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Early initiation of polysubstance use (PSU) is a strong predictor of subsequent addiction, however scarce individuals present resilience capacity. This neuroimaging study aimed to investigate structural correlates associated with cessation or reduction of PSU and determine the extent to which brain structural features accounted for this resilient outcome. Participants from a European community-based cohort self-reported their alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use frequency at ages 14, 16 and 19 and had neuroimaging sessions at ages 14 and 19. We included three groups in the study: the resilient-to-PSU participants showed PSU at 16 and/or 14 but no more at 19 (n = 18), the enduring polysubstance users at 19 displayed PSU continuation from 14 or 16 (n = 193) and the controls were abstinent or low drinking participants (n = 460). We conducted between-group comparisons of grey matter volumes on whole brain using voxel-based morphometry and regional fractional anisotropy using tract-based spatial statistics. Random-forests machine-learning approach generated individual-level PSU-behavior predictions based on personality and neuroimaging features. Adolescents resilient to PSU showed significant larger grey matter volumes in the bilateral cingulate gyrus compared with enduring polysubstance users and controls at ages 19 and 14 (p0.05 corrected) but no difference in fractional anisotropy. The larger cingulate volumes and personality trait "openness to experience" were the best precursors of resilience to PSU. Early in adolescence, a larger cingulate gyrus differentiated adolescents resilient to PSU, and this feature was critical in predicting this outcome. This study encourages further research into the neurobiological bases of resilience to addictive behaviors.

BACKGROUND Previous literature demonstrates increased mortality for traumatic brain injury (TBI) with transfer to a Level II versus Level I trauma center. Our objective was to determine the effect of the most recent American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) "Resources for the Optimal Care of the Injured Patient" resources manual ("The Orange Book") on outcomes after severe TBI after interfacility transfer to Level I versus Level II center. METHODS Utilizing the Trauma Quality Program Participant Use File of the American College of Surgeons admission year 2017, we identified patients with isolated TBI undergoing interfacility transfer to either Level I or Level II trauma center. Logistic regression was performed to determine independent associations with mortality. RESULTS There were 10,268 (71.6%) transferred to a Level I center and 4,025 (28.4%) were transferred to a Level II center. They were mostly male (61.4%) with a mean ± SD age of 61 ± 20.8 years. Mean Injury Severity Score was 16.3 ± 6.3 and most were injured in a single-level fall (51.5%). Patients transferred to a Level I center were less likely to be White (82.3% vs. 84.7%, 0.002) and more likely to have sustained penetrating trauma (2.7% vs. 1.6%

Severe stroke and neurodegenerative diseases often cause limitations in communication and willing capability. Decision processes in these conditions assume primarily a positive medical indication for any intervention. If not obtainable from an individual by itself, by a disposal or by a legal custodian, the presumed will of a patient has to be detected carefully. Evidence can be raised by an interview of relatives or an individual case discussion in a local ethical comitee. Stroke and dementia can raise the need for palliative care, especially a sufficient analgesia as well as other severe illnesses. Pain in demented persons is often underrated and undertreated. The diagnosis of dementia alone does not limit the indication for curative therapy in general. Ethical comitees or ethical visits are helpful instruments to find out an adequate decision in difficult situations.

Vocal flexibility is a hallmark of the human species, most particularly the capacity to speak and sing. This ability is supported in part by the evolution of a direct neural pathway linking the motor cortex to the brainstem nucleus that controls the larynx ¬– the primary sound source for communication. Early brain imaging studies demonstrated that larynx motor cortex at the dorsal end of the orofacial division of motor cortex (dLMC) integrated laryngeal and respiratory control, thereby coordinating two major muscular systems that are necessary for vocalization. Neurosurgical studies have since demonstrated the existence of a second larynx motor area at the ventral extent of the orofacial motor division (vLMC) of motor cortex. The vLMC has been presumed to be less relevant to speech motor control, but its functional role remains unknown. We employed a novel ultra-high field (7T) magnetic resonance imaging paradigm that combined singing and whistling simple melodies to localise the larynx motor cortices and test their involvement in respiratory motor control. Surprisingly, whistling activated both ‘larynx areas’ more strongly than singing despite the reduced involvement of the larynx during whistling. We provide further evidence for the existence of two larynx motor areas in the human brain, and the first evidence that laryngeal-respiratory integration is a shared property of both larynx motor areas. We outline explicit predictions about the descending motor pathways that give these cortical areas access to both the laryngeal and respiratory systems and discuss the implications for the evolution of speech.

Free-space laser communication systems are increasingly implemented on state of the art satellites for their high-speed connectivity. This work outlines a demonstration of the Modular, Agile, Scalable Optical Terminal (MAScOT) we have developed to support Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to deep-space communication links. In LEO, the MAScOT will be implemented on the International Space Station to support the Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) LEO User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) program. ILLUMA-T's overarching objective is to demonstrate high bandwidth data transfer between LEO and a ground station via a geosynchronous (GEO) relay satellite. Outside of LEO, the MAScOT will be implemented on the Artemis-II mission to demonstrate high data rate optical communications to and from the moon as part of the Optical to Orion (O2O) program. Both missions leverage the same modular architecture despite varying structural, thermal, and optical requirements. To achieve sufficient performance, the terminal relies on a nested tracking loop to realize sub-arcsecond pointing across a ±120 ° elevation and ±175° azimuth field of regard.

Background The prehospital identification of stroke patients with large-vessel occlusion (LVO), that should be immediately transported to a thrombectomy capable centre is an unsolved problem. Our aim was to determine whether implementation of a state-wide standard operating procedure (SOP) using the Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS) is feasible and enables correct triage of stroke patients to hospitals offering (comprehensive stroke centres, CSCs) or not offering (primary stroke centres, PSCs) thrombectomy. Methods Prospective study involving all patients with suspected acute stroke treated in a 4-month period in a state-wide network of all stroke-treating hospitals (eight PSCs and two CSCs). Primary endpoint was accuracy of the triage SOP in correctly transferring patients to CSCs or PSCs. Additional endpoints included the number of secondary transfers, the accuracy of the LAMS for detection of LVO, apart from stroke management metrics. Results In 1123 patients, use of a triage SOP based on the LAMS allowed triage decisions according to LVO status with a sensitivity of 69.2% (95% confidence interval (95%-CI): 59.0–79.5%) and a specificity of 84.9% (95%-CI: 82.6–87.3%). This was more favourable than the conventional approach of transferring every patient to the nearest stroke-treating hospital, as determined by geocoding for each patient (sensitivity, 17.9% (95%-CI: 9.4–26.5%); specificity, 100% (95%-CI: 100–100%)). Secondary transfers were required for 14 of the 78 (17.9%) LVO patients. Regarding the score itself, LAMS detected LVO with a sensitivity of 67.5% (95%-CI: 57.1–78.0%) and a specificity of 83.5% (95%-CI: 81.0–86.0%). Conclusions State-wide implementation of a triage SOP requesting use of the LAMS tool is feasible and improves triage decision-making in acute stroke regarding the most appropriate target hospital.

The energy consumption of information and communication technology is still increasing and comprises components such as data centers, the network, end devices, and also the software running on these components. Following the motto “What you can’t measure you can’t manage,” it is helpful and reasonable to develop and validate criteria for software products. In our chapter we describe some of these criteria, and also introduce a label for sustainable software products, the German “Blue Angel.” We also introduce some energy-efficient programming techniques in order to reduce consumption even during the development phase, and a measurement method for the energy consumption of software. We conclude with some implications of our results and an outlook.

Energy consumption induced through information technology, i.e. hardware and software, is constantly increasing. In this article, we present the “Blue Angel”, a label that evaluates and classifies the resource and energy efficiency of software. In particular, the process by which the label was developed is presented. We also describe the components of the Blue Angel: Energy and resource efficiency of the software product, hardware useful life and user autonomy. Finally, we give an outlook on the possibilities for expansion, since the first version of the label focuses especially on desktop software, mainly because of the complex measurement issues. According to evaluations from expert workshops and interviews, this is the best starting point for reliable results and certifications.

Background/Aim The quantitative assessment of human exposure to contaminants such as pesticides is a crucial step in the characterization of exposure-associated risk. For this purpose, biomonitoring is often privileged as it presents the advantage of integrating all the possible sources and routes of exposure and of being representative of the internal dose resulting from exposure. Although biological fluids such as urine and blood have been used to date for this purpose, increasing interest has also been observed over the past decade for hair analysis. The present work aimed at comparing the information obtained from the analysis of urine versus hair regarding exposure to pesticides in a pilot cohort of pregnant women. Methods In ninety-three pregnant women included in the pilot of the French cohort ELFE, one urine and one hair sample were collected simultaneously from each subject at the maternity. Samples were analyzed using GC–MS/MS analytical methods allowing for the detection of both parent pesticides and metabolites, and designed to be as similar as possible between urine and hair for reliable inter-matrix comparison. Fifty-two biomarkers of exposure were targeted, including parents and metabolites of organochlorines, organophosphates, pyrethroids, carbamates, phenylpyrazoles and other pesticides. Results The number of different compounds detected ranged from 16 to 27 (median = 22) in hair, and from 3 to 22 (median = 12) in urine. In hair, 24 compounds were found in > 40% of the individuals, whereas only 12 compounds presented the same frequency of detection in urine. Among the chemicals detected in > 80% of both hair and urine samples, only one (pentachlorophenol) showed a signification correlation between hair and urine concentrations. Conclusions The present results highlight the multiple exposure of the pregnant women included in this cohort and suggest that hair provides more comprehensive information on pesticide exposure than urine analysis. This study thus supports the relevance of hair analysis in future epidemiological studies investigating association between exposure and adverse health effects.

Smart adaptive systems are evolving rapidly. In addition to high-performance artificial intelligence from the cloud, smart edge devices are increasingly developing. They are capable of handling constantly more complex classification or even learning tasks independently. After answering the question of how this knowledge can be learned or used at the edge, it must also be determined how this knowledge can be exchanged with a cloud. We would like to investigate this exchange of knowledge between several Edge Runtime Learning Artificial Noses and a cloud intelligence in further experiments. For this purpose, we describe an improvement of our former approaches for an artificial nose. Especially, we implemented a resource-efficient edge nose with lazy learning algorithms on a microcontroller and enabled learning at runtime. This new nose achieves classification rates of up to 92 %, almost as good as the resource-intensive previous version, and forms the basis for research into the knowledge exchange between different edge and cloud AI devices and the processes involved.

Infrared cameras are used in a wide variety of applications, from military to civilian. Cryogenically cooled IR cameras based on photon-detector arrays are many times more sensitive and faster than uncooled microbolometer thermal imagers.Ga-free InAs/InAsSb type 2 superlattice (T2SL) based devices have been recently fabricated and they showed a first realization of MWIR (Mid-Wave InfraRed) broadband detection up to 5μm. However the band parameters (band offsets, effect of strain, effective mass) of this material system have not been determined accurately, thus limiting the understanding and the prediction of the electronic properties of the devices. In this work we determined the relevant parameters via magnetoabsorption measurements performed on dedicated T2SL samples. Interband magneto-optical transitions lead to an accurate mapping of the Landau levels. The Landau level energies have been calculated using an 8 bands k.p model and the comparison with the experimental data provided a clear description of the T2SL band structure at low temperatures.

Summary Background Violence towards professionals within the emergency department (ED) occurs at a concerning rate. We hypothesized that increased violence may be associated with the number of patients on mental health holds (MHHs) boarding in the ED. Objectives This study investigates factors that may be associated with assault in the ED. Methods This was an exploratory, retrospective study of pre-existing data from assault code activations, involuntary MHHs, and ED metrics at a level 2 trauma center and regional referral center, from May 2016 through April 2017. Results Of the 297 assault code activations in the hospital, 57 (19.2%) occurred in the ED. For ED MHHs, there were 524 holds written during the study period. Assault code activations were associated with an increased number of patients on MHHs (P = 0.04). Even when controlling for overall ED volume, activations were more likely to occur when there were more than 3 patients on MHHs (OR = 4.44, 95% CI: 1.49 - 19.07) and more likely to occur later in the month compared to the beginning of the month (OR = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.11 - 5.36). There was a diurnal pattern of activations, with more occurring between the hours of 12:00–23:59 (P = 0.03). Conclusions The number MHHs in the ED was associated with an increase in ED violence. While a causal association cannot be established at this time, further investigation and discussion on the topic is warranted. System-wide efforts to improve acute psychiatric care, and therefore reduce the number of patients on MHHs boarding in the ED, could potentially reduce ED workplace violence.

Raising the operating temperature of the midwave infrared (MWIR) cameras up to 150 K without penalizing the performances of the photodetectors is one of the main challenges of the domain. Moreover, extending the range of detection up to 5 μm brings many advantages. Ga-free InAs/InAsSb superlattice based devices have been recently fabricated and they showed the first realization of these objectives. However, the band parameters (band offsets, effect of strain, effective mass) of this system have not been determined accurately, thus limiting the understanding and the prediction of the electronic properties of the devices. In this work, we determined the relevant parameters via magnetoabsorption measurements performed on dedicated superlattices. Interband magneto-optical transitions lead to an accurate mapping of the Landau levels. The Landau level energies have been calculated using an 8-band k ⋅ p model, and the comparison with the experimental data provided a clear description of the type 2 superlattice miniband structure at 4.2 and 150 K, as well as its MWIR absorbance.

Die in den vergangenen Jahren zunehmende Migration von Menschen aus ihrer Heimat in weit entfernte Regionen bedingt auch eine Migration von bislang in Europa ungewohnlichen Erkrankungen, die nicht nur aus dem jeweiligen Heimatland, sondern auch besonders aus den Transitlandern stammen. Wir berichten uber einen 27-jahrigen Patienten aus Eritrea, der sich nach monatelanger Flucht durch verschiedene afrikanische Lander mit einer progredienten, schmerzhaften Radikulopathie vorstellte. Eine „Whole-spine“-Magnetresonanztomographie zeigte einen Myelonherd von TH11 bis zum Conus medullaris reichend. Die differenzialdiagnostische Abklarung ergab schlieslich den Nachweis von Schistosomas mansoni. Nach leitliniengerechter Therapie mit Praziquantel uber 3 Tage und erganzender Kortikoidverabreichung uber 3 Monate konnte klinisch und magnetresonanztomographisch eine Regression des Befundes und eine Verbesserung der Symptomatik gezeigt werden. Der Fall zeigt, dass insbesondere bei Patienten mit Migrationshintergrund ein besonderes Augenmerk auf die Anamnese und die etwaige Exposition im Herkunfts-, besonders aber in den Durchreiselandern gelegt werden sollte.

Background: As part of the perinatal component of the French Human Biomonitoring (HBM) program, biomarkers levels of various chemicals have been described among pregnant women having given birth in continental France in 2011 and who have been enrolled in the Elfe cohort (French Longitudinal Study since Childhood). This paper describes the design of the study and provides main descriptive results regarding exposure biomarkers levels. Methods: Exposure biomarkers were measured in biological samples collected at delivery from pregnant women randomly selected among the participants in the clinical and biological component of the Elfe cohort (n = 4145). The geometric mean and percentiles of the levels distribution were estimated for each biomarker. The sampling design was taken into account in order to obtain estimates representative of the French pregnant women in 2011. Results: Results provide a nation-wide representative description of biomarker levels for important environmental contaminants among pregnant women who gave birth in France in 2011. Bisphenol A (BPA), and some metabolites of phthalates, pesticides (mainly pyrethroids), dioxins, furans, polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and metals (except uranium) were quantified in almost 100% of the pregnant women. Some compounds showed a downward trend compared to previous studies (lead, mercury), but others did not (pyrethroids) and should be further monitored. Conclusion and perspectives: The present results show that French pregnant women are exposed to a wide variety of pollutants, including some that have been banned or restricted in France. Keywords: Biomonitoring, Pregnant women, Environmental exposure, Endocrine disruptor, Metals

As part of Green IT, the field of green software engineering has seen a rise in interest over the past years. Several methods for assessing the energy efficiency of software were devised, which are partially based upon rather different approaches and partially come to similar conclusions. In this paper, we take an in-depth look at two methods for assessing the resource consumption that is induced by software. We describe the methods along a case study, where we measured five sorting algorithms and compared them in terms of similarities, differences and synergies. We show that even though the methods use different measurement approaches (intrusive vs. non-intrusive), the results are indeed comparable and combining the methods can improve the findings.

IMPORTANCE: Transferring patients with large-vessel occlusion (LVO) or intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) to hospitals not providing interventional treatment options is an unresolved medical problem. OBJECTIVE: To determine how optimized prehospital management (OPM) based on use of the Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS) compares with management in a Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU) in accurately triaging patients to the appropriate hospital with (comprehensive stroke center [CSC]) or without (primary stroke center [PSC]) interventional treatment. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this randomized multicenter trial with 3-month follow-up, patients were assigned week-wise to one of the pathways between June 15, 2015, and November 15, 2017, in 2 regions of Saarland, Germany; 708 of 824 suspected stroke patients did not meet inclusion criteria, resulting in a study population of 116 adult patients. INTERVENTIONS: Patients received either OPM based on a standard operating procedure that included the use of the LAMS (cut point ≥4) or management in an MSU (an ambulance with vascular imaging, point-of-care laboratory, and telecommunication capabilities). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary end point was the proportion of patients accurately triaged to either CSCs (LVO, ICH) or PSCs (others). RESULTS: A predefined interim analysis was performed after 116 patients of the planned 232 patients had been enrolled. Of these, 53 were included in the OPM group (67.9% women; mean [SD] age, 74 [11] years) and 63 in the MSU group (57.1% women; mean [SD] age, 75 [11] years). The primary end point, an accurate triage decision, was reached for 37 of 53 patients (69.8%) in the OPM group and for 63 of 63 patients (100%) in the MSU group (difference, 30.2%; 95% CI, 17.8%-42.5%; P

Development of acquired resistance to targeted cancer therapy is one of the most significant clinical challenges. Acquiring resistance under drug selection pressure is a result of evolutionary adaptation to a complex and dynamic tumor microenvironment (TME). New therapy regimens combining CDK4/6 inhibitor are under active investigation in clinical trials to treat HER2+ breast cancer patients. In parallel with clinical trial settings, in this study, we sought to prospectively model the tumor evolution in response to a targeted therapy regimen in vivo and identify a clinically actionable strategy to combat potential acquired resistance. Notably, despite a promising initial response, acquired resistance emerged rapidly to the anti-Her2/Neu antibody plus CDK4/6 inhibitor Palbociclib combination treatment. By leveraging high-throughput single-cell analyses of the evolving tumors over the course of treatments, we revealed a distinct immunosuppressive immature myeloid cell (IMC) population infiltrated in the resistant TME. Guided by single-cell transcriptome analysis, we demonstrated a combinatorial immunotherapy of IMC-targeting tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib and immune checkpoint blockades enhanced anti-tumor immunity, and overcame the resistance. Further, sequential combinatorial immunotherapy enabled a sustained control of the rapidly evolving CDK4/6 inhibitor-resistant tumors. Our study demonstrates a translational framework for treating rapidly evolving tumors through preclinical modeling and single-cell analyses. Our findings provide a rationale for an immediate clinical proposition of combinatorial immunotherapy for HER2+ breast cancer as a strategy to mitigate the emergence of resistance.

We propose and demonstrate a novel multiphoton frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (MPM-FD-FLIM) system that is able to generate 3D lifetime images in deep scattering tissues. The imaging speed of FD-FLIM is improved using phase multiplexing, where the fluorescence signal is split and mixed with the reference signal from the laser in a multiplexing manner. The system allows for easy generation of phasor plots, which not only address multi-exponential decay problems but also clearly represent the dynamics of the fluorophores being investigated. Lastly, a sensorless adaptive optics setup is used for FLIM imaging in deep scattering tissues. The capability of the system is demonstrated in fixed and living animal models, including mice and zebrafish.

Acquired resistance to targeted cancer therapy is a significant clinical challenge. In parallel with clinical trials combining CDK4/6 inhibitors to treat HER2+ breast cancer, we sought to prospectively model tumor evolution in response to this regimen in vivo and identify a clinically actionable strategy to combat drug resistance. Despite a promising initial response, acquired resistance emerges rapidly to the combination of anti-HER2/neu antibody and CDK4/6 inhibitor Palbociclib. Using high-throughput single-cell profiling over the course of treatments, we reveal a distinct immunosuppressive immature myeloid cell (IMC) population to infiltrate the resistant tumors. Guided by single-cell transcriptome analysis, we demonstrate that combination of IMC-targeting tyrosine kinase inhibitor cabozantinib and immune checkpoint blockade enhances anti-tumor immunity, and overcomes the resistance. Furthermore, sequential combinatorial immunotherapy enables a sustained control of the fast-evolving CDK4/6 inhibitor-resistant tumors. Our study demonstrates a translational framework for treating rapidly evolving tumors through preclinical modeling and single-cell analyses., The benefit of combined CDK4/6 and anti-HER2 therapy in breast cancer is limited due to acquired resistance. Here, the authors perform single-cell analysis and show an immature myeloid cell population to infiltrate resistant tumors, and that combined cabozantinib and checkpoint therapy overcome this resistance with a sustained efficacy.

The Metastasis Research Society (MRS) 17th Biennial conference on metastasis was held on the 1st to the 5th of August 2018 at Princeton University, NJ, USA. The meeting was held around themes addressing notable aspects of the understanding and treatment of metastasis and metastatic disease covering basic, translational, and clinical research. Importantly, the meeting was largely supported by our patient advocate partners including Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Theresa’s Research Foundation and METAvivor. There were a total of 85 presentations from invited and selected speakers spread across the main congress and presentations from the preceding Young Investigator Satellite Meeting. Presentations are summarized in this report by session topic.

In this article Cheryl Caballero, Erica Smith and Rosalind Guldner, members of the Ontario Legislative Assembly indexing team, describe the challenges of indexing legislative text and how they set about meeting them. A version of their article was originally published in The Indexer in June 2015*.

BACKGROUNDPostoperative pneumonia is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and costs. Prediction models of pneumonia that are currently available are based on retrospectively collected data and administrative coding systems.OBJECTIVETo identify independent variables associated with the occurrence of postoperative pneumonia.DESIGNA prospective observational study of a multicentre cohort (Prospective Evaluation of a RIsk Score for postoperative pulmonary COmPlications in Europe database).SETTINGSixty-three hospitals in Europe.PATIENTSPatients undergoing surgery under general and/or regional anaesthesia during a 7-day recruitment period.MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREThe primary outcome was postoperative pneumonia. Definition: the need for treatment with antibiotics for a respiratory infection and at least one of the following criteria: new or changed sputum; new or changed lung opacities on a clinically indicated chest radiograph; temperature more than 38.3 °C; leucocyte count more than 12 000 μl-1.RESULTSPostoperative pneumonia occurred in 120 out of 5094 patients (2.4%). Eighty-two of the 120 (68.3%) patients with pneumonia required ICU admission, compared with 399 of the 4974 (8.0%) without pneumonia (P < 0.001). We identified five variables independently associated with postoperative pneumonia: functional status [odds ratio (OR) 2.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.58 to 3.12], pre-operative SpO2 values while breathing room air (OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.78 to 0.84), intra-operative colloid administration (OR 2.97, 95% CI 1.94 to 3.99), intra-operative blood transfusion (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.41 to 4.71) and surgical site (open upper abdominal surgery OR 3.98, 95% CI 2.19 to 7.59). The model had good discrimination (c-statistic 0.89) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow P = 0.572).CONCLUSIONWe identified five variables independently associated with postoperative pneumonia. The model performed well and after external validation may be used for risk stratification and management of patients at risk of postoperative pneumonia.TRIAL REGISTRATIONNCT 01346709 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

While counteracting the increasing demand for natural resources and especially energy of ICT, first successes have become apparent by activities comprised by the term “Green IT”. Nowadays, many of the current activities lay emphasis on the hardware side of Green IT. However, software issues play a significant role in defining system and hardware requirements as well as the amount of energy consumed by ICT devices and the underlying infrastructure. Thus, the following chapter introduces the idea of green software and its engineering. Complementary to definitions and models in the addressed field, a more practical insight is given by illustrating exemplary energy measurements of software products. While these aspects show that the research is increasingly dealing with software issues of Green IT, these mainly scientific ideas have hardly reached practical relevance, so far. Hence, following the life cycle perspective of software products, we present two exemplary concepts on how to increase awareness of green software: addressing especially software engineers, we propose to implement continuous energy efficiency measurements during the development phase. With regards to software users, we propose to create an eco-label for software products to inform about their environmental issues and thus create more transparency in this context. To do so, we present and evaluate criteria and indicators, upon which a label could be based. The chapter concludes with a summary and proposes future activities in the addressed field. Overall, the aim of the chapter is to point out solutions that might lead to a more environmentally friendly way of developing software, a well-informed procurement behavior regarding software products, and a more sustainable user behavior concerning ICT.

Super-resolution microscopy is broadening our in-depth understanding of cellular structure. However, super-resolution approaches are limited, for numerous reasons, from utilization in longer-term intravital imaging. We devised a combinatorial imaging technique that combines deconvolution with stepwise optical saturation microscopy (DeSOS) to circumvent this issue and image cells in their native physiological environment. Other than a traditional confocal or two-photon microscope, this approach requires no additional hardware. Here, we provide an open-access application to obtain DeSOS images from conventional microscope images obtained at low excitation powers. We show that DeSOS can be used in time-lapse imaging to generate super-resolution movies in zebrafish. DeSOS was also validated in live mice. These movies uncover that actin structures dynamically remodel to produce a single pioneer axon in a ‘top-down’ scaffolding event. Further, we identify an F-actin population – stable base clusters – that orchestrate that scaffolding event. We then identify that activation of Rac1 in pioneer axons destabilizes stable base clusters and disrupts pioneer axon formation. The ease of acquisition and processing with this approach provides a universal technique for biologists to answer questions in living animals., Summary: Actin dynamics are examined in zebrafish axons using DeSOS, a new super-resolution technique combining deconvolution with stepwise optical saturation microscopy that allows detailed intravital imaging of cells in their native environments.

Companies have made considerable progress in assessing the sustainability of their processes and products, including the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. However, it is surprising that little attention has been given to the sustainability performance of software products. For this article, we chose a case study approach to explore the extent, to which software manufacturers have considered sustainability criteria for their products. We selected a manufacturer of sustainability management software on the assumption that they would be more likely to integrate elements of sustainability performance in their products. In the case study, we applied a previously developed set of criteria for sustainable software (SCSS) using a questionnaire and experiments, to assess a web-based sustainability management software product regarding its sustainability performance. The assessment finds that despite a sustainability conscious manufacturer, a systematic assessment of sustainability regarding software products is missing in the case study. This implies that sustainability assessment for software products is still novel, corresponding knowledge is missing and suitable tools are not yet being widely applied in the industry. The SCSS presents a suitable approach to close this gap, but it does require further refinement, for example regarding its applicability to web-based software on external servers.

Many authors have proposed criteria to assess the “environmental friendliness” or “sustainability” of software products. However, a causal model that links observable properties of a software product to conditions of it being green or (more general) sustainable is still missing. Such a causal model is necessary because software products are intangible goods and, as such, only have indirect effects on the physical world. In particular, software products are not subject to any wear and tear, they can be copied without great effort, and generate no waste or emissions when being disposed of. Viewed in isolation, software seems to be a perfectly sustainable type of product. In real life, however, software products with the same or similar functionality can differ substantially in the burden they place on natural resources, especially if the sequence of released versions and resulting hardware obsolescence is taken into account. In this article, we present a model describing the causal chains from software products to their impacts on natural resources, including energy sources, from a life-cycle perspective. We focus on (i) the demands of software for hardware capacities (local, remote, and in the connecting network) and the resulting hardware energy demand, (ii) the expectations of users regarding such demands and how these affect hardware operating life, and (iii) the autonomy of users in managing their software use with regard to resource efficiency. We propose a hierarchical set of criteria and indicators to assess these impacts. We demonstrate the application of this set of criteria, including the definition of standard usage scenarios for chosen categories of software products. We further discuss the practicability of this type of assessment, its acceptability for several stakeholders and potential consequences for the eco-labeling of software products and sustainable software design.

Due to a potential exposure to several definite or probable carcinogens, the IARC classified manufacturing of art glass, glass containers, and pressed ware as probably carcinogenic to humans in 1993 (Group 2A). Purpose of this study was to update the evidence from recently published scientific reports. We searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 1993 and 2018 and combined result in terms of a meta-analysis. Overall, we considered twelve articles for a meta-analytic approach published after 1992. From a meta-analysis we derived a standardized incidence ratio (mSIR) and a standardized mortality ratio (mSMR) for lung cancer in men of 1.25 (95% CI 0.97–1.59) and 1.41 (95% CI 1.11–1.77), respectively. The estimated odds ratio (mOR) from five case–control studies was 1.25 (95% CI 0.90–1.73). Associated with an employment in glass factories, the estimated mSMR for larynx cancer was 2.38 (95% CI 1.23–4.16) based on two cohort studies; the mOR from four case–control studies was 1.35 (95% CI 0.73–2.52). Reports on elevated cancer risks at other sites were not consistent. Only few studies assessed cancer risk solely in glass workers. Gained evidence from more recent reports supports the IARC rating from 1993. Our combined results add limited evidence to a moderately elevated risk for cancer of the airways.

Containerization is one of the most important topics for modern data centers and web developers. Since the number of containers on one- and multi-node systems is growing, knowledge about the energy consumption behavior of single web-service containers is essential in order to save energy and, of course, money. In this article, we are going to show how the energy consumption behavior of single containerized web services/web apps changes while creating replicas of the service in order to scale and balance the web service.

With the growing adoption of ICT solutions, the requirement for developing energy efficient software becomes increasingly important. Current methods aimed at analyzing energy demanding portions of code, referred to as ``energy hotspots'', often require ad-hoc analyses that constitute an additional process in the development life cycle. This leads to the scarce adoption of such methods in practice, leaving an open gap between source code energy optimization research and its concrete application. Thus, our underlying goal is to provide developers with a technique that enables them to efficiently gather source code energy consumption information without requiring excessive time overhead and resources. In this research we present a naive spectrum-based fault localization technique aimed to efficiently locate energy hotspots in source code. More specifically, our research aims to understand the viability of spectrum based energy hotspot localization and the tradeoffs which can be made between performance and precision for such techniques. Our naive yet effective approach takes as input an application and its test suite, and utilizes a simple algorithm to localize portions of code which are potentially energy-greedy. This is achieved by combining test case coverage information with runtime energy consumption measurements. The viability of the approach is assessed through an empirical experiment. We conclude that the naive spectrum based energy hotspot localization approach can effectively support developers by efficiently providing insights of the energy consumption of software at source code level. Since we use processes already in place in most companies and adopt straightforward data analysis processes, naive spectrum based energy hotspot localization can reduce the effort and time required for assessing energy consumption of software and thus make including the energy consumption in the development process viable. As future work we plan to (i) further investigate the tradeoffs between performance and precision of spectrum based energy hotspot approaches (ii) compare our approach to similar ones through large-scale experiments. Our ultimate goal is to conceive ad-hoc tradeoff tuning of performance and precision according to development and organizational needs.

Large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) applications, like Smart Cities, are ever changing pieces of software. The paradigm of Entity-Component-Attribute (ECA) based software design is well-suited to keep these applications changeable and maintainable. At the same time, W3C working groups propose the Web as IoT convergence platform. Semantic annotations on the data in RDF help tackle cross-domain interoperability issues. While the generation of RDF data from data storage layers has undergone thorough research, the automatic exposure of application run-time data is to this day incomplete. We for this formalize the Entity-Component-Attribute pattern and present an automated mapping to a structure compliant with the Linked Data Platform W3C standard. This structural mapping is then augmented by application domain specific semantics. The result lifts a software design pattern highly suitable for large-scale IoT applications to Linked Data.

While becoming more and more present in our every day lives, services that operate on users' locations or location trajectories suffer from general fear of misappropriation of the transmitted location data. Several works have investigated of how to cope with this drawback. Respective systems claim location-privacy, i.e. keeping users' locations secret, by employing anonymisation techniques concerning a user's identity, or by obfuscating the transmitted location. These approaches lead to a degrade of quality-of-service and can be vulnerable to de-anonymisation attacks, or allow to learn at least the approximate location of a user. Focusing on the application domain of geo-fencing, we present as remedy a protocol that is based on homomorphic encryption of a user's location. The protocol provably provides full location-privacy by non-exposure of the users' location data, while producing exact geo-fencing results. We provide a detailed definition of the protocol, show its applicability in an actual geo-fencing application, and show that the resulting system fulfills all security properties we see for a location-privacy preserving system., 6 Pages, 3 Figures. Accepted for GIoTS 2018. Errata: We used the term 'Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)' in the wrong way. What we meant was an infrastructure of Public Key Cryptography. Thus the 'Certificate Authority and Evaluation Service' is to be considered the 'Key Authority and Evaluation Service'

Background: A growing body of evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to pesticides might impair fetal development. Nonetheless, knowledge about pesticide exposure of pregnant women, especially in Europe, is largely restricted to a limited panel of molecules. Aim: To characterize the concentration of 140 pesticides and metabolites in hair strands from women in the ELFE French nationwide birth cohort. Methods: Among cohort members who gave birth in northeastern and southwestern France in 2011, we selected those with a sufficient available mass of hair (n = 311). Bundles of hair 9 cm long were collected at delivery. We screened 111 pesticides and 29 metabolites, including 112 selected a priori based on their reported usage or detection in the French environment. The bundles of hair from 47 women were split into three segments to explore the intraindividual variability of the exposure. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were computed for the chemicals with a detection frequency >70%. Results: We detected a median of 43 chemicals per woman (IQR 38–47). Overall, 122 chemicals (>20 chemical families) were detected at least once, including 28 chemicals detected in 70–100% of hair samples. The highest median concentrations were observed for permethrin (median: 37.9 pg/mg of hair), p-nitrophenol (13.2 pg/mg), and pentachlorophenol (10.0 pg/mg). The ICCs for the 28 chemicals studied ranged from 0.59 to 0.94. Conclusion: Pregnant women are exposed to multiple pesticides simultaneously from various chemical families, including chemicals suspected to be reproductive toxicants or endocrine disruptors. The ICCs suggest that the intraindividual variability of pesticide concentrations in hair is lower than its interindividual variability. Keywords: Maternal exposure, Pesticides, Hair, Environmental monitoring

Delivery of large volumes of data from low-Earth orbit to ground is challenging due to the short link durations associated with direct-to-Earth links. The short ranges that are typical for such links enable high data rates with small terminals. While the data rate for radio-frequency links is typically limited by available spectrum, optical links do not have such limitations. However, to date, demonstrations of optical links from low-Earth orbit to ground have been limited to ~10 to ~1000 Mbps. We describe plans for NASA’s TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) system, which will demonstrate a direct-to-Earth optical communication link from a CubeSat in low-Earth orbit at burst rates up to 200 Gbps. Such a link is capable of delivering >50 Terabytes per day from a small spacecraft to a single small ground terminal.

In recent years, NASA has been developing a scalable, modular space terminal architecture to provide low-cost laser communications for a wide range of near-Earth applications. This development forms the basis for two upcoming demonstration missions. The Integrated Low-Earth Orbit Laser Communications Relay Demonstration User Modem and Amplifier Optical Communications Terminal (ILLUMA-T) will develop a user terminal for platforms in low-Earth orbit which will be installed on the International Space Station and demonstrate relay laser communications via NASA’s Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD) in geo-synchronous orbit. The Orion EM-2 Optical Communication Demonstration (O2O) will develop a terminal which will be installed on the first manned launch of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and provide direct-to-Earth laser communications from lunar ranges. We describe the objectives and link architectures of these two missions which aim to demonstrate the operational utility of laser communications for manned exploration in cislunar space.

Pyrethroids are insecticides which are widely used for agricultural and domestic purposes. The general population can be exposed to them. Given the suspected effects of pesticides on the development of the foetus, exposure to pyrethroids during pregnancy is a major public health concern. The objective of this paper is to describe the urinary levels of the following five pyrethroid metabolites and their associated determinants among pregnant French women in 2011 enrolled in the Elfe cohort (n = 1077): a) 3-phenoxy benzoic (3-PBA), b) 4‑fluoro‑3‑phenoxy benzoic acid (4-F-3-PBA), c) Cis‑3‑(2,2dibromovinyl)‑2,2‑dimethyl cyclopropane-carboxylic acid (Cis-DBCA); d) Cis‑3‑(2,2dichlorovinyl)‑2,2‑dimethyl cyclopropane-carboxylic acid (Cis-DCCA) and e) Trans-3‑(2,2dichlorovinyl)‑2,2‑dimethyl cyclopropane-carboxylic acid (Trans-DCCA). The distribution levels were estimated for each pyrethroid metabolite. Multivariable analyses helped determine the predictors of these levels. All metabolites except 4-F-3-PBA were detected in all the urine samples. The mean urinary concentration of the sum of the metabolites (3-PBA, Cis-DBCA, Cis-DCCA, Trans-DCCA) was 1.18 μg/L, with the highest concentrations observed for 3-PBA. A comparison of these levels with other studies showed that pregnant French women tend to be more exposed to pyrethroids than their American counterparts, less exposed than Chinese and Caribbean mothers, and have similar exposure to Japanese mothers. In our study, urinary levels of pyrethroid metabolites were positively related to smoking during pregnancy, consuming fish and alcohol, domestic pesticide use and living in the vicinity of crops during pregnancy. These findings highlight the importance of non-dietary pathways when evaluating exposure to pyrethroids.

Instance segmentation in 3D images is a fundamental task in biomedical image analysis. While deep learning models often work well for 2D instance segmentation, 3D instance segmentation still faces critical challenges, such as insufficient training data due to various annotation difficulties in 3D biomedical images. Common 3D annotation methods (e.g., full voxel annotation) incur high workloads and costs for labeling enough instances for training deep learning 3D instance segmentation models. In this paper, we propose a new weak annotation approach for training a fast deep learning 3D instance segmentation model without using full voxel mask annotation. Our approach needs only 3D bounding boxes for all instances and full voxel annotation for a small fraction of the instances, and uses a novel two-stage 3D instance segmentation model utilizing these two kinds of annotation, respectively. We evaluate our approach on several biomedical image datasets, and the experimental results show that (1) with full annotated boxes and a small amount of masks, our approach can achieve similar performance as the best known methods using full annotation, and (2) with similar annotation time, our approach outperforms the best known methods that use full annotation.

Background As a result of the ban on lead in gasoline on 2nd January 2000, the French population's exposure to lead has decreased in recent years. However, because of the acknowledged harmful cognitive effects of lead even at low levels, lead exposure remains a major public health issue. In France, few biomonitoring data are available for exposure to lead in pregnant women and newborn. The purpose of the perinatal component of the French human biomonitoring (HBM) program was to describe levels of various biomarkers of exposure to several environmental pollutants, including lead, among mother-baby pairs. In this paper, we aimed to describe the distribution of cord blood lead levels (CBLL) in French mother-baby pairs, and to estimate the contribution of the main lead exposure risk factors to these levels. Method A total of 1968 mother-baby pairs selected from the participants of the perinatal component of the French HBM program were included in the study on lead. Lead levels were analyzed in cord blood collected at child delivery by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The data collected included biological sample, socio-demographic characteristics, environmental and occupational exposure, and information on dietary factors. Results CBLL were quantified for 99.5% of the sample. The CBLL geometric mean was 8.30 μg/l (95% CI [7.94–8.68]) with a 95th percentile of 24.3 μg/l (95% CI [20.7–27.1]). Factors significantly associated with CBLL were tap water consumption, alcohol consumption, shellfish consumption, vegetable consumption, bread consumption, smoking, and the mother being born in countries where lead is often used. Conclusion This study provides the first reference value for CBLL in a random sample of mother-baby pairs not particularly exposed to high levels of lead (24.3 μg/l). A substantial decrease in CBLL over time was observed, which confirms the decrease of exposure to lead among the general population. CBLL observed in this French study were in the range of those found in recent surveys conducted in other countries.

Recently, the study of topological crystalline insulators has become of great interest in condensed matter physics. In this work, we present infrared magneto-optical investigation of such novel quantum states in narrow gap rocksalt IV-VI semiconductor Pb1-xSnxTe which exhibits a topological phase transition at a critical value x c≈0.40. High-mobility Bi-doped trivial and non-trivial (111)-Pb1-xSnxTe (0≤x≤0.56) films grown on BaF2 substrates by MBE were examined at 4.5K and magnetic fields B=0-15T. Massive and massless Dirac fermion models are used to analyze transmission spectra. We are able to determine the band parameters of the bulk and the topological surface states of such material.

Background: Recent studies suggest that a Mediterranean dietary pattern during pregnancy may influence pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) during pregnancy on fetal growth restriction (FGR) and preterm delivery (PTD) in a French Caribbean island where the population is largely of African descent and presents dietary patterns similar to MD. Methods: Using data from the TIMOUN Mother‐Child Cohort Study conducted in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) between 2004 and 2007, we analysed data for 728 pregnant women who delivered liveborn singletons without any major congenital malformations. Degree of adherence to MD during pregnancy was evaluated with a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire based on nine dietary criteria. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyse birth outcomes while taking potential confounders into account. Results: Overall there was no association between MD adherence during pregnancy and the risk of PTD or FGR. However, pre-pregnancy body mass index was a strong effect modifier, and MD adherence was associated with a decreased risk of PTD specifically in overweight and obese women (adjusted odds ratio 0.7, 95% confidence interval 0.6, 0.9) (P heterogeneity

Glial cells play an important role in regulating synaptogenesis, development of blood-brain barrier, and brain tumor metastasis. Quantitative analysis of glial cells can offer new insights to many studies. However, the complicated morphology of the protrusions of glial cells and the entangled cell-to-cell network cause significant difficulties to extracting quantitative information in images. In this paper, we present a new method for instance-level segmentation of glial cells in 3D images. First, we obtain accurate voxel-level segmentation by leveraging the recent advances of fully convolutional networks (FCN). Then we develop a k-terminal cut algorithm to disentangle the complex cell-to-cell connections. During the cell cutting process, to better capture the nature of glial cells, a shape prior computed based on a multiplicative Voronoi diagram is exploited. Extensive experiments using real 3D images show that our method has superior performance over the state-of-the-art methods.

An electrical power circuit consisting of a doubly fed induction generator and two power-electronic converters is considered. A mathematical model is given, and the flatness of the model is shown. The freedom in the choice of one component of the flat output chosen is used in order to minimize the power losses in the system. Trajectory tracking controllers for the machine and the grid side converter are developed using a backstepping approach. The results are supported by numerical simulations.

To quantify silicosis and lung cancer risks among porcelain workers occupationally exposed to respirable crystalline silica.We reread historical radiographs to identify silicosis and estimated exposure on the basis of detailed work history and about 8000 industrial hygiene measurements. Cox proportional hazards models estimated risks by cumulative and average exposure.Adjusted silicosis hazards ratios were 5.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6 to 17.3); 7.3 (95% CI, 2.6 to 20.8); and 6.8 (95% CI, 3.0 to 15.3) for cumulative exposures4 to 5;5 to 6; and6 mg/m-years, and 3.3 (95% CI, 0.8 to 14.7), 13.6 (95% CI, 4.2 to 44.4) and 23.2 (95% CI, 8.2 to 65.8) for average exposures0.1 to 0.15;0.15 to 0.2 and0.2 mg/m, respectively. Exposure was not associated with any cause of death including lung cancer.Respirable crystalline silica exposure more than 4 mg/m-years (cumulative) or more than 0.15 mg/m (average) were strongly associated with silicosis, but unrelated to lung cancer risks.

Objectives: To estimate a threshold value for the respirable quartz dust concentration and silicosis incidence (1/1, ILO 1980/2000) in the German porcelain worker cohort. Methods: Forty incident cases occurred among 17,144 workers. Estimation of the relationship to cumulative respirable quartz dust exposures by using Cox regression with restricted cubic splines (7 knots or less) and fractional polynomials (degrees 5 or less). Threshold estimates were obtained by subtracting candidate values from the time-dependent concentration data (setting the result to zero if negative) and recalculating cumulative exposure. Results: Best threshold estimate was 0.25 mg/m 3 (95% confidence interval: 0.15 to 0.30 mg/m 3 ). Conclusions: A concentration threshold for silicosis risk is plausible. A threshold Cox model fitted the data significantly better than a nonthreshold model, summarized the cohort information without a loss in extracted information and more simply than restricted cubic splines and fractional polynomials.

A time-dependent quantitative exposure assessment of silica exposure among nearly 18,000 German porcelain workers was conducted. Results will be used to evaluate exposure-response disease risks. Over 8000 historical industrial hygiene (IH) measurements with original sampling and analysis protocols from 1954-2006 were obtained from the German Berufs- genossenschaft der keramischen-und Glas-Industrie (BGGK) and used to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM). Early measurements from different devices were converted to modern gravimetric equivalent values. Conversion factors were derived from parallel historical measurements and new side-by-side measurements using historical and modern devices in laboratory dust tunnels and active workplace locations. Exposure values were summarized and smoothed using LOESS regression; estimates for early years were derived using backward extrapolation techniques. Employee work histories were merged with JEM values to determine cumulative crystalline silica exposures for cohort members. Average silica concentrations were derived for six primary similar exposure groups (SEGs) for 1938-2006. Over 40% of the cohort accumulated0.5 mg; just over one-third accumulated1 mg/m(3)-years. Nearly 5000 workers had cumulative crystalline silica estimates1.5 mg/m(3)-years. Similar numbers of men and women fell into each cumulative exposure category, except for 1113 women and 1567 men in the highest category. Over half of those hired before 1960 accumulated3 mg/m(3)-years crystalline silica compared with 4.9% of those hired after 1960. Among those ever working in the materials preparation area, half accumulated3 mg/m(3)-year compared with 12% of those never working in this area. Quantitative respirable silica exposures were estimated for each member of this cohort, including employment periods for which sampling used now obsolete technologies. Although individual cumulative exposure estimates ranged from background to about 40 mg/m(3)-years, many of these estimates reflect long-term exposures near modern exposure limit values, allowing direct evaluation of lung cancer and silicosis risks near these limits without extrapolation. This quantitative exposure assessment is the largest to date in the porcelain industry.

Background— Endothelial cell seeding of glutardialdehyde-fixed biological heart valves is hypothesized to improve biocompatibility and durability; however, the toxicity of glutardialdehyde prevents its use as a biological coating. Therefore, different detoxification strategies are applied, including surface coating with titanium, before in vitro endothelialization of glutaraldehyde-fixed bovine pericardium as the base material for prosthetic heart valves. Methods and Results— Bovine pericardium was fixed with 0.25% glutardialdehyde. Detoxification was performed with citric acid, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and plasma deposition with titanium at low temperatures of 30°C to 35°C. Toxic glutaraldehyde ligands were quantified photometrically, and the vitality of seeded cells was tested to validate detoxification methods. Detoxification agents and titanium coating were applied before seeding with human endothelial cells. Endothelial cells were visualized by electron microscopic surface scanning. To evaluate cell adhesion, shear stress was applied by a flow of 5 L/min over 24 hours. Compared with untreated glutaraldehyde-fixed samples, treatment with the different agents reduced free aldehyde groups gradually (citric acid 5% < citric acid 10% < titanium < aldehyde dehydrogenase). A combination of citric acid 10%, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and titanium coating resulted in a reduction of free aldehyde ligands to 17.3±4.6% ( P ≤0.05) and demonstrated a vitality of seeded cells of 94±6.7% ( P ≤0.05). This procedure yielded a completely confluent layer of regular human endothelial cells (n=5). After application of shear stress for 24 hours on these endothelial layers, cell vitality was 81%. Conclusions— Titanium coating combined with chemical procedures yielded significant detoxification and complete endothelialization of conventional glutaraldehyde-fixed pericardium. This new technique might improve glutardialdehyde-fixed cardiovascular bioimplants for better biocompatibility and longer durability.

A comparison between an algebraic parameter identification algorithm for the load of a boost converter and classical asymptotic observers for the same purpose is provided. Two asymptotic observers are presented, and an algebraic identification algorithm is derived. For the latter, two implementations in the software for a digital signal processor are discussed, and experimental results are given which highlight the properties of both approaches.