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Quantization is widely employed in both cloud and edge systems to reduce the memory occupation, latency, and energy consumption of deep neural networks. In particular, mixed-precision quantization, i.e., the use of different bit-widths for different portions of the network, has been shown to provide excellent efficiency gains with limited accuracy drops, especially with optimized bit-width assignments determined by automated Neural Architecture Search (NAS) tools. State-of-the-art mixed-precision works layer-wise, i.e., it uses different bit-widths for the weights and activations tensors of each network layer. In this work, we widen the search space, proposing a novel NAS that selects the bit-width of each weight tensor channel independently. This gives the tool the additional flexibility of assigning a higher precision only to the weights associated with the most informative features. Testing on the MLPerf Tiny benchmark suite, we obtain a rich collection of Pareto-optimal models in the accuracy vs model size and accuracy vs energy spaces. When deployed on the MPIC RISC-V edge processor, our networks reduce the memory and energy for inference by up to 63% and 27% respectively compared to a layer-wise approach, for the same accuracy.

El síndrome hemofagocítico (SHF) es un trastorno caracterizado por la activación y proliferación no maligna del sistema inmune. Puede ser primario o secundario. La forma primaria está ligada a factores genéticos autosómicos recesivos y la secundaria se presenta subsiguiente a otras enfermedades. La leishmaniasis es la parasitosis que más comúnmente lo gatilla y tiene la característica que resuelve con su tratamiento específico, sin el cual la mortalidad alcanza el 100 %. Se presenta el caso de un niño de 7 meses, oriundo de Paraguay, que ingresa a nuestro Hospital por fiebre y hepatoesplenomegalia, que luego de arribar al diagnóstico y realizar tratamiento específico, evolucionó favorablemente. Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is a disorder characterized by non-malignant activation and proliferation of the immune system. It can be primary or secondary. The primary form is linked to autosomal recessive genetic factors and the secondary form occurs subsequent to other diseases. Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease with a wide worldwide distribution caused by different species of Leishmania. It is the protozoan that most commonly triggers it and it resolves with its specific treatment. Without it, the mortality rate is 100 %. We report the case of a 7-month-old boy, born in Paraguay, who was admitted at our Hospital with fever and hepatosplenomegaly, who after reaching the diagnosis, received specific treatment and developed a favorable clinical outcome.

Introducción: Las infecciones respiratorias agudas bajas (IRAB), representan la causa más frecuente de consulta e internación en los meses de invierno. La insuficiencia respiratoria aguda es la complicación que motiva la internación de los pacientes y la necesidad de Unidad Terapia Intensiva (UTI). El objetivo del trabajo fue describir los resultados de la implementación de la Terapia de Alto Flujo (TAFO) en pacientes con IRAB grave internados en Terapia Intermedia. Métodos: Estudio prospectivo y descriptivo que incluyó pacientes de 1 a 36 meses internados en Terapia Intermedia en el Hospital Sor María Ludovica de la ciudad de La Plata, desde junio de 2018 a septiembre de 2019. Se ingresaron a TAFO pacientes sin respuesta al tratamiento con oxígeno a bajo flujo. El ingreso a UTI se consideró fracaso de la TAFO. Resultados: De 760 pacientes internados con IRAB, 91(11,9%) ingresaron a TAFO de los cuales 59 (64,8 %) tuvieron respuesta favorable con disminución de la frecuencia respiratoria (FR), frecuencia cardiaca (FC) y mejoría de la mecánica respiratoria; el resto (35,2%) pasó a UTI por fracaso terapéutico. Presentaron complicaciones a la TAFO el 5,5% de los pacientes. Conclusión: La TAFO fue una terapéutica segura, de fácil utilización que, a través de un aporte de oxígeno conocido, permitió la corrección de la hipoxemia, logrando la disminución de la FR, FC y mejoría de la mecánica respiratoria, dándole mayor comodidad al paciente durante su enfermedad. Introduction: Respiratory infections remain the major cause of outpatient consultation and hospital admissions during the winter season. Lower respiratory illness may cause severe acute respiratory insufficiency and hypoxemic respiratory failure, thus determining the need for hospitalization and eventual intensive care (ICU). The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of High Flow Oxygen Therapy (HFOT) implementation for patients with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) admitted to intermediate therapy unit. Methods: Prospective and descriptive study which included patients from age 1 to 36 months, hospitalized at intermediate therapy care unit at “Sor María Ludovica”, Hospital, in La Plata, from June, 2018 to September, 2019. Patients who did not show any improvement to low flow oxygen therapy were the subjects of this study. Further submission to ICU was considered as HFOT failure. Results: From 760 patients hospitalized with ALRI, 91 (11.9%) were admitted to TAFO. Fifty nine, (64.8%) had a favorable response with decreased respiratory and heart frequency rate, and an improvement of the work of breathing. The rest (35.1%) went to ICU due to therapeutic failure. Five point five percent of patients presented complications to TAFO. Conclusion: HFOT was a safe, easy to implement therapy treatment which improved the hypoxemic respiratory failure. This therapy reduced the respiratory and heart rate, and yielded a better and lower respiratory work, making patients more comfortable during illness.

Trypanosoma cruzi the agent of Chagas disease is a monophyletic but heterogeneous group conformed by several Discrete Typing Units (DTUs) named TcI to TcVI characterized by genetic markers. The trans-sialidase (TS) is a virulence factor involved in cell invasion and pathogenesis that is differentially expressed in aggressive and less virulent parasite stocks. Genes encoding TS-related proteins are included in a large family divided in several groups but only one of them contains TS genes. Two closely related genes differing in a T/C transition encode the enzymatically active TS (aTS) and a lectin-like TS (iTS). We quantified the aTS/iTS genes from TcII and TcVI aggressive and TcI low virulent strains and found variable aTS number (1-32) per haploid genome. In spite of being low TS enzyme-expressers, TcI strains carry 28-32 aTS gene copies. The intriguing absence of iTS genes in TcI strains together with the presence of aTS/iTS in TcII and TcVI strains (virulent) were observed. Moreover, after sequencing aTS/iTS from 38 isolates collected along the Americas encompassing all DTUs, the persistent absence of the iTS gene in TcI, TcIII and TcIV was found. In addition, the sequence clustering together with T/C transition analysis correlated to DTUs of T. cruzi. The consistence of TS results with both evolutionary genome models proposed for T. cruzi, namely the "Two Hybridization" and the "Three Ancestor" was discussed and reviewed to fit present findings. Parasite stocks to attempt genetic KO or to assay the involvement of iTS in parasite biology and virulence are finally available.

The possible prognostic value of the position of the breakpoint within the M-BCR in patients with Phl+ CML is still being debated. We analyzed the DNA rearrangements and the transcript types of 244 patients and tried to correlate the data obtained with prognostic features, defined according to Sokal's risk index, and with chronic phase and/or survival duration. The exact location of the breakpoint, either 5' or 3' to the Hind III restriction site within the M-BCR was identified. Moreover, the exact M-BCR subregion was also identified. As a whole, 150 pts were rearranged in the 5' part and 94 in the 3' part of the M-BCR. No correlation was observed between the site of rearrangement on the one hand and the Sokal's prognostic index and survival, on the other. Transcript analysis was performed in 130 patients; 59 carried an a2b2 and 69 an a2b3 pattern. Two patients carried both transcripts. Of the patients rearranged in the 5' area, according to Southern blotting, 29.2% showed an a2b3 transcript. Therefore, R...

This study evaluated an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) to detect feline immunodeficiency virus infection (FIV) antibody in a comprehensive epidemiological survey of FIV in Argentina. IFA modified in our laboratory, was compared with two other immunoassays, western blot (WB) and a sandwich immunochromatographic commercial kit (SI), and also with a direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method that detects proviral DNA. IFA showed to be a test with high sensitivity and specificity, and could be useful as a diagnostic tool in epidemiological studies. The presence of a low percentage of results with non-specific reactivity in the IFA could be resolved with further testing or use of an alternative method. Avaliou-se a técnica de imunofluorescência indireta (IFA) na detecção de anticorpos contra o vírus da imunodeficiência felina (FIV) numa pesquisa epidemiológica do FIV na Argentina. A IFA foi modificada e comparada com duas outras técnicas imunológicas: western blot (WB) e imunocromatografia em camadas (SI) com kit comercial e também com reação em cadeia de polimerase (PCR) para detecção do DNA proviral. A IFA mostrou ser um teste com alta sensibilidade e especificidade e poderá ser empregada como ferramenta útil em estudos epidemiológicos. A baixa porcentagem de reatividade não específica pode ser esclarecida com testes mais avançados ou usando métodos alternativos.