PMX (technology)

PMX refers to the technology developed by Pelmorex to generate local weather information on The Weather Network. PMX consists of computers, typically installed at a cable headend, that takes data fed to it (the video feed of The Weather Network, forecast information, and triggers to run said forecasts) and packages it for broadcast. Unlike the Weather Star systems, it does not generate full graphical or video segments, rather the information is super-imposed over the main video feed.

History

PMX was developed by Pelmorex in 1995 as a standard localization system that would replace the Weather Star 4000 units and the text based Weather Star 3000s that were still used in smaller communities. The PMX technology quickly rolled out starting 1996, with all communities receiving the new units by the end of 1997. To this day, PMX generates local weather information to over 1200 communities across Canada.

Timeline

Vortex86

The Vortex86 is a computing system-on-a-chip (SoC) based on a core compatible with the x86 microprocessor family. It formerly belonged to SiS, which got the basic design from Rise Technology, and was sold to the Taiwanese DM&P Electronics.

Versions

Vortex86 original

SiS55x/Rise mP6 or simply Vortex86) – Developed by SiS, three integer and MMX pipelines, branch prediction

Vortex86SX

300 MHz, 16 KB Data + 16 KB Instruction L1 cache, no FPU, no L2 cache. Can use both SD and DDR2 RAM

Vortex86DX

600 MHz to 1 GHz (2.02 W @ 800 MHz ), 16 KB Data + 16 KB Instruction L1 cache, FPU, 512 KB L2 cache, 16-staged pipeline. Can address up to 1 GiB DDR2 RAM The PDX-600 is a version of the Vortex86DX that only differs in the number of RS-232 ports (3 instead of 5) and has no I²C and servo controllers, thus targeting more the embedded than the industrial market. Netbooks similar to the Belco 450R use this chip.

Vortex86MX

1 GHz, the CPU core itself hardly differs from the Vortex86DX, but according to several sites, the processor does appear to have implemented SIMD multi-media instructions (MMX). This version drops conformance to ISA and integrates a GPU and a HD Audio controller, it also integrates a UDMA/100 IDE controller. The consumer grade version is known as the PMX-1000. Current models of the Gecko Edubook use the Xcore86, a rebadge of the Vortex86MX.

Brilacidin

Brilacidin (formerly PMX-30063) an investigational new drug (IND), is a polymer-based antibiotic currently in human clinical trials and represents a completely new class of antibiotics called host defense protein mimetics, host defense peptide mimetics, or HDP-mimetics, which are non-peptide (or peptide?) synthetic small-molecules modeled after host defense peptides (HDP). HDP, also called antimicrobial peptides, some of which are defensins, are part of the innate immune response and are common to most higher forms of life. As brilacidin is modelled after a defensin, it is also called a defensin mimetic.

Brilacidin is thus an antibiotic that works by disrupting bacterial cell membranes, mimicking defensins that play a role in innate immunity. Several mimics of antimicrobial peptides have been researched, both peptides and non peptides, but none have overcome difficulties to reach the market.

Structure and action

Brilacidin, a non-peptide chemical mimic, is an arylamide foldamer designed to replicate the amphiphilic properties of antimicrobial peptides while solving the problems encountered by peptide-based antimicrobials. Brilacidin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, has potent Gram positive activity and Gram negative coverage, and is highly effective in treating the 'superbug' methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Brilacidin has low cytotoxicity against mammalian cells selectively targeting bacteria, directly and rapidly disrupting their membranes, resulting in the bacteria's death. Due to this unique mechanism of action (mimicking the host's natural immune response, proven to be successful in fighting off infections over millions of years of evolution), bacterial antibiotic resistance is less likely to develop.