Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Feng Shi

Publications and source records attributed to Feng Shi.

120 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

An OpenCL-based Monte Carlo dose calculation engine (oclMC) for coupled photon-electron transport

Monte Carlo (MC) method has been recognized the most accurate dose calculation method for radiotherapy. However, its extremely long computation time impedes clinical applications. Recently, a lot of efforts have been made to realize fast MC dose calculation on GPUs. Nonetheless, most of the GPU-based MC dose engines were developed in NVidia CUDA environment. This limits the code portability to other platforms, hindering the introduction of GPU-based MC simulations to clinical practice. The objective of this paper is to develop a fast cross-platform MC dose engine oclMC using OpenCL environment for external beam photon and electron radiotherapy in MeV energy range. Coupled photon-electron MC simulation was implemented with analogue simulations for photon transports and a Class II condensed history scheme for electron transports. To test the accuracy and efficiency of our dose engine oclMC, we compared dose calculation results of oclMC and gDPM, our previously developed GPU-based MC code, for a 15 MeV electron beam and a 6 MV photon beam on a homogenous water phantom, one slab phantom and one half-slab phantom. Satisfactory agreement was observed in all the cases. The average dose differences within 10% isodose line of the maximum dose were 0.48-0.53% for the electron beam cases and 0.15-0.17% for the photon beam cases. In terms of efficiency, our dose engine oclMC was 6-17% slower than gDPM when running both codes on the same NVidia TITAN card due to both different physics particle transport models and different computational environments between CUDA and OpenCL. The cross-platform portability was also validated by successfully running our new dose engine on a set of different compute devices including an Nvidia GPU card, two AMD GPU cards and an Intel CPU card using one or four cores. Computational efficiency among these platforms was compared.

physics.med-ph↗

Gradient Boundary Histograms for Action Recognition

This paper introduces a high efficient local spatiotemporal descriptor, called gradient boundary histograms (GBH). The proposed GBH descriptor is built on simple spatio-temporal gradients, which are fast to compute. We demonstrate that it can better represent local structure and motion than other gradient-based descriptors, and significantly outperforms them on large realistic datasets. A comprehensive evaluation shows that the recognition accuracy is preserved while the spatial resolution is greatly reduced, which yields both high efficiency and low memory usage.

cs.CV↗

Algorithms for Maximum Agreement Forest of Multiple General Trees

The Maximum Agreement Forest (Maf) problem is a well-studied problem in evolutionary biology, which asks for a largest common subforest of a given collection of phylogenetic trees with identical leaf label-set. However, the previous work about the Maf problem are mainly on two binary phylogenetic trees or two general (i.e., binary and non-binary) phylogenetic trees. In this paper, we study the more general version of the problem: the Maf problem on multiple general phylogenetic trees. We present a parameterized algorithm of running time $O(3^k n^2m)$ and a 3-approximation algorithm for the Maf problem on multiple rooted general phylogenetic trees, and a parameterized algorithm of running time $O(4^k n^2m)$ and a 4-approximation algorithm for the Maf problem on multiple unrooted general phylogenetic trees. We also implement the parameterized algorithm and approximation algorithm for the Maf problem on multiple rooted general phylogenetic trees, and test them on simulated data and biological data.

cs.DS↗

An Enhanced Multiway Sorting Network Based on n-Sorters

Merging-based sorting networks are an important family of sorting networks. Most merge sorting networks are based on 2-way or multi-way merging algorithms using 2-sorters as basic building blocks. An alternative is to use n-sorters, instead of 2-sorters, as the basic building blocks so as to greatly reduce the number of sorters as well as the latency. Based on a modified Leighton's columnsort algorithm, an n-way merging algorithm, referred to as SS-Mk, that uses n-sorters as basic building blocks was proposed. In this work, we first propose a new multiway merging algorithm with n-sorters as basic building blocks that merges n sorted lists of m values each in 1 + ceil(m/2) stages (n <= m). Based on our merging algorithm, we also propose a sorting algorithm, which requires O(N log2 N) basic sorters to sort N inputs. While the asymptotic complexity (in terms of the required number of sorters) of our sorting algorithm is the same as the SS-Mk, for wide ranges of N, our algorithm requires fewer sorters than the SS-Mk. Finally, we consider a binary sorting network, where the basic sorter is implemented in threshold logic and scales linearly with the number of inputs, and compare the complexity in terms of the required number of gates. For wide ranges of N, our algorithm requires fewer gates than the SS-Mk.

cs.DS↗

Percolation-induced exponential scaling in the large current tails of random resistor networks

There is a renewed surge in percolation-induced transport properties of diverse nano-particle composites (cf. RSC Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Series, Paul O'Brien Editor-in-Chief). We note in particular a broad interest in nano-composites exhibiting sharp electrical property gains at and above percolation threshold, which motivated us to revisit the classical setting of percolation in random resistor networks but from a multiscale perspective. For each realization of random resistor networks above threshold, we use network graph representations and associated algorithms to identify and restrict to the percolating component, thereby preconditioning the network both in size and accuracy by filtering {\it a priori} zero current-carrying bonds. We then simulate many realizations per bond density and analyze scaling behavior of the complete current distribution supported on the percolating component. We first confirm the celebrated power-law distribution of small currents at the percolation threshold, and second we confirm results on scaling of the maximum current in the network that is associated with the backbone of the percolating cluster. These properties are then placed in context with global features of the current distribution, and in particular the dominant role of the large current tail that is most relevant for material science applications. We identify a robust, exponential large current tail that: 1. persists above threshold; 2. expands broadly over and dominates the current distribution at the expense of the vanishing power law scaling in the small current tail; and 3. by taking second moments, reproduces the experimentally observed power law scaling of bulk conductivity above threshold.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Improved Analytical Delay Models for RC-Coupled Interconnects

As the process technologies scale into deep submicron region, crosstalk delay is becoming increasingly severe, especially for global on-chip buses. To cope with this problem, accurate delay models of coupled interconnects are needed. In particular, delay models based on analytical approaches are desirable, because they not only are largely transparent to technology, but also explicitly establish the connections between delays of coupled interconnects and transition patterns, thereby enabling crosstalk alleviating techniques such as crosstalk avoidance codes (CACs). Unfortunately, existing analytical delay models, such as the widely cited model in [1], have limited accuracy and do not account for loading capacitance. In this paper, we propose analytical delay models for coupled interconnects that address these disadvantages. By accounting for more wires and eschewing the Elmore delay, our delay models achieve better accuracy than the model in [1].

cs.AR↗

A multi-opinion evolving voter model with infinitely many phase transitions

We consider an idealized model in which individuals' changing opinions and their social network coevolve, with disagreements between neighbors in the network resolved either through one imitating the opinion of the other or by reassignment of the discordant edge. Specifically, an interaction between $x$ and one of its neighbors $y$ leads to $x$ imitating $y$ with probability $(1-α)$ and otherwise (i.e., with probability $α$) $x$ cutting its tie to $y$ in order to instead connect to a randomly chosen individual. Building on previous work about the two-opinion case, we study the multiple-opinion situation, finding that the model has infinitely many phase transitions. Moreover, the formulas describing the end states of these processes are remarkably simple when expressed as a function of $β= α/(1-α)$.

physics.soc-ph↗

A New Splitting Method for Time-dependent Convection-dominated Diffusion Problems

We present a new splitting method for time-dependent convection-dominated diffusion problems. The original convection diffusion system is split into two sub-systems: a pure convection system and a diffusion system. At each time step, a convection problem and a diffusion problem are solved successively. The scheme has the following nice features: the convection subproblem is solved explicitly and a multistep technique is introduced to essentially enlarge the stability region so that the resulting scheme behaves like an unconditionally stable scheme; the diffusion subproblem is always self-adjoint and coercive so that it can be solved efficiently using many existing optimal preconditioned iterative solvers. The scheme is then extended for Navier-Stokes equations, where the nonlinear convection is resolved by a linear explicit multistep scheme at the convection step, and only a generalized Stokes problem is needed to solve at the diffusion step with the resulting stiffness matrix being invariant in the time marching process. The new schemes are all free from tuning some stabilization parameters for the convection-dominated diffusion problems. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the stability, convergence and performance of the single-step and multistep variants of the new scheme.

math-ph↗

Common dependence on earthquake magnitudes for the trapped particles bursts approaching the earthquake

Trapped particles bursts have long been observed to be frequently occurred several hours before earthquakes, especially for strong earthquakes, from several space experiments during past decades. However, the validity of earthquake origin of particles bursts events is still unsolved. In this paper, we firstly reported the frequency distribution and time evolution of particles bursts within different time windows centered around earthquakes for various magnitudes. The results showed nearly the same systematic dependence of particle bursts frequency on earthquake magnitude and characteristic time decay behavior of average number of particles bursts for various magnitudes. These findings should strengthen the validity of earthquake origin of particles bursts and further understanding of particles bursts as possible precursor of earthquake.

physics.space-ph↗

New Crosstalk Avoidance Codes Based on a Novel Pattern Classification

The crosstalk delay associated with global on-chip interconnects becomes more severe in deep submicron technology, and hence can greatly affect the overall system performance. Based on a delay model proposed by Sotiriadis et al., transition patterns over a bus can be classified according to their delays. Using this classification, crosstalk avoidance codes (CACs) have been proposed to alleviate the crosstalk delays by restricting the transition patterns on a bus. In this paper, we first propose a new classification of transition patterns, and then devise a new family of CACs based on this classification. In comparison to the previous classification, our classification has more classes and the delays of its classes do not overlap, both leading to more accurate control of delays. Our new family of CACs includes some previously proposed codes as well as new codes with reduced delays and improved throughput. Thus, this new family of crosstalk avoidance codes provides a wider variety of tradeoffs between bus delay and efficiency. Finally, since our analytical approach to the classification and CACs treats the technology-dependent parameters as variables, our approach can be easily adapted to a wide variety of technology.

cs.IT↗

Study of the NWC electrons belt observed on DEMETER Satellite

We analyzed observation data collected by the Instrument for the Detection of Particles (IDP) on board of DEMETER satellite during the period of total seventeen months in 2007 and 2008. In the meantime, the VLF transmitter located at NWC ground station was shutdown for seven months and working for total ten months. Our analysis, for the first time, revealed in details the transient properties of the space electrons induced by the man-made VLF wave emitted by the transmitter at NWC. First, we mapped the electron flux distribution and figured out the special range what the NWC belt covered. Then we investigated the NWC electron spectrograms in a wide range of McIlwain parameter (up to L=3.0). Finally, we obtained the averaged energy spectrum of the NWC electrons within the drift loss-cone, and compared the difference during the observations between daytime and nighttime. Our results proved the fact that the VLF emissions from NWC transmitter created momentary electron enhancement with fluxes up to 3 orders of magnitude. These electrons are distributed in the region of 180 degree in longitude and 1.6 ~ 1.9 of L shell. In addition, the VLF emission induced either enhancement or loss of electrons in higher magnetic shells up to L=3, and the maximum loss was up to 60% of the original value. The energy spectra of these electrons revealed that the enhancement during the NWC daytime are more attenuated than those in the NWC nighttime, and that the shape and the cutoff energy of the spectra are also quite different. We will present the results of our analysis, compare it with previous studies, and discuss the agreement of our results with the theory of wave-particle interaction.

physics.geo-ph↗

Experimental study of THGEM detector with mini-rim

The gas gain and energy resolution of single and double THGEM detectors (5{\times}5cm2 effective area) with mini-rims (rim is less than 10μm) were studied. The maximum gain can reach 5{\times}103 and 2{\times}105 for single and double THGEM respectively, while the energy resolution of 5.9 keV X-ray varied from 18% to 28% for both single and double THGEM detectors of different hole sizes and thicknesses.All the experiments were investigated in mixture of noble gases(argon,neon) and small content of other gases(iso-butane,methane) at atmospheric pressure.

physics.ins-det↗