Vikram Bhatt - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Vikram Bhatt

the transition to multicore and will be characterized by a wild chase for seemingly ever-more ins... more the transition to multicore and will be characterized by a wild chase for seemingly ever-more insane architectural designs. At the heart of this transformation is the Utilization Wall, which states that, with each new process generation, the percentage of transistors that a chip can switch at full frequency is dropping exponentially due to power constraints. This has led to increasingly larger and larger fractions of a chip’s silicon area that must remain passive, or dark. Since Dark Silicon is an exponentially-worsening phenomenon, getting worse at the same rate that Moore’s Law is ostensibly making process technology better, we need to seek out fundamentally new approaches to designing processors for the Dark Silicon Age. Simply tweaking existing designs is not enough. Our research attacks the Dark Silicon problem directly through a set of energy-saving accelerators, called Conservation Cores, or c-cores. C-cores are a post-multicore approach that constructively uses dark silicon ...

This report is presented as received by IDRC from project recipient(s). It has not been subjected... more This report is presented as received by IDRC from project recipient(s). It has not been subjected to peer review or other review processes. This work is used with the permission of Leila Marie Farah.

Living with water : traditional settlements of Chinese water towns

The present work is an attempt to analyze the traditional settlements of Chinese water towns with... more The present work is an attempt to analyze the traditional settlements of Chinese water towns with a particular emphasis on their urban structure and housing or the house form.

Stability Preserving Bisection Algorithms in Reaction-Diffusion Complex Networks

Wet oxidation: recalcitrant wastewater organics

Using very dilute nitric acid, pollutants such as recalcitrant COD, organic nitrogen compounds, a... more Using very dilute nitric acid, pollutants such as recalcitrant COD, organic nitrogen compounds, ammonium salts and halogenated organics can all be eliminated simultaneously. This wet oxidation process, developed by BASF and licensed to Bertrams Chemical Plants Ltd, is attractive on account of its high efficiency coupled with low investment and operating cost.

Actions: What You Can Do With the City, accompanied by 70 colour and black -and-white illustrations, features writings by

Geografías variables. Balkrishna Doshi, Pritzker

Open House International, 2009

The Edible Campus project was begun in spring 2007 in Montréal. An action-research project launch... more The Edible Campus project was begun in spring 2007 in Montréal. An action-research project launched by volunteers and researchers from two leading local NGOs and university-based researchers (Alternatives, [online]; Santropol Roulant, [online]; McGill University's Minimum Cost Housing Group, [online]), it sought creative solutions to turn underutilised urban spaces into productive places. It involved citizens in the creation of green community spaces by incorporating productive growing in containers on a prominent but concrete-covered part of McGill University's downtown campus. Not only is it an investigation into making cities more food-secure by increasing urban food production, it is also a live demonstration of how ‘edible landscapes’ can be woven into urban spaces without diminishing their utility or functionality.

Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems, 2016

Can concerted citizen action, involvement of community groups and institutions, as well as formal... more Can concerted citizen action, involvement of community groups and institutions, as well as formal authorities, play important enough roles in promoting urban agriculture? The case of Montreal indicates they can. This paper investigates some of these interventions at different times and levels and explores how they made this North American city a leader in that field. Urban agriculture activities began in the early 1970s, but gained momentum after the 1973 oil crisis. The role of diverse players in transforming the city fabric ever since is discussed here by introducing and developing related projects in three parts: the first traces the history of community gardens; the second presents Montreal‐based pilot projects rooted in different neighborhoods that aimed to intertwine urban agriculture, design and citizens that the authors developed and implemented; the third discusses a recent (2012) citizens’ action that used a municipal bylaw to hold a public consultation on the state of urb...

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2019

they are relatively common, often confined to the placenta, and have variable clinical impact. He... more they are relatively common, often confined to the placenta, and have variable clinical impact. Herein we describe one of very few clinical reports of mosaic trisomy 2, in addition to the first and only cfDNA identified case of a true fetal mosaic trisomy 2 in the medical genetic literature. STUDY DESIGN: The maternal blood sample was subjected to DNA extraction, library preparation, and genome-wide massively parallel sequencing. Sequencing data were analyzed using a novel algorithm to detect trisomies and subchromosomal, genome-wide copy number variants 7Mb and larger. RESULTS: The patient presented to MFM at 10.7 weeks' gestation for genetic counseling and ultrasound. AMA and a prior trisomy 8 pregnancy prompted expanded cfDNA screening, yielding a trisomy 2 result (w 65% mosaicism, 6% fetal fraction) and residual risk for UPD. Amnio with SNP microarray testing was recommended. Trisomy 2 is a relatively common finding per placental literature, usually confined to the mesenchyme, and carries an exceedingly low risk for true fetal mosaicism. A paucity of published trisomy 2 case studies was a substantial counseling limitation. CVS was declined and fetal ultrasound showed normal growth and NT measurement at 10.7 weeks. However, a subsequent scan at 16 weeks showed a 2 vessel cord and a 1 week lag in humerus/femur length, increasing to a 2 week lag by 18 wks. Fetal echo showed hypoplastic LVOT and possible coarch of the aorta. Amnio at 20 weeks with SNP microarray revealed w20% mosaicism for Trisomy 2, no UPD. Pregnancy continued with growth lag measuring 5 weeks behind at 33 weeks. Palliative care was discussed, as prognosis was guarded. PROM at 34.4 weeks prompted delivery of a 3lbs, 6oz (0%) neonate with APGARs of 2 and 8. An extended NICU stay ensued, with clinical outcome exceeding expectations. ASD repair occurred at 10 months. Now age three, the child is reportedly doing well overall, with physical exam noting small size, axial hypotonia, and motor delays. CONCLUSION: While many esoteric trisomies remain confined to the placenta and are of variable clinical consequence, the risk for true and occult fetal mosaicism cannot be dismissed. This case report illustrates the first known cfDNA identified, amnio confirmed true fetal mosaic for trisomy 2.

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2019

disease the larger the size or proportion of the genome, so were also thought to have high certai... more disease the larger the size or proportion of the genome, so were also thought to have high certainty in counseling. Rare CNVs were individually examined to determine their likelihood of having an affected phenotype. RESULTS: There were 970 prenatal CMAs performed. Of these, 58 (6.0%) were categorized as a VUS. The number in each category is shown in Table 1. Among the 58 VUSs, 33 (56.9%) were associated with a known phenotype, and 56 (96.6%) were associated with a high level of certainty regarding the likelihood of an affected phenotype. CONCLUSION: Most VUSs (96.6% of all VUSs, 99.8% of all CMAs) were associated with a high level of certainty regarding the likelihood of an affected phenotype. Variants of truly uncertain significance are relatively uncommon, and most cases can be categorized as to the potential risk of an affected phenotype and what phenotypes are possible.

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1997

A comprehensive patient information datafile of 320 topics has been developed, subserving the dom... more A comprehensive patient information datafile of 320 topics has been developed, subserving the domains of medicine, surgery, gynaecology and paediatrics. The system was designed as loose-leaf sheets capable of being photocopied, as well as a computer-based datafile. In a four-practice study, 73% of consecutive general practice attenders could be issued with the relevant disorder or procedure information sheet. With a questionnaire return rate of 79%, 886 patients rated the three criteria of readability, understandability and usefulness of their leaflets as very or quite easy and very or quite useful in more than 94% of instances. This system could be a valuable adjunct to patient education in both general and hospital practice settings.

Early Railway Suburbs: The First Transit-Oriented Real Estate Developments? Case study: Town of Mount Royal, Montreal, Canada

Annual International Conference on Urban Planning and Property Development, 2015

International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2017

Background: Miniplate orthodontic bone anchorage (OBA) devices are being increasingly utilised fo... more Background: Miniplate orthodontic bone anchorage (OBA) devices are being increasingly utilised for management of certain malocclusions. Anterior open bites are renowned for being the most challenging to correct, along with the most likely to relapse. Literature shows good outcomes when utilised for closure of small anterior open bites and the opportunity to minimise osteotomy movements or even avoid bimaxillary surgery. Findings: The author presents a personal series of cases in which the anterior open bite was greater than 6 mm, and discusses the challenges faced mid-treatment with the miniplate OBA and how they were overcome: • Flaring of first permanent molars on applying traction. • Gauging appropriate tightness of powerchain-balance between traction forces and risk of breakage. • Interference of occlusion due to wisdom teeth. • Mucosa overgrown to cover the OBA before treatment commences. • Difficulty in correction of skeletal asymmetries. Conclusion: The use of miniplates is an effective management strategy for partial or complete correction of open anterior bites. They can reduce size of osteotomy movements or limit the surgery to a single jaw, reducing morbidity and reducing postoperative recovery periods. It does come with some inherent problems and challenges.

Journal of Engineering Technology, 2016

Organisation of the Colloquium: Gouvernance de l’agriculture urbaine et périurbaine. Processus et modèles de développement during the Congress of ACFAS (Université de Montréal)

ABSTRACT

Community-Campus Collaboration in the Canadian Food Movement

This session explores lessons learned in collaborations between academic researchers, students, a... more This session explores lessons learned in collaborations between academic researchers, students, and community-­‐based practitioners working for non-­‐profit organizations active in Canada’s food movement. Collaboration on a joint project, even when there is a shared vision, is not always easy. We ultimately also have different goals to meet, needs, and access to resources. Such factors can complicate the collaborative project. At the same time, success produces results that no one individual or organization could have achieved on its own. It reports on results of the second year of projects supported by the Community Food Security hub of the Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement (CFICE) research project, grounded in a partnership between Carleton University and Food Secure Canada, and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Presenters will speak to the lessons learned from evaluations of five community-­‐campus partnerships from across Can...

L’agriculture (péri)urbaine : tendances et dynamiques au Québec et en France

Urban Agriculture and Urban Design

World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2011

... friends. As such, urban mobility and connectivity have direct health implications. In his wor... more ... friends. As such, urban mobility and connectivity have direct health implications. In his work, The Effects of Age on the Driving Habits of the Elderly, Page 3. 228 BhattXuehao [7] summarizes this dependence for the elderly: 'Being ...

2011 21st International Conference on Field Programmable Logic and Applications, 2011

As the complexity of FPGA-based systems scales, the importance of efficiently handling irregular ... more As the complexity of FPGA-based systems scales, the importance of efficiently handling irregular code increases. Recent work has proposed Irregular Code Energy Reducers (ICERs), a high-level synthesis approach for FPGAs that offers significant energy reduction for irregular code compared to a soft core processor. ICERs target the hot-spots of programs, and are seamlessly connected via a shared L1 cache with a soft processor that executes the cold code. This paper evaluates the application of the selective depipelining (SDP) technique to ICERs, which greatly reduces both the execution time and energy of irregular computations. SDP enables irregular computations to be expressed as large, fast, low-power combinational blocks. SDP maintains high memory bandwidth by scheduling the many potentially dependent memory operations within these blocks onto a high-frequency, highly-multiplexed coherent memory while scheduling combinational operations at a much lower frequency. SDP is a key enabler for improving the execution properties of irregular computations that are difficult to parallelize. We show that applying SDP to ICERs reduces energy-delay by 2.62× relative to ICERs. ICERs with SDP are up to 2.38× faster than a soft core processor and reduce energy consumption by up to 15.83× for a variety of irregular applications.

the transition to multicore and will be characterized by a wild chase for seemingly ever-more ins... more the transition to multicore and will be characterized by a wild chase for seemingly ever-more insane architectural designs. At the heart of this transformation is the Utilization Wall, which states that, with each new process generation, the percentage of transistors that a chip can switch at full frequency is dropping exponentially due to power constraints. This has led to increasingly larger and larger fractions of a chip’s silicon area that must remain passive, or dark. Since Dark Silicon is an exponentially-worsening phenomenon, getting worse at the same rate that Moore’s Law is ostensibly making process technology better, we need to seek out fundamentally new approaches to designing processors for the Dark Silicon Age. Simply tweaking existing designs is not enough. Our research attacks the Dark Silicon problem directly through a set of energy-saving accelerators, called Conservation Cores, or c-cores. C-cores are a post-multicore approach that constructively uses dark silicon ...

This report is presented as received by IDRC from project recipient(s). It has not been subjected... more This report is presented as received by IDRC from project recipient(s). It has not been subjected to peer review or other review processes. This work is used with the permission of Leila Marie Farah.

Living with water : traditional settlements of Chinese water towns

The present work is an attempt to analyze the traditional settlements of Chinese water towns with... more The present work is an attempt to analyze the traditional settlements of Chinese water towns with a particular emphasis on their urban structure and housing or the house form.

Stability Preserving Bisection Algorithms in Reaction-Diffusion Complex Networks

Wet oxidation: recalcitrant wastewater organics

Using very dilute nitric acid, pollutants such as recalcitrant COD, organic nitrogen compounds, a... more Using very dilute nitric acid, pollutants such as recalcitrant COD, organic nitrogen compounds, ammonium salts and halogenated organics can all be eliminated simultaneously. This wet oxidation process, developed by BASF and licensed to Bertrams Chemical Plants Ltd, is attractive on account of its high efficiency coupled with low investment and operating cost.

Actions: What You Can Do With the City, accompanied by 70 colour and black -and-white illustrations, features writings by

Geografías variables. Balkrishna Doshi, Pritzker

Open House International, 2009

The Edible Campus project was begun in spring 2007 in Montréal. An action-research project launch... more The Edible Campus project was begun in spring 2007 in Montréal. An action-research project launched by volunteers and researchers from two leading local NGOs and university-based researchers (Alternatives, [online]; Santropol Roulant, [online]; McGill University's Minimum Cost Housing Group, [online]), it sought creative solutions to turn underutilised urban spaces into productive places. It involved citizens in the creation of green community spaces by incorporating productive growing in containers on a prominent but concrete-covered part of McGill University's downtown campus. Not only is it an investigation into making cities more food-secure by increasing urban food production, it is also a live demonstration of how ‘edible landscapes’ can be woven into urban spaces without diminishing their utility or functionality.

Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems, 2016

Can concerted citizen action, involvement of community groups and institutions, as well as formal... more Can concerted citizen action, involvement of community groups and institutions, as well as formal authorities, play important enough roles in promoting urban agriculture? The case of Montreal indicates they can. This paper investigates some of these interventions at different times and levels and explores how they made this North American city a leader in that field. Urban agriculture activities began in the early 1970s, but gained momentum after the 1973 oil crisis. The role of diverse players in transforming the city fabric ever since is discussed here by introducing and developing related projects in three parts: the first traces the history of community gardens; the second presents Montreal‐based pilot projects rooted in different neighborhoods that aimed to intertwine urban agriculture, design and citizens that the authors developed and implemented; the third discusses a recent (2012) citizens’ action that used a municipal bylaw to hold a public consultation on the state of urb...

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2019

they are relatively common, often confined to the placenta, and have variable clinical impact. He... more they are relatively common, often confined to the placenta, and have variable clinical impact. Herein we describe one of very few clinical reports of mosaic trisomy 2, in addition to the first and only cfDNA identified case of a true fetal mosaic trisomy 2 in the medical genetic literature. STUDY DESIGN: The maternal blood sample was subjected to DNA extraction, library preparation, and genome-wide massively parallel sequencing. Sequencing data were analyzed using a novel algorithm to detect trisomies and subchromosomal, genome-wide copy number variants 7Mb and larger. RESULTS: The patient presented to MFM at 10.7 weeks' gestation for genetic counseling and ultrasound. AMA and a prior trisomy 8 pregnancy prompted expanded cfDNA screening, yielding a trisomy 2 result (w 65% mosaicism, 6% fetal fraction) and residual risk for UPD. Amnio with SNP microarray testing was recommended. Trisomy 2 is a relatively common finding per placental literature, usually confined to the mesenchyme, and carries an exceedingly low risk for true fetal mosaicism. A paucity of published trisomy 2 case studies was a substantial counseling limitation. CVS was declined and fetal ultrasound showed normal growth and NT measurement at 10.7 weeks. However, a subsequent scan at 16 weeks showed a 2 vessel cord and a 1 week lag in humerus/femur length, increasing to a 2 week lag by 18 wks. Fetal echo showed hypoplastic LVOT and possible coarch of the aorta. Amnio at 20 weeks with SNP microarray revealed w20% mosaicism for Trisomy 2, no UPD. Pregnancy continued with growth lag measuring 5 weeks behind at 33 weeks. Palliative care was discussed, as prognosis was guarded. PROM at 34.4 weeks prompted delivery of a 3lbs, 6oz (0%) neonate with APGARs of 2 and 8. An extended NICU stay ensued, with clinical outcome exceeding expectations. ASD repair occurred at 10 months. Now age three, the child is reportedly doing well overall, with physical exam noting small size, axial hypotonia, and motor delays. CONCLUSION: While many esoteric trisomies remain confined to the placenta and are of variable clinical consequence, the risk for true and occult fetal mosaicism cannot be dismissed. This case report illustrates the first known cfDNA identified, amnio confirmed true fetal mosaic for trisomy 2.

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2019

disease the larger the size or proportion of the genome, so were also thought to have high certai... more disease the larger the size or proportion of the genome, so were also thought to have high certainty in counseling. Rare CNVs were individually examined to determine their likelihood of having an affected phenotype. RESULTS: There were 970 prenatal CMAs performed. Of these, 58 (6.0%) were categorized as a VUS. The number in each category is shown in Table 1. Among the 58 VUSs, 33 (56.9%) were associated with a known phenotype, and 56 (96.6%) were associated with a high level of certainty regarding the likelihood of an affected phenotype. CONCLUSION: Most VUSs (96.6% of all VUSs, 99.8% of all CMAs) were associated with a high level of certainty regarding the likelihood of an affected phenotype. Variants of truly uncertain significance are relatively uncommon, and most cases can be categorized as to the potential risk of an affected phenotype and what phenotypes are possible.

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1997

A comprehensive patient information datafile of 320 topics has been developed, subserving the dom... more A comprehensive patient information datafile of 320 topics has been developed, subserving the domains of medicine, surgery, gynaecology and paediatrics. The system was designed as loose-leaf sheets capable of being photocopied, as well as a computer-based datafile. In a four-practice study, 73% of consecutive general practice attenders could be issued with the relevant disorder or procedure information sheet. With a questionnaire return rate of 79%, 886 patients rated the three criteria of readability, understandability and usefulness of their leaflets as very or quite easy and very or quite useful in more than 94% of instances. This system could be a valuable adjunct to patient education in both general and hospital practice settings.

Early Railway Suburbs: The First Transit-Oriented Real Estate Developments? Case study: Town of Mount Royal, Montreal, Canada

Annual International Conference on Urban Planning and Property Development, 2015

International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2017

Background: Miniplate orthodontic bone anchorage (OBA) devices are being increasingly utilised fo... more Background: Miniplate orthodontic bone anchorage (OBA) devices are being increasingly utilised for management of certain malocclusions. Anterior open bites are renowned for being the most challenging to correct, along with the most likely to relapse. Literature shows good outcomes when utilised for closure of small anterior open bites and the opportunity to minimise osteotomy movements or even avoid bimaxillary surgery. Findings: The author presents a personal series of cases in which the anterior open bite was greater than 6 mm, and discusses the challenges faced mid-treatment with the miniplate OBA and how they were overcome: • Flaring of first permanent molars on applying traction. • Gauging appropriate tightness of powerchain-balance between traction forces and risk of breakage. • Interference of occlusion due to wisdom teeth. • Mucosa overgrown to cover the OBA before treatment commences. • Difficulty in correction of skeletal asymmetries. Conclusion: The use of miniplates is an effective management strategy for partial or complete correction of open anterior bites. They can reduce size of osteotomy movements or limit the surgery to a single jaw, reducing morbidity and reducing postoperative recovery periods. It does come with some inherent problems and challenges.

Journal of Engineering Technology, 2016

Organisation of the Colloquium: Gouvernance de l’agriculture urbaine et périurbaine. Processus et modèles de développement during the Congress of ACFAS (Université de Montréal)

ABSTRACT

Community-Campus Collaboration in the Canadian Food Movement

This session explores lessons learned in collaborations between academic researchers, students, a... more This session explores lessons learned in collaborations between academic researchers, students, and community-­‐based practitioners working for non-­‐profit organizations active in Canada’s food movement. Collaboration on a joint project, even when there is a shared vision, is not always easy. We ultimately also have different goals to meet, needs, and access to resources. Such factors can complicate the collaborative project. At the same time, success produces results that no one individual or organization could have achieved on its own. It reports on results of the second year of projects supported by the Community Food Security hub of the Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement (CFICE) research project, grounded in a partnership between Carleton University and Food Secure Canada, and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Presenters will speak to the lessons learned from evaluations of five community-­‐campus partnerships from across Can...

L’agriculture (péri)urbaine : tendances et dynamiques au Québec et en France

Urban Agriculture and Urban Design

World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2011

... friends. As such, urban mobility and connectivity have direct health implications. In his wor... more ... friends. As such, urban mobility and connectivity have direct health implications. In his work, The Effects of Age on the Driving Habits of the Elderly, Page 3. 228 BhattXuehao [7] summarizes this dependence for the elderly: 'Being ...

2011 21st International Conference on Field Programmable Logic and Applications, 2011

As the complexity of FPGA-based systems scales, the importance of efficiently handling irregular ... more As the complexity of FPGA-based systems scales, the importance of efficiently handling irregular code increases. Recent work has proposed Irregular Code Energy Reducers (ICERs), a high-level synthesis approach for FPGAs that offers significant energy reduction for irregular code compared to a soft core processor. ICERs target the hot-spots of programs, and are seamlessly connected via a shared L1 cache with a soft processor that executes the cold code. This paper evaluates the application of the selective depipelining (SDP) technique to ICERs, which greatly reduces both the execution time and energy of irregular computations. SDP enables irregular computations to be expressed as large, fast, low-power combinational blocks. SDP maintains high memory bandwidth by scheduling the many potentially dependent memory operations within these blocks onto a high-frequency, highly-multiplexed coherent memory while scheduling combinational operations at a much lower frequency. SDP is a key enabler for improving the execution properties of irregular computations that are difficult to parallelize. We show that applying SDP to ICERs reduces energy-delay by 2.62× relative to ICERs. ICERs with SDP are up to 2.38× faster than a soft core processor and reduce energy consumption by up to 15.83× for a variety of irregular applications.