As the number of cores integrated on a single chip continues to increase, communication has the potential to become a severe bottleneck to overall system performance. The presence of thread sharing and the distribution of data across cache banks on the chip can result in long distance communication. Long distance communication incurs substantial latency that impacts performance; furthermore, this communication consumes significant dynamic power when packets are switched over many Network-on-Chip (NoC) links and routers. Thread migration can mitigate problems created by long distance communication. This thesis presents Moths, which stands for Mobile Threads. Moths is an efficient run-time algorithm that responds automatically to dynamic NoC traffic patterns, providing beneficial thread migration to decrease overall traffic volume and average packet latency. Moths reduces latency by up to 28.4% (18.0% on average) and traffic volume by up to 24.9% (20.6% on average) across a variety of commercial and scientific benchmarks.

Tracking migratory movements of birds between breeding and wintering areas is important for both theoretical and conservation purposes. In particular, information about linkages between stages of the annual cycle (i.e., migratory connectivity) is essential for identifying factors and processes limiting population sizes of birds. Further, this information is necessary for testing assumptions and hypotheses about the evolution of avian migratory patterns. Here, I used stable hydrogen isotope (δD) analyses of tissues representing different periods and geographic regions of the annual cycle of white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, to provide new information on spatial and temporal linkages between stages of the annual cycle of this species. To achieve this objective, I sampled white-throated sparrows during spring and fall migration of 2002 and 2003 at a key staging ground for North American migratory birds located at Delta Marsh, Manitoba. Based on evaluations of the correspondence between δD values of feathers, claws, and cellular portions of blood of migrants, I determined that δD values of claws and blood cells were not suitable for estimating wintering origins of individuals captured en route to breeding areas. However, δD values of head feathers grown on wintering areas and tail feathers grown on breeding areas corresponded to values expected for feathers grown in broad areas within the wintering and breeding range of the species, respectively. The δD values of feathers showed no relationship between estimated breeding or natal and wintering latitudes of white-throated sparrows. However, band-encounter analyses indicated a clear eastwest segregation of populations across Canada, a finding that suggests that this species has a parallel migration system. Temporally, all components of the breeding populations migrated together during spring migration. However, as expected, white-throated sparrows exhibited sex-biased differential timing of spring arrival and latitude of wintering origin. Consistent with several other differential migrants, female white-throated sparrows arrived later and originated from more southern latitudes. There was also a negative relationship between wintering latitude and arrival dates of individuals during the second spring of the study. The existence of this relationship is a key assumption of differential migration hypotheses that had not been previously validated. Furthermore, since timing of arrival at breeding areas is critical to establishing high-quality territories and pair bonds, relationships between wintering latitude and arrival date of individuals could have important carry-over effects to reproduction. Based on standard body condition indices, white-throated sparrows migrating longer distances to reach breeding areas were not in poorer body condition than those migrating shorter distances. Thus, the cost of migrating longer distances does not appear to affect pre-breeding body condition, a parameter known to be linked with reproductive success.

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Tracking migratory movements of birds between breeding and wintering areas is important for both theoretical and conservation purposes. In particular, information about linkages between stages of the annual cycle (i.e., migratory connectivity) is essential for identifying factors and processes limiting population sizes of birds. Further, this information is necessary for testing assumptions and hypotheses about the evolution of avian migratory patterns. Here, I used stable hydrogen isotope (δD) analyses of tissues representing different periods and geographic regions of the annual cycle of white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, to provide new information on spatial and temporal linkages between stages of the annual cycle of this species. To achieve this objective, I sampled white-throated sparrows during spring and fall migration of 2002 and 2003 at a key staging ground for North American migratory birds located at Delta Marsh, Manitoba. Based on evaluations of the correspondence between δD values of feathers, claws, and cellular portions of blood of migrants, I determined that δD values of claws and blood cells were not suitable for estimating wintering origins of individuals captured en route to breeding areas. However, δD values of head feathers grown on wintering areas and tail feathers grown on breeding areas corresponded to values expected for feathers grown in broad areas within the wintering and breeding range of the species, respectively. The δD values of feathers showed no relationship between estimated breeding or natal and wintering latitudes of white-throated sparrows. However, band-encounter analyses indicated a clear eastwest segregation of populations across Canada, a finding that suggests that this species has a parallel migration system. Temporally, all components of the breeding populations migrated together during spring migration. However, as expected, white-throated sparrows exhibited sex-biased differential timing of spring arrival and latitude of wintering origin. Consistent with several other differential migrants, female white-throated sparrows arrived later and originated from more southern latitudes. There was also a negative relationship between wintering latitude and arrival dates of individuals during the second spring of the study. The existence of this relationship is a key assumption of differential migration hypotheses that had not been previously validated. Furthermore, since timing of arrival at breeding areas is critical to establishing high-quality territories and pair bonds, relationships between wintering latitude and arrival date of individuals could have important carry-over effects to reproduction. Based on standard body condition indices, white-throated sparrows migrating longer distances to reach breeding areas were not in poorer body condition than those migrating shorter distances. Thus, the cost of migrating longer distances does not appear to affect pre-breeding body condition, a parameter known to be linked with reproductive success.

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are glial cells that are an attractive candidate for neural repair after spinal cord injury and for remyelination of axons in diseases such as multiple sclerosis. OECs appear to migrate within the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) in animal models of spinal cord injury, but until recently there has been no systematic examination of the factors inducing or guiding this migration. Previous work in our lab (V.Skihar) implicated microglial reactivity in the generation of a migratory signal(s) inducing OECs to migrate towards an ethidium bromide-induced focal demyelination in the adult rat spinal cord. The long-term objective of this research project was to test the hypothesis that reactive microglial provide a migratory signal(s) driving the migration of OECs within the spinal cord of adult rats.<p>The first set of experiments determined the time-frame in which Wallerian degeneration (WD) induced microglial reactivity occurs in the right dorsal corticospinal tract (dCST) of adult rats at the level of T11 following aspiration of the contralateral sensorimotor cortex. This timing data from this study demonstrated a prominent microglial activation in the right dCST of T11 eight weeks after sensorimotor cortex injury indicating the microglial response to WD of dCST axons was very slow to appear. The second set of experiments determined whether OECs were induced to migrate in response to WD-induced microglial reactivity in the dCST, which based on the first set of experiments was known to occur within 8 weeks of lesioning the left sensorimotor cortex. This second set of experiments also examined the migratory path taken by OECs with respect to the location of reactive microglia (i.e. inside vs outside the right dCST). For these experiments, the left sensorimotor cortex was damaged 8 weeks prior to grafting the OECs at T12. <p>The next group of experiments examined the contribution of TNF-á induced microglial reactivity to generation of a migratory signal. First we identified concentrations of TNF-á that when injected into the DF of the T11 spinal cord segment of an adult rat induced microglial reactivity either along at least a 5 mm distance from the injection site or confined to the immediate vicinity of the injection site. The result of this experiment identified a concentration of 1 ng/µl and 0.01 ng/µl TNF-á as appropriate concentrations to induce the appropriate amount of microglial reactivity, respectively. The final set of experiments used these two concentrations to determine whether TNF-á induced microglial reactivity that is initiated 5 mm rostral to a DiI+ve OEC graft generates a migratory signal(s) inducing OECs to migrate towards the rostral part of T11 and whether the migratory signal(s) was present only if the microglial reactivity extended the full 5 mm distance between the TNF-á injection and the OEC graft. <p>The major findings were: i) there was a significantly higher density of DiI+ve OECs within the right dCST of rats in which there was WD-induced microglial reactivity as compared to the right dCST of rats in which there was no microglial reactivity; ii) the migratory path taken by DiI+ve OECs was preferentially within areas containing reactive microglia (i.e. dCST) and towards the site of TNF-á induced microglial reactivity (i.e. rostral to cell graft as opposed to caudal); iii) significantly more DiI+ve OECs migrated towards the site of a TNF-á injection when the microglia were reactive along the entire length of the migratory path between the cytokine injection and cell graft; and iv) minocycline treatment both dampened microglial reactivity and significantly reduced the number of migrating DiI+ve OECs. The major conclusions are that the migration of OECs within the adult rat spinal cord occurs in response to migratory signal(s) arising as a result of microglial activation and that this migration occurs preferentially along the path of microglial reactivity.

DNA is the carrier of biological information and damage to DNA has been believed to be responsible for many diseases including aging and cancer. One electron oxidation by charge migration through DNA is one of the processes that lead to DNA damage. It is known that the guanine N1 imino proton can be transferred to the N3 of cytidine that is hydrogen bonded to it. Some reports have implication that this proton transfer and radical cation migration are coupled to each other. We have incorporated 5-fluoro-2 -deoxycytidine (F5dC) in place of normal dC in DNA duplexes. Although, the lower pKa of F5dC should perturb the proton transfer process from the guanine to it, we do not see any change in the charge migration ability compared to the strands having normal cytidines. However, there is a considerable decrease in the guanine damage, when there is F5dC opposite to it. These results indicate that the charge migration is not coupled with proton transfer process, but the change in basicity affects the reactivity of the guanine radical cation. We have also reported a systematic study on the charge migration through adenine (A) and thymidine (T) containing DNA strands. The damage has predominantly seen in thymidine, although from oxidation potentials reaction at adenine was expected. The thymidine reaction has been analyzed thoroughly. It has similar distance dependence property as the well known guanine damage. Study of thymidine damage in presence of radical scavengers, replacement of thymidines by Uracil and HPLC-MS study point toward reactions involving tandem lesion. On the basis of these information and molecular modeling study we have proposed a possible pathway leading to one-electron oxidation at the thymidines.

Sea turtles are large migratory animal stay in the water most of their life time. In the east coast of Taiwan, there is a strong northward Kuroshio current. It is hypothesis that ocean current might play an important role to the migration tracks of sea turtles in the region. To test the hypothesis, two turtle tracks based on Argos records were analyzed. The first turtle moved from Lanyu in the NE direction to Ishigaki Island. The second one moved southward from Dong-Auo, along the east coast of Taiwan, to the southern tip of Taiwan, and then detoured westward across the Taiwan Strait, swum southward along coastal China to Leizhou Peninsula finally. In this study, we analyze data of EASNFS model, drifter tracks, weather buoy records and MODIS sea surface temperature, to explore the relationship between the ocean currents and the migration tracks of sea turtles. The Lanyu turtle seems follow very well with Kuroshio current in the early stage of its migration. The migration matches well with many Argos drifter tracks, and Lagragian drifter of EASNFS model. The probability of this turtle arriving Ishigaki Island is 26% if without other help. There is a turning point, as indicated by the comparison of model and real track. The Lanyu turtle swam hard to correct the migration route in order to reach the final destination. The Dong-Auo turtle track is analyzed together with data of winds, waves and drifters. This turtle migrated southward along the east coast of Taiwan seemly agree with the northeast monsoon wind driven coastal current. The migration route turned west at the southern tip of Taiwan. The turn matches well with the currents indicate by Argos drifters, as well as EASNFS modeling. In additional to the guidance of currents, this migration route also followed the sea surface temperature of 21¢J. In conclusion, this study suggests that turtles migration, in additional to the efforts of swimming and temperature guidance, will take advantage of prevailing currents to reach their final destinations.

Urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma is the most common cancer of the urinary tract. About 70% of the diagnosed tumors classified as Non-invasive tumor, which is usually multiple. Despite surgical removal and perioperative chemotherapy, tumor recurrence is not uncommon. However, the chance for such non-invasive tumors to advance to the muscle-invasive stage is relatively small and the 5-year survival rate approaches 95%. The rest 30% are classified as invasive tumors which usually pursue aggressive clinical course. In spite of radical cystectomy in conjunction with debilitating chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, more than 50% of invasive tumors eventually spread to distant organs. The 5-year survival rate for patients with distant metastasis is only about 6%. The current challenge in the management of urinary bladder carcinoma is the lack of powerful prognostic marker and promising therapeutic agents. Accordingly, to identify novel biomarks to adjust therapeutic strategy is mandatory. The BCL6 proto-oncogene encodes a nuclear transcriptional repressor, it¡¦s inhibits DNA repair pathways and TP53. Perturbation of both these pathways may contribute to normal cell function by repressing DNA damage responses and permitting somatic hypermutation but , in the context of malignancy, this could lead to mutations promoting aggressive tumor. Several studies have demonstrated that BCL6 play a role in different cancer types, however, the function of BCL6 in bladder cancer is understood. Therefore, in this study, we will analyze the endogenous BCL6 mRNA and total/activated BCL6 protein in various bladder cancer cell lines, including BFTC905, and J82. Then we will knockdown of the BCL6 gene by shRNA interference and analyze how it implicates various cellular processes essential to cancerous states. And then we will be analyzed the affection of cell survival, migration and invasion. Conversely, Overexpression of BCL6 in bladder cancer cell lines will be assessed cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Finally, studying it¡¦s affection in vivo. We demonstrate that BCL6 is correlated with bladder cancer.

The study of mechanobiology and the cellular response to the mechanical environment plays a vital role in the understanding of the atherogenesis and the treatment of the disease state through interventions such as stent placement. Cell migration in response to complex stresses also plays a critical role in wound healing. Modeling the mechanical environment as a circular membrane with a center defect can be an accurate representation of in vivo stress gradients. In this study, we created a novel cell stretching device that exposed cells to both static and 1 Hz dynamic stretch. Using NIH 3T3 fibroblasts stained with DiI membrane stain, we were able to expose cells to the two stretch regimes for 48 hours and observe the cellular response via live cell imaging. Cells were observed at 0, 12, 24, and 48 hour time points, and analysis of the change in their radial position was used to determine if cell migration occurred. Cell displacement was calculated using both the kinematic equation and the NeoHookean constitutive model. Uncertainty of the cell displacement calculation was used in determining whether or not there was cell migration. In this study, we were able to prescribe successfully the stretch regimes and observe the cellular response to stretch. Within the bounds of our uncertainty based on the error in the hole radius estimation and our measurement of cell and membrane displacement, however, we cannot say conclusively that cell migration occurred. This study established the methods and protocols necessary for further investigation into mechanobiology, in particular, the cell response to stress environments that more closely resemble the in vivo conditions.

Oligomers of hard and soft segments of unsaturated polyesters were synthesized in two steps. For the hard segment, isophthalic acid was reacted with 1,2-propanediol first, then maleic anhydride was added for further esterification. For the soft segment, diethylene glycol was used to replace 1,2-propanediol. In the previous study, the excess amount of glycol was 20% in weight. In this study, glycol was 10 and 5 wt% in excess, respectively. Decreasing the excess amount of glycol from 20 to 5 wt%, the number average molecular weight of both hard and soft segments increased about 30-40% from 1000 g/mol, and the degree of isomerization of maleic acid changed from 40.5 to 57.3% for the oligomers of the soft segment. The hard and soft segments synthesized in this study were blended in weight ratios from 0 to 100 % in an interval of 20 %, and then cured with styrene for further mechanical testing. The micro-tensile strength of cured soft and hard segments increased 1.3 and 8 times, respectively, in this study compared with that of specimens prepared under the condition of 20 wt% in excess of glycol. Therefore, the criteria of inhibitors can also be achieved by varying the excess amount of glycols. To evaluate the nitroglycerine migration and the erosion rate, only two (60% hard segment and 40% soft segment) of the formulas which passed the criteria of mechanical properties were investigated by replacing lithophone with magnesium hydroxide. In the case of 10 wt% in excess of glycol, the migration of nitroglycerine at infinite time (M