incrementar la capacidad de producción de su planta concentradora a 3,000 tpd, y con la finalidad de garantizar el abastecimiento de agua para la operación, se optó por cambiar el método de almacenamiento de relaves en pulpa por el de relaves filtrados. Para tal fin, el Cliente solicitó a SVS INGENIEROS S.A. (La Consultora) la elaboración del “Estudio de ingeniería de detalle del nuevo depósito de relaves secos de la mina San José”. En enero del 2015 se inició la construcción de la cimentación de dicho depósito, con la empresa contratista GRUPO CONSTRUCCIONES PLANIFICADAS S.A. de C.V. (El Contratista), para lo cual el Cliente contrata a las empresas SVS INGENIEROS S.A. y SEI-TETRA S.A. de C.V. (La Supervisión). SVS INGENIEROS S.A. designa un equipo de profesionales, dentro de los cuales se encuentra el graduando, para realizar la “Supervisión del aseguramiento de calidad (CQA) y gerenciamiento de construcción del nuevo depósito de jales secos de la mina San José – Fase I”. Posteriormente, en mayo de 2015 se paralizan las actividades de construcción, a fin de dar regulación al requisito de Manifestación de Impacto Ambiental (MIA), solicitado por la Subdelegación de Gestión para la Protección Ambiental y Recursos Naturales del Estado de Oaxaca (SEMARNAT). En julio de 2015, SEMARNAT aprueba el MIA presentado por el Cliente y el 24 de agosto del mismo año se reactiva la construcción de la cimentación del depósito de relaves, dentro de los límites de la parcela N° 1517. Concluyéndose la construcción el 2 de diciembre del 2015. The mining company CUZCATLÁN S.A. de C.V., subsidiary owned by FORTUNA SILVER MINES INC. (the Client), mines gold and silver deposits using underground mining methods, which are later processed in its concentration plant located at San Jose Mining Unit in the Municipality of San Jose del Progreso, district of Ocotlan, State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The tailings produced in this plant are currently stored in a tailings dam, following the conventional pulp storage method. Considering that the Client has foreseen an increase of production rates in its concentration plant to 3,000 tpd, the pulp storage method was changed for filtered dry stack tailings in order to ensure water supply for the operation. To this end, the Client requested SVS INGENIEROS S.A. (the Consulting Firm) to prepare the following study: “Estudio de ingeniería de detalle del nuevo depósito de relaves secos de la mina San José” (Detailed Engineering Study of the New Dry Tailings Deposit at San Jose Mine). In January 2015, the contractor GRUPO CONSTRUCCIONES PLANIFICADAS S.A. de C.V. (the Contractor) started building the foundations of such deposit and the Client hired two companies: SVS INGENIEROS S.A. and SEI-TETRA S.A. de C.V. (the Supervision). SVS INGENIEROS S.A. designated a group of professionals, including a Student preparing his thesis: “Supervisión del aseguramiento de calidad (CQA) y gerenciamiento de construcción del nuevo depósito de jales secos de la mina San José – Fase I” (Quality Assurance Supervision (CQA) and Construction Management of the New Dry Tailings Deposit at San Jose Mine - Phase I). Then, in May 2015 construction works were halted in order to comply with the requirements related to an Environmental Impact Report requested by the Management Sub-delegation of Environment and Natural Resources from the State of Oaxaca (SEMARNAT, Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources). In July 2015, SEMARNAT approved the Environmental Impact Report issued by the Client and in August 24, 2015, the construction of the foundations of the tailings Trabajo de suficiencia profesional

The paper considers a new mathematical model for calculating reliability coefficients of the systems (or elements) which probabilistic characteristics can vary in time. The systems with the operable state and the down state are considered. The new mathematical model can take into account possible "distortions" of an event flows by means of a normalizing flow function Ψ. The normalizing flow function model is presented. The equations for renewal function and failure intensity, distribution of counting process, generating function for the counting process, the Wald equation for NFF-model and limits theorems are deduced.

It has been theoretically and experimentally proven that complex frequencies, immitance functions of complex frequencies, as well as resonance at complex frequencies are physically real. It follows from the above that the physical macrocosm has extra hidden dimensions. The information expands the fundamental knowledge on the structure of the Universe and may lead to reconsideration of certain basic concepts in mathematical, physical and engineering sciences.

Based on research of resonant and transitional processes in electric LC-, RL-, RC-, and LCRcircuits, the article offers theoretical and experimental proof of physical reality of complex frequency and other concrete complex numbers which are a function of complex frequency. Analysis of resonant processes in electric circuits has shown inconsistency in their conventional interpretation at real frequencies. On the contrary, interpretation of resonance at complex frequencies allowed explaining all the inconsistencies of its interpretation at real frequencies. We provide the description of experiments confirming physical reality of resonance at complex frequencies. As for transitional processes in electric circuits, their analysis by means of differential equations requires the solution of the respective characteristic algebraic equations. In this respect we demonstrate that the solution of algebraic equations with the use of real numbers rules out the existence of oscillation transitional process, and, therefore, does not conform to physical reality.

The inevitability of economic crises is objectively determined by ignorance of the mechanics of the “black box” of the economy and the inappropriate market policy. The article shows that the fundamental market process “goods-money-goods” is described with a second-degree differential equation, and, therefore, is potentially an oscillation process. However, in order to implement the economic oscillation processes of the commodity-money circulations, certain conditions have to be fulfilled, which are usually not fulfilled on their own. In order to comply with these conditions, the participants of the commodities market should be organized in a certain way. Cognition and use of the described oscillation processes in the economy allows making its development controlled, predictable and, eventually, crisis-proof. The article presents the main principles of the new science – the theory of oscillation economic systems, which allows developing new highly efficient economic structures. This new science even allows describing and ensures implementation of new economic processes, for instance, resonant processes.

The paper presents the results of a case study on “Investigation of component age-dependent reliability models” conducted under European Commission Joint Research Centre Ageing Probabilistic Safety Assessment Network Task 4 activities. Several Generalised Linear Model cases were applied and investigated in relation to both continuous and discrete data. The Fisher's χ2 minimisation approach was used for goodness of fit testing and parameters elaboration. Finally, uncertainty analysis was done for parameters estimation and model extrapolations. The results were analysed and compared with other approaches. Engineering considerations are beyond the scope of the present study.

X-ray optics with high energy resolution and collection efficiency are required in X-ray spectroscopy for investigations of chemistry and coordination. This is particularly the case if the X-ray source emits a rather weak signal into a large solid angle. In the present work the performance of a spectrometer based on thin mosaic crystals was investigated for different spectroscopic methods using various X-ray sources. It was found that, even with low-power X-ray sources, advanced high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy can be performed.

Drilling practices for regular design wells for Salym oil fields have been optimized with continuous success for many years. However, new and innovative work practices had to be developed and applied to address the challenging task of drilling with higher than usual mud weight through the permeable Cherkashin formation at a high angle with oil-based mud (OBM) to minimize loss circulation and cost. The mud weight increase was essential to maintain the stability of the Achimov shale, as shown by borehole stability simulation and previous experiences. Typically, wells drilled to date were relatively simple in design as S- and J-shaped wells. Applied past practices enabled fast and trouble-free drilling for many years; in 2014, however, Salym Petroleum Development (SPD) decided to drill wells beyond the production interval at a high angle using non-aqueous based fluid with higher mud weight. Areas of great concern under these conditions were avoiding lost circulation while drilling through the highly permeable Cherkashin formation with an inclination of more than 40 degrees and the development of reliable lost circulation minimization strategy should the lost circulation occur. Before considering any solutions, all previous experiences acquired while drilling similar profile wells in the area were analyzed, which included well profiles, drilling fluid types and parameters, lost circulation strategies applied and their efficiencies, lost circulation material (LCM) and/or sealants, and concentrations used. At the same time, the lithological information and geological description of the intervals to be drilled through were studied for compatibility. This enabled the identification of potential candidate strategies, materials, and optimal drilling fluid parameters to avoid possible lost circulation events while drilling the planned section using proprietary company software. The final solution was validated in the laboratory and agreed upon with the client team. The developed strategy was then successfully applied while drilling the intermediate casing interval. Static and dynamic downhole losses observed while drilling were in the range of 0 to 1 m3/hour with their maximum for immediate rate at 4 m3/hour. The lost circulation rate of less than 1.5 m3/hour was considered to be acceptable for continued drilling. When rates exceeded 1.5 m3/hour, specially designed LCM pills were used. The LCM portfolio for this well included a broad spectrum of different types and shapes of inert materials, such as sized marble, resilient graphite, and fiber LCM. This strategy enabled minimal losses while drilling the interval. This paper shares the experience of with working and applying the technical strategy used to ensure the smooth drilling of the troublesome interval, as well as the lost circulations minimization strategy used while drilling the challenging profile well through the highly permeable Cherkashin formation. This approach may be effectively expanded to other fields where similar challenges need to be resolved.

We consider lattice analogues of some conformal theories, including WZW and Toda models. We describe discrete versions of Drinfeld-Sokolov reduction and Sugawara construction for the WZW model. We formulate perturbation theory in chiral sector. We describe the spaces of Integrals of Motion in the perturbed theories. We interpret the perturbed WZW model in terms of NLS hierarchy and obtain of this model into the lattice KP-hierarchy., 25 pages, Plain LaTeX

The paper considers a new mathematical model for calculating reliability coefficients of the systems (or elements) which probabilistic characteristics can vary in time. The systems with the operable state and the down state are considered. The new mathematical model can take into account possible “distortions” of an event flows by means of a normalizing flow function Ψ. The normalizing flow function model is presented. The equations for failure flow parameter, distribution density of operating time between failures, resource reliability characteristics, and availability function are deduced.

It is shown, that the results of OPERA experiment become fully explainable, if to take into account physical reality of imaginaries and corresponding to them interpretation of the universe's hidden dimensions. Also it is explained, why from an experiment OPERA ensues, that neutrinos possess a zero rest mass.

Semitransparent HOPG monochromators are being investigated with an emphasis on their potential applications in X-rayimaging systems. HOPG plates and films, 5-100 jtm thick and up to 14 cm2 in area, were tested. Scanning techniques wereused to measure the profiles of local reflectivity and transparency at different monochromator thicknesses. Mosaic spread,AU), down to 3.6 was recorded. HOPG film areas with average Aa=5 and 6' were equivalent to 4.5 and 10 cm2 respectively.The echelon monochromator arrangement produced a sharp increase in reflectivity leading to the possibility of primary beam sweeping. Results to date are very promising for future applications in fields such as medical diagnostics and surgical treatments monitored using digital X-ray cameras.Keywords: Semitransparent monochromator, HOPG, X-Ray imaging 1. INTRODUCTION In biomedical applications, decreasing dose rates is one of the basic goals in the design of penetrating radiation systems'. Producing high contrast images using near K-jump absorption2 is another important criteria. As an example, duringangiography it is especially desirable to obtain crisp and clear images of vessels without shadows introduced by otherbiological tissues. Both problems are directly addressed by the development of effective systems capable of converting

The use of bent crystals with high integrated reflectivity in focusing crystal spectrometers (Johann and von Hamos schemes) is considered. It is shown that in a von Hamos scheme mosaic focusing takes place. Thus a mosaic crystal simultaneously provides high spectral resolution and high efficiency. Expressions for the mosaic focusing are obtained. Focusing mica and graphite crystal von Hamos spectrometers (radius of crystal curvature is 20 mm) are investigated: spectral and spatial resolution and absolute efficiency are measured in a spectral range of 2 - 2.6 angstroms using laser-produced plasma and iron isotope x-ray sources. The mica crystal spectrometer showed high spatial (up to 10 micrometers ) and spectral ((lambda) /(delta) (lambda) approximately 1000) resolution, whereas the graphite spectrometer showed very high efficiency (30 - 70 times higher than the mica crystal) and moderate spectral resolution ((lambda) /(delta) (lambda) approximately 500 - 750). In the latter case mosaic focusing is observed: spectral resolution is 10 - 15 times higher than spectral resolution determined by the mosaic spread of the crystal ((lambda) /(delta) (lambda) approximately 50). The results allow one to estimate a maximum efficiency for focusing crystal spectrometers. Prospects for using the von Hamos spectrometers for x-ray spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescence are considered.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

We represent a classical Maxwell-Bloch equation and related to it positive part of the AKNS hierarchy in geometrical terms. The Maxwell-Bloch evolution is given by an infinitesimal action of a nilpotent subalgebra $n_+$ of affine Lie algebra $\hat {sl}_2$ on a Maxwell-Bloch phase space treated as a homogeneous space of $n_+$. A space of local integrals of motion is described using cohomology methods. We show that hamiltonian flows associated to the Maxwell-Bloch local integrals of motion (i.e. positive AKNS flows) are identified with an infinitesimal action of an abelian subalgebra of the nilpotent subalgebra $n_+$ on a Maxwell- Bloch phase space. Possibilities of quantization and latticization of Maxwell-Bloch equation are discussed., 16 pages, no figures, plain TeX, no macros

The need of rapid design space exploration, early prototype construction and high level of reuse of technical decisions about microarchitecture in hardware design field actualize development of technologies based on custom user-specified hardware generation. However, existing approaches and tools typically offer configurability at the level of predefined set of parameters. In the article, the concept of framework architecture based on Micro-Language IP (MLIP) cores is presented. This approach facilitates creation of lightweight hardware description languages adapted to specific microarchitectural patterns. Furthermore, prototype implementation of the framework is described, followed by description of two experimental MLIP cores, rtl and pipe. These cores provide domain-specific languages for procedural generation of general-purpose RTL and pipelined hardware structures respectively. The developed means have been utilized for rapid designing of educational CPU core that has proved its operational capability in FPGA. We envision complementation of procedural hardware generation approach with microarchitecture-specific DSLs to be promising for raising the level of abstraction in microarchitecture design. This can reduce design duration of complex hardware units by up to two times, assuming either usage of common microarchitectural patterns or embodying of original ones in the new MLIP cores as an integral part of hardware design process.