Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal in the world and a staple food for humans. It is also a source of food and fodder for animals. In addition to the abiotic stresses such as drought, parasitic weeds of the genus Striga cause losses in sorghum production in sub Saharan Africa. Striga asiatica is a parasitic weed that attacks cereals in low input agricultural systems and is distributed throughout semi- arid regions of Africa. Most sorghum producing farmers rely on tolerance for their harvests in Striga infested fields yet the stability of tolerance in the face of a changing climate (recurrent droughts), new farming systems (mulch based agriculture) and existence of various Striga strains needs further investigation. Reduced strigolactones production was also studied as a resistance mechanism. The first study was focused on the determination of tolerance of Striga asiatica infested sorghum under drought in a pot study. Five sorghum lines were subjected to infestation with Striga and some were not infested while watering was done at 50 percent field capacity (FC) and 100 percent FC. The results showed that the five sorghum lines differed significantly in chlorophyll content and Normalised Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI). Infection did not lower chlorophyll content when it co-occurred with drought across all sorghum lines. Drought and infestation had mutually exclusive effects on chlorophyll content and NDVI. Under infestation, internode length was similar both at 100 percent FC and at 50 percent FC while under uninfested conditions, 100 percent FC gave the longer internode compared to 50 percent FC. Both infestation and irrigation regime reduced the sorghum head weight, illustrating that the two effects have synergistic effects on sorghum head weight. The second study sought to determine the effects of mulching and infestation on sorghum spp tolerance to Striga asiatica. The experiments were carried out in the seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15 summer seasons. The results indicated that mulching increased chlorophyll content in the 2014/15 season which was a drier season compared to 2013/14. In the 2014/15 season, mulching increased chlorophyll content in all varieties except Ruzangwaya, Mukadziusaende and SC Sila. When the same varieties were infested under mulch and infested without mulch, the results showed that mulching overcomes the effects of infestation in some varieties. Mulch also negates the effect of Striga parasitism and results in yield maintenance in sorghum varieties. The third study sought to determine the stability of sorghum lines when exposed to two Striga asiatica lines sourced from two places which are 500 km apart in Zimbabwe. The two strains were termed the Chiundura and Rushinga strains, based on where they were sourced. The experiments were conducted at Henderson Research Station (HRS) at Mazoe and at Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE). The results showed differential virulence for some traits while the two strains were equally virulent for some traits. The two strains were equally virulent on all sorghum lines with respect to chlorophyll content. The different sorghum lines responded differently to the effects of the two strains. The effects of the two strains were generally similar for head index, root index, and leaf index at all sites. Generally the Chiundura strain was more virulent to sorghum lines compared to Rushinga strain, confirming the existence of physiological strains of Striga in Zimbabwe. Therefore physiological speciation of Striga asiatica exists and this adds a further dimension to the complexity of Striga management in the smallholder sector. Quantification of strigolactone production by different sorghum genotypes was conducted in the laboratory using the agar gel assay. The genotype Mukadziusaende produced significantly the least (P<0.01) quantities of strigolactones, as inferred from the maximum germination distance (MGD) from the sorghum root. The MGD was negatively correlated to tiller numbers illustrating that the more the strigolactones the less the tillering capacity. Tiller numbers and MGD can therefore be used to select for reduced strigolactones production.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by beta-amyloid (Abeta) deposition, neurofibrillary tangles and cognitive decline. Clinical data suggest that diabetes may be a risk factor for AD and several studies have linked pro-diabetic diets with an acceleration of AD pathology. Consequently, we hypothesized that the 3xTg AD-like mouse model may show impaired glucose tolerance, therefore; we examined whether glucose tolerance was altered in the 3xTg mouse model of AD early in the pathogenesis (prior to Abeta plaques, neurofibrillary tangle sand cognitive decline) and if so, did it persist throughout. Specifically, 1, 2-3, 4-6, 8-10 and 17 month old male 3xTg mice and wild-type counterparts were assessed for fasting glucose levels, glucose tolerance, plasma insulin levels, insulin sensitivity and the neural and behavioral pathological characteristics of AD. At 1 month, 3xTg mice compared to wild-type controls exhibited impaired glucose tolerance during an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (ipGTT), a trend for reduced fasting plasma insulin levels at time 0 and significantly reduced fasting plasma insulin levels 15 minutes post glucose bolus suggesting a possible defect in beta cell function. Interestingly, the glucose intolerance was not a consequence of altered food intake or body weight since these parameters were similar between the 3xTg mice and wild-type controls. Moreover, responsiveness to exogenous insulin during the intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test was not significantly different suggesting equivalent insulin sensitivity. During aging both 3xTg mice and controls exhibited exacerbated changes in fasting glucose levels and glucose tolerance. Interestingly, while control animals show an increase in fasting insulin levels with age, 3xTg mice do not. Immunohistochemical staining for 6E10 and Abeta 1-42 revealed only intraneuronal deposition of reaction product in 3xTg mice with no extracellular depositions noted until 14 months of age. Immunoreactivity of p-tau was observed at 1 month in the hippocampus and cortex and worsened throughout the time period examined. Behavioral deficits began to be detected in 3xTg mice relative to wild-type controls at 21 months of age. The islets in the pancreas suggest that at 2-3 months of age 3xTg mice compared to wild-type controls have a significantly lower amount of immunoreactivity for insulin within their islets although islet size did not differ between groups and this persisted throughout all the time points examined (4-6 and 8-10 months). Taken together, these data reveal that the AD-like 3xTg mouse model exhibits a pro-diabetic phenotype early in the development of AD-like pathology and that this metabolic deficit persists throughout their lifespan raising the question of whether altered glucose regulation and insulin production/secretion could contribute to AD pathogenesis.

Exploration and extraction activities in the Alberta Oil Sands region have degraded thousands of hectares of land, about 40 % of which were once covered by peatlands. To date, there is very little information regarding the reclamation of peatlands, and even less related to their reclamation after oil sands disturbances. The results of this study will be used to develop protocols for the reclamation of peatlands after disturbance due to oil sands exploration and extraction operations in the Alberta Oil Sands region. Carex aquatilis is considered to be an ideal candidate species for initiating reclamation because it is a common pioneer species of disturbed landscapes, and has been shown to have a wide range of tolerances for several environmental factors in other areas of its overall distribution. The results of this study showed even wider ranges of tolerance than previous studies have reported, and did so using an ecological field study, a greenhouse propagation study, and a greenhouse Na+ tolerance study. A field study used vegetation surveys and environmental data to determine that Carex aquatilis is abundant in several wetland types and is not strongly associated with any of the species with which it was commonly found. In addition, C. aquatilis also was present across wide ranges of environmental variables including pH, conductivity, shade, water depth, Na+ concentration of surface water and percent organic carbon content of the substrate. These wide ranges of tolerance should allow C. aquatilis to establish after many types of disturbance. A greenhouse propagation study tested for population differences in percent germination after four stratification treatments, three stratification durations and four germination treatments. The overall best stratification treatment was to store seeds moist at 4°C for 30 days. The most effective germination treatment across all treatments was to plant seeds just below the surface of the substrate with the water level maintained at 1cm below the substrate surface. Only 9% of all sown seeds germinated. There were differences in germination rates between populations, although it is unknown whether these differences were due to differences in viability, timing of seed maturation, stratification requirements or germination requirements. A greenhouse Na+ tolerance experiment tested for differences in Na+ tolerance between four populations and two age classes to assess the efficacy of C. aquatilis as a pioneer species after oil sands surface mining disturbance. Five Na+ concentrations ranging from 5 to 2000 mg L-1 were tested. Plants showed no differences in Na+ tolerance between populations, but younger plants were more susceptible to damage from Na+ stress than older plants so it is recommended that older plants are used to initiate reclamation. It is also recommended that Na+ be managed on surface mine reclamations so that it is below 500 mg L-1.

Os erros transientes nos bits de memória de configuração dos FPGAs baseados em SRAM são um tema importante devido ao efeito de persistência e a possibilidade de gerar falhas de funcionamento no circuito implementado. Sempre que um bit de memória de configuração é invertido, o erro transiente será corrigido apenas recarregando o bitstream correto da memória de configuração. Se o bitstream correto não for recarregando, erros transientes persistentes podem se acumular nos bits de memória de configuração provocando uma falha funcional do sistema, o que consequentemente, pode causar uma situação catastrófica. Este cenário se agrava no caso de falhas múltiplas, cuja probabilidade de ocorrência é cada vez maior em novas tecnologias nano-métricas. As estratégias tradicionais para lidar com erros transientes na memória de configuração são baseadas no uso de redundância modular tripla (TMR), e na limpeza da memória (scrubbing) para reparar e evitar a acumulação de erros. A alta eficiência desta técnica para mascarar perturbações tem sido demonstrada em vários estudos, no entanto o TMR visa apenas mascarar falhas individuais. Porém, a tendência tecnológica conduz à redução das dimensões dos transistores o que causa o aumento da susceptibilidade a falhos. Neste novo cenário, as falhas multiplas são mais comuns que as falhas individuais e consequentemente o uso de TMR pode ser inapropriado para ser usado em aplicações de alta confiabilidade. Além disso, sendo que a taxa de falhas está aumentando, é necessário usar altas taxas de reconfiguração o que implica em um elevado custo no consumo de potência. Com o objetivo de lidar com falhas massivas acontecidas na mem[oria de configuração, este trabalho propõe a utilização de um sistema de redundância múltipla composto de n módulos idênticos que operam em conjunto, conhecido como (nMR), e um inovador votador auto-adaptativo que permite mascarar múltiplas falhas no sistema. A principal desvantagem do uso de redundância modular é o seu elevado custo em termos de área e o consumo de energia. No entanto, o problema da sobrecarga em área é cada vez menor devido à maior densidade de componentes em novas tecnologias. Por outro lado, o alto consumo de energia sempre foi um problema nos dispositivos FPGA. Neste trabalho também propõe-se um modelo para prever a sobrecarga de potência causada pelo uso de redundância múltipla em FPGAs baseados em SRAM. A capacidade de tolerar múltiplas falhas pela técnica proposta tem sido avaliada através de experimentos de radiação e campanhas de injeção de falhas de circuitos para um estudo de caso implementado em um FPGA comercial de tecnologia de 65nm. Finalmente, é demostrado que o uso de nMR em FPGAs é uma atrativa e possível solução em termos de potencia, área e confiabilidade medida em unidades de FIT e Mean Time between Failures (MTBF). / Soft errors in the configuration memory bits of SRAM-based FPGAs are an important issue due to the persistence effect and its possibility of generating functional failures in the implemented circuit. Whenever a configuration memory bit cell is flipped, the soft error will be corrected only by reloading the correct configuration memory bitstream. If the correct bitstream is not loaded, persistent soft errors can accumulate in the configuration memory bits provoking a system functional failure in the user’s design, and consequently can cause a catastrophic situation. This scenario gets worse in the event of multi-bit upset, whose probability of occurrence is increasing in new nano-metric technologies. Traditional strategies to deal with soft errors in configuration memory are based on the use of any type of triple modular redundancy (TMR) and the scrubbing of the memory to repair and avoid the accumulation of faults. The high reliability of this technique has been demonstrated in many studies, however TMR is aimed at masking single faults. The technology trend makes lower the dimensions of the transistors, and this leads to increased susceptibility to faults. In this new scenario, it is commoner to have multiple to single faults in the configuration memory of the FPGA, so that the use of TMR is inappropriate in high reliability applications. Furthermore, since the fault rate is increasing, scrubbing rate also needs to be incremented, leading to the increase in power consumption. Aiming at coping with massive upsets between sparse scrubbing, this work proposes the use of a multiple redundancy system composed of n identical modules, known as nmodular redundancy (nMR), operating in tandem and an innovative self-adaptive voter to be able to mask multiple upsets in the system. The main drawback of using modular redundancy is its high cost in terms of area and power consumption. However, area overhead is less and less problem due the higher density in new technologies. On the other hand, the high power consumption has always been a handicap of FPGAs. In this work we also propose a model to prevent power overhead caused by the use of multiple redundancy in SRAM-based FPGAs. The capacity of the proposal to tolerate multiple faults has been evaluated by radiation experiments and fault injection campaigns of study case circuits implemented in a 65nm technology commercial FPGA. Finally we demonstrate that the power overhead generated by the use of nMR in FPGAs is much lower than it is discussed in the literature.

Desiccation tolerance of Sphagnum species (mature shoots and protonemata) was studied in detail. Their ability to harden (e.g. induce desiccation tolerance) was tested in field and laboratory experiments focusing on the effect of slow drying, abscisic acid and cold and freezing temperatures.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-02-22Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:32:54Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_jpn_me_botib.pdf: 1461698 bytes, checksum: f3d2da00e4477125c12042e4a44960b3 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / A aquisição da tolerância à dessecação ocorre durante a maturação da semente, após acúmulo de reservas e antes do início do processo natural de secagem, porém, com o avanço da germinação a sensibilidade a dessecação aumenta. Estresses hídricos podem induzir ou restabelecer a tolerância à dessecação em sementes, porém, não se sabe em quais processos ele atua, como na ativação de genes. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a aquisição e perda de tolerância à dessecação em sementes de Caesalpinia echinata Lam. (pau-brasil), e a possibilidade de indução deste processo avaliando as modificações nos carboidratos solúveis e de ciclitóis, nos níveis endógenos de ABA e na expressão de aquaporinas. Foram observadas diferenças na aquisição de tolerância em sementes imaturas de mesma idade, produzidas nas mesmas matrizes em 2007 e 2008, com diferentes composições de carboidratos solúveis. Sementes maduras perdem a tolerância à dessecação logo após protrusão da raiz primária, em comprimentos dependentes do grau de deterioração da semente. Sementes imaturas e maduras tolerantes de C. echinata suportaram a desidratação de formas diferentes, utilizando reservas de amido e ciclitóis, com papel da sacarose quando secas. Esses resultados foram comparados com sementes de Caesalpinia peltophoroides Benth (sibipiruna), demonstrando comportamentos fisiológicos distintos, provavelmente relacionados com o tipo de reserva que acumulam / The acquisition of desiccation tolerance occurs during seed maturation, after reserves accumulation and before the natural process of drying, however, with seed germination the desiccation sensitivity increases. Water stress can induce or restore the desiccation tolerance in seeds, but it is unclear what processes it acts, like activation of genes. The objective of this work was to evaluate the acquisition and loss of desiccation tolerance in Caesalpinia echinata Lam (brazil-wood) seeds, and the possibility to induction this process, evaluating the soluble carbohydrates and cyclitols changes, the ABA endogenous levels and expression of aquaporins. Differences were observed in the tolerance acquisition in immature seeds of the same age, produced by the same trees in 2007 and 2008, showing different compositions of soluble carbohydrates. Mature seeds lose desiccation tolerance soon after radicle protrusion in length depending on the degree of seed deterioration lot. Immature and mature tolerant seeds of C. echinata support the dehydration by different ways, using starch reserves and cyclitols, seen sucrose when the seed dry. These results were compared with seeds of Caesalpinia peltophoroides (sibipiruna), showing different physiological parameters, probably related to the type of reserves that they accumulate

Thesis (MTech (Biomedical Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / The principal objective in irradiating tumours is to permanently inhibit their reproductive ability. More than half of all malignancies are primarily treated with radiation but tumours of different histologies differ greatly in response to radiotherapy as well as individual patients displaying great variability in response to treatment. The need for reliable assays predicting tumour and normal tissue response to radiation is therefore a prime objective of clinical oncology. The requirement of such a test would be that it would relate to clinical outcome Le. the possibility of recurrence of disease or of tumour control as well as indicating whether the treatment should be administered more aggressively or not. These are important factors that, if known, could be used as part of the treatment planning in radiotherapy and selection of best therapy modality. The colony forming c1onogenic assay has been shown to be a reliable reflection of a cells ability to maintain reproductive integrity after radiation exposure. In this study it has successfully been used to demonstrate the surviving fraction of cells but has the limitation of cells needing to process the ability to form colonies. Cells from primary tumours do not readily form colonies and may display poor anchorage making this assessment of radiosensitivity in the clinic less desirable. These data are presented together with unpublished data obtained using the micronucleus assay. Micronuclei frequency (MNF) varies in different cell types with test doses and provides a means to rank the cell in terms of response to radiation. In normal cells a linear inverse correlation exits between MNF and cell survival. However, MNF does not rank malignant cells according to their intrinsic survival to radiation displaying a weak correlation between MNF and cell survival.

Os erros transientes nos bits de memória de configuração dos FPGAs baseados em SRAM são um tema importante devido ao efeito de persistência e a possibilidade de gerar falhas de funcionamento no circuito implementado. Sempre que um bit de memória de configuração é invertido, o erro transiente será corrigido apenas recarregando o bitstream correto da memória de configuração. Se o bitstream correto não for recarregando, erros transientes persistentes podem se acumular nos bits de memória de configuração provocando uma falha funcional do sistema, o que consequentemente, pode causar uma situação catastrófica. Este cenário se agrava no caso de falhas múltiplas, cuja probabilidade de ocorrência é cada vez maior em novas tecnologias nano-métricas. As estratégias tradicionais para lidar com erros transientes na memória de configuração são baseadas no uso de redundância modular tripla (TMR), e na limpeza da memória (scrubbing) para reparar e evitar a acumulação de erros. A alta eficiência desta técnica para mascarar perturbações tem sido demonstrada em vários estudos, no entanto o TMR visa apenas mascarar falhas individuais. Porém, a tendência tecnológica conduz à redução das dimensões dos transistores o que causa o aumento da susceptibilidade a falhos. Neste novo cenário, as falhas multiplas são mais comuns que as falhas individuais e consequentemente o uso de TMR pode ser inapropriado para ser usado em aplicações de alta confiabilidade. Além disso, sendo que a taxa de falhas está aumentando, é necessário usar altas taxas de reconfiguração o que implica em um elevado custo no consumo de potência. Com o objetivo de lidar com falhas massivas acontecidas na mem[oria de configuração, este trabalho propõe a utilização de um sistema de redundância múltipla composto de n módulos idênticos que operam em conjunto, conhecido como (nMR), e um inovador votador auto-adaptativo que permite mascarar múltiplas falhas no sistema. A principal desvantagem do uso de redundância modular é o seu elevado custo em termos de área e o consumo de energia. No entanto, o problema da sobrecarga em área é cada vez menor devido à maior densidade de componentes em novas tecnologias. Por outro lado, o alto consumo de energia sempre foi um problema nos dispositivos FPGA. Neste trabalho também propõe-se um modelo para prever a sobrecarga de potência causada pelo uso de redundância múltipla em FPGAs baseados em SRAM. A capacidade de tolerar múltiplas falhas pela técnica proposta tem sido avaliada através de experimentos de radiação e campanhas de injeção de falhas de circuitos para um estudo de caso implementado em um FPGA comercial de tecnologia de 65nm. Finalmente, é demostrado que o uso de nMR em FPGAs é uma atrativa e possível solução em termos de potencia, área e confiabilidade medida em unidades de FIT e Mean Time between Failures (MTBF). / Soft errors in the configuration memory bits of SRAM-based FPGAs are an important issue due to the persistence effect and its possibility of generating functional failures in the implemented circuit. Whenever a configuration memory bit cell is flipped, the soft error will be corrected only by reloading the correct configuration memory bitstream. If the correct bitstream is not loaded, persistent soft errors can accumulate in the configuration memory bits provoking a system functional failure in the user’s design, and consequently can cause a catastrophic situation. This scenario gets worse in the event of multi-bit upset, whose probability of occurrence is increasing in new nano-metric technologies. Traditional strategies to deal with soft errors in configuration memory are based on the use of any type of triple modular redundancy (TMR) and the scrubbing of the memory to repair and avoid the accumulation of faults. The high reliability of this technique has been demonstrated in many studies, however TMR is aimed at masking single faults. The technology trend makes lower the dimensions of the transistors, and this leads to increased susceptibility to faults. In this new scenario, it is commoner to have multiple to single faults in the configuration memory of the FPGA, so that the use of TMR is inappropriate in high reliability applications. Furthermore, since the fault rate is increasing, scrubbing rate also needs to be incremented, leading to the increase in power consumption. Aiming at coping with massive upsets between sparse scrubbing, this work proposes the use of a multiple redundancy system composed of n identical modules, known as nmodular redundancy (nMR), operating in tandem and an innovative self-adaptive voter to be able to mask multiple upsets in the system. The main drawback of using modular redundancy is its high cost in terms of area and power consumption. However, area overhead is less and less problem due the higher density in new technologies. On the other hand, the high power consumption has always been a handicap of FPGAs. In this work we also propose a model to prevent power overhead caused by the use of multiple redundancy in SRAM-based FPGAs. The capacity of the proposal to tolerate multiple faults has been evaluated by radiation experiments and fault injection campaigns of study case circuits implemented in a 65nm technology commercial FPGA. Finally we demonstrate that the power overhead generated by the use of nMR in FPGAs is much lower than it is discussed in the literature.

Os erros transientes nos bits de memória de configuração dos FPGAs baseados em SRAM são um tema importante devido ao efeito de persistência e a possibilidade de gerar falhas de funcionamento no circuito implementado. Sempre que um bit de memória de configuração é invertido, o erro transiente será corrigido apenas recarregando o bitstream correto da memória de configuração. Se o bitstream correto não for recarregando, erros transientes persistentes podem se acumular nos bits de memória de configuração provocando uma falha funcional do sistema, o que consequentemente, pode causar uma situação catastrófica. Este cenário se agrava no caso de falhas múltiplas, cuja probabilidade de ocorrência é cada vez maior em novas tecnologias nano-métricas. As estratégias tradicionais para lidar com erros transientes na memória de configuração são baseadas no uso de redundância modular tripla (TMR), e na limpeza da memória (scrubbing) para reparar e evitar a acumulação de erros. A alta eficiência desta técnica para mascarar perturbações tem sido demonstrada em vários estudos, no entanto o TMR visa apenas mascarar falhas individuais. Porém, a tendência tecnológica conduz à redução das dimensões dos transistores o que causa o aumento da susceptibilidade a falhos. Neste novo cenário, as falhas multiplas são mais comuns que as falhas individuais e consequentemente o uso de TMR pode ser inapropriado para ser usado em aplicações de alta confiabilidade. Além disso, sendo que a taxa de falhas está aumentando, é necessário usar altas taxas de reconfiguração o que implica em um elevado custo no consumo de potência. Com o objetivo de lidar com falhas massivas acontecidas na mem[oria de configuração, este trabalho propõe a utilização de um sistema de redundância múltipla composto de n módulos idênticos que operam em conjunto, conhecido como (nMR), e um inovador votador auto-adaptativo que permite mascarar múltiplas falhas no sistema. A principal desvantagem do uso de redundância modular é o seu elevado custo em termos de área e o consumo de energia. No entanto, o problema da sobrecarga em área é cada vez menor devido à maior densidade de componentes em novas tecnologias. Por outro lado, o alto consumo de energia sempre foi um problema nos dispositivos FPGA. Neste trabalho também propõe-se um modelo para prever a sobrecarga de potência causada pelo uso de redundância múltipla em FPGAs baseados em SRAM. A capacidade de tolerar múltiplas falhas pela técnica proposta tem sido avaliada através de experimentos de radiação e campanhas de injeção de falhas de circuitos para um estudo de caso implementado em um FPGA comercial de tecnologia de 65nm. Finalmente, é demostrado que o uso de nMR em FPGAs é uma atrativa e possível solução em termos de potencia, área e confiabilidade medida em unidades de FIT e Mean Time between Failures (MTBF). / Soft errors in the configuration memory bits of SRAM-based FPGAs are an important issue due to the persistence effect and its possibility of generating functional failures in the implemented circuit. Whenever a configuration memory bit cell is flipped, the soft error will be corrected only by reloading the correct configuration memory bitstream. If the correct bitstream is not loaded, persistent soft errors can accumulate in the configuration memory bits provoking a system functional failure in the user’s design, and consequently can cause a catastrophic situation. This scenario gets worse in the event of multi-bit upset, whose probability of occurrence is increasing in new nano-metric technologies. Traditional strategies to deal with soft errors in configuration memory are based on the use of any type of triple modular redundancy (TMR) and the scrubbing of the memory to repair and avoid the accumulation of faults. The high reliability of this technique has been demonstrated in many studies, however TMR is aimed at masking single faults. The technology trend makes lower the dimensions of the transistors, and this leads to increased susceptibility to faults. In this new scenario, it is commoner to have multiple to single faults in the configuration memory of the FPGA, so that the use of TMR is inappropriate in high reliability applications. Furthermore, since the fault rate is increasing, scrubbing rate also needs to be incremented, leading to the increase in power consumption. Aiming at coping with massive upsets between sparse scrubbing, this work proposes the use of a multiple redundancy system composed of n identical modules, known as nmodular redundancy (nMR), operating in tandem and an innovative self-adaptive voter to be able to mask multiple upsets in the system. The main drawback of using modular redundancy is its high cost in terms of area and power consumption. However, area overhead is less and less problem due the higher density in new technologies. On the other hand, the high power consumption has always been a handicap of FPGAs. In this work we also propose a model to prevent power overhead caused by the use of multiple redundancy in SRAM-based FPGAs. The capacity of the proposal to tolerate multiple faults has been evaluated by radiation experiments and fault injection campaigns of study case circuits implemented in a 65nm technology commercial FPGA. Finally we demonstrate that the power overhead generated by the use of nMR in FPGAs is much lower than it is discussed in the literature.

No description available.