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Portable ultrasound systems are useful in point-of-care diagnostic. Improving the image contrast and spatial resolution over a large range of imaging depths while maintaining the minimum area and power are the desiderata in case of ultrasound systems. Adaptive apodization is used for obtaining high contrast and spatial resolution ultrasound images; however, the implementation of adaptive apodization in hardware consumes large area and power. In this paper, an adaptive algorithm is presented for obtaining good image contrast and resolution using low computational complexity. In the proposed apodization algorithm, minimum and maximum variance criteria and normalized cross-correlation are used to enhance the image contrast and spatial resolution over a large range of imaging depths. A resource optimized, IEEE single precision arithmetic-based architecture of the proposed method is also presented in this paper. Field II toolbox and the experimental data taken from the plane-wave imaging challenge in medical ultrasound are used for evaluating the performance of the proposed methods. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method provides better resolution coupled with the improved contrast performance than conventional dual apodization with cross-correlation methods. The architecture of the proposed method consumes 358.66-mW dynamic power and 1122.1 k NAND-2 equivalent gates are found to be in UMC 90-nm CMOS standard cell library. Implementation of the proposed method requires the calculation of inverse square root. A quadratic approximation-based inverse square root calculation method and its datapath to support IEEE single precision arithmetic are also presented. The datapath of the inverse square root calculator reduces the memory requirement up to 70% which need to be adopted in pursuit of higher performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The portable encyclopedia EcuRed arises from the need of extending this national product to the majority of Cubans, who do not have access to Internet due to lack of connection. Besides, the new format of EcuRed, developed with dynamic XP methodology, aims at achieving a higher technological independence. It is intended to become a powerful educational tool with all the advantages of the global encyclopedic knowledge. Up to the date, the impact has been very significant because of its implementation in 600 Computing and Electronics Youth Clubs and 407 public libraries in our country, which has fostered its use by the Cuban population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-parametric kernel methods are becoming more commonplace for data analysis, modeling, and inference. Unfortunately, these methods are known to be computationally burdensome. The burden increases as the amount of available data rises and can quickly overwhelm the computational resources present in modern desktop workstations. Approximation-based approaches exist which can dramatically reduce execution time, however, these approaches remain just that—approximations, however good they may be. Along with the approximate nature of such approaches, they do not admit multivariate kernel estimation with general bandwidths (fixed, variable, and adaptive). In this paper, I consider a parallel implementation of a number of popular kernel methods based on the MPI standard. MPI is a freely available parallel distributed library that runs on ‘commodity hardware’ such as a network of workstations typically found in many office environments. A simple demonstration indicates how one can dramatically reduce the computational burden often associated with kernel methods thereby achieving an almost ‘ideal’ parallel speed-up, while the approach is valid for multivariate kernel estimation with general bandwidths and does not rely on approximations. Some straightforward applications illustrate just how disarmingly simple the MPI library can be to use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

PRODUCT ANALYSIS: In its new PCs, HPI has blended elements that are typically focused on consumers, such as Apple-like designs, with features that normally target only corporate users—such as security—across their lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NEW PRODUCT REVIEW: Consistent with the high-end class of personal devices, the new Dell laptop is as much of a design and fashion statement as it is a tool for work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PRODUCT ANALYSIS: Our analyst, Rob Enderle, has seen the laptop future, and it is customized leather. HP's Spectre Folio is very light, the leather has padding, and when carried it feels extremely secure in your hands, he writes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The portable encyclopedia EcuRed arises from the need of extending this national product to the majority of Cubans, who do not have access to Internet due to lack of connection. Besides, the new format of EcuRed, developed with dynamic XP methodology, aims at achieving a higher technological independence. It is intended to become a powerful educational tool with all the advantages of the global encyclopedic knowledge. Up to the date, the impact has been very significant because of its implementation in 600 Computing and Electronics Youth Clubs and 407 public libraries in our country, which has fostered its use by the Cuban population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]