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Introduction Le syndrome hemophagocytaire (SH), appele egalement syndrome d’activation macrophagique (SAM), secondaire ou reactionnel, est une pathologie rare mais de mauvais pronostic chez le patient infecte par le VIH. En zone tropicale, cette entite clinico-biologique est peu decrite. L’objectif de cette etude etait de decrire les particularites epidemiologiques du SH reactionnel chez les patients infectes par le VIH en region equatoriale americaine. Materiels et methodes Une etude observationnelle retrospective monocentrique a ete menee dans notre centre hospitalier entre le 01/01/2012 et le 30/08/2016. Tout patient adulte et infecte par le VIH ayant un diagnostic de SH reactionnel et, ayant consenti a son inclusion dans la base Dat’Aids, etait inclus. Le SH reactionnel etait defini par la presence d’au moins 3 des 8 criteres de la classification HLH-2004 et un score diagnostique de SH reactionnel (HScore) superieur a 169 (sensibilite de 93 % et specificite de 86 %). Resultats Quatorze cas de SH reactionnel ont ete recenses sur la periode d’etude. L’âge moyen etait de 46 ans et le sex-ratio de 1,8. L’enquete etiologique des SH reactionnels retrouvait principalement une cause infectieuse (13/14). L’histoplasmose disseminee etait retrouvee chez 12 cas sur 14. Le taux de CD4 etait inferieur a 250/mm3 chez 13 cas sur 14. Une charge virale superieure a 100 000 copies/mL etait observee dans 13 cas sur 14. Un traitement precoce par amphotericine B liposomale etait initie dans la majorite des cas (10/14). Le pronostic global etait favorable dans la majorite des cas avec 2 deces sur 14 patients. Conclusion Pour la premiere fois, l’histoplasmose est decrite comme la principale etiologie de SH reactionnel chez des patients infectes par le VIH. Si le pronostic du SH reactionnel reste severe dans cette serie de patients infectes par le VIH, la proportion de deces reste tres inferieure (2/14, 14 %) aux taux de letalite classiquement decrits (40 %). Ainsi, en zone d’endemie pour l’histoplasmose, un traitement precoce et probabiliste avec de l’amphotericine B liposomale en premiere intention pourrait ameliorer le pronostic vital de ces patients.

We present a system which allows to tune the coupling between a superconducting resonator and a transmission line. This storage resonator is addressed through a second, coupling resonator, which is frequency-tunable and controlled by a magnetic flux applied to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). We experimentally demonstrate that the lifetime of the storage resonator can be tuned by more than three orders of magnitude. A field can be stored for 18 {\mu}s when the coupling resonator is tuned off resonance and it can be released in 14 ns when the coupling resonator is tuned on resonance. The device allows capture, storage, and on-demand release of microwaves at a tunable rate., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

This paper reviews how the evolution of FDSOI planar architecture towards Trigate Nanowires leads to a natural Single Electron Transistor and Field Effect Transistor convergence at room temperature. On one hand, this convergence sets up technological specifications to preserve CMOS operation. On the other hand it opens the path to room temperature hybrid circuits based on single electron transistors and MOSFETs. Further on, single electron effects can be downscaled to the ultimate single atom transistors and we demonstrate the practical performance of electron pumps for metrologic applications.

The Sparse Matrix-Vector multiplication (SpMV) is an algorithm used in many fields. Since the introduction of CUDA and general purpose programming on GPUs, several efforts to optimize it have been reported. SpMV optimization is complex due to irregular memory accesses depending on the nonzero element distribution of the matrix. In this paper, we propose a model that predicts the number of memory transactions of SpMV for a matrix stored in the CSR format. With the number of memory transactions known in advance, the performance and the execution time can be estimated. The model can be used to select the best suited CUDA implementation for sparse matrices for a given application domain. Predicted results from the model are within 7.5% for the matrices of more than 1000 rows that we have tested on the NVIDIA Tesla K20c and Ge-Force GTX 670.

This paper presents a novel approach for automatic detection of microaneurysms and haemorrhages in fundus images. First, it begins with a preprocessing stage for shade correction, contrast enhancement and denoising. Second, all regional minima with sufficient contrast are extracted and considered as candidates. Third, in an image flooding scheme, a new set of dynamic shape features is computed as a function of intensity. Finally, a Random Forest classifies the candidates into lesions and non lesions. A set of 143 fundus images with an average of 2210 pixels in diameter was acquired using different cameras and used for training and testing. The proposed approach achieved a global score over the FROC curve of 0.393, while previous work with images of similar resolution reported a score of 0.233., 2014 IEEE 11th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging, ISBI 2014, 29 April-2 May, 2014, Beijing, China

Retinal image quality assessment is an important step in automated eye disease diagnosis. Diagnosis accuracy is highly dependent on the quality of retinal images, because poor image quality might prevent the observation of significant eye features and disease manifestations. A robust algorithm is therefore required in order to evaluate the quality of images in a large database. We developed an algorithm for retinal image quality assessment based on generic features that is independent from segmentation methods. It exploits the local sharpness and texture features by applying the cumulative probability of blur detection metric and run-length encoding algorithm, respectively. The quality features are combined to evaluate the image’s suitability for diagnosis purposes. Based on the recommendations of medical experts and our experience, we compared a global and a local approach. A support vector machine with radial basis functions was used as a nonlinear classifier in order to classify images to gradable and ungradable groups. We applied our methodology to 65 images of size 2592×1944 pixels that had been graded by a medical expert. The expert evaluated 38 images as gradable and 27 as ungradable. The results indicate very good agreement between the proposed algorithm’s predictions and the medical expert’s judgment: the sensitivity and specificity for the local approach are respectively 92% and 94%. The algorithm demonstrates sufficient robustness to identify relevant images for automated diagnosis.

We present a study of the overdensity of X-ray selected AGN in 33 galaxy clusters in the XMM-LSS field, up to redhift z=1.05. Previous studies have shown that the presence of X-ray selected AGN in rich galaxy clusters is suppressed. In the current study we investigate the occurrence of X-ray selected AGN in low and moderate X-ray luminosity galaxy clusters. Due to the wide contiguous XMM-LSS survey area we are able to extend the study to the cluster outskirts. We therefore determine the projected overdensity of X-ray point-like sources out to 6r_{500} radius. To provide robust statistical results we also use a stacking analysis of the cluster projected overdensities. We investigate whether the observed X-ray overdensities are to be expected by estimating also the corresponding optical galaxy overdensities. We find a positive X-ray projected overdensity at the first radial bin, which is however of the same amplitude as that of optical galaxies. Therefore, no suppression of X-ray AGN activity with respect to the field is found, implying that the mechanisms responsible for the suppression are not so effective in lower density environments. After a drop to roughly the background level between 2 and 3r_{500}, the X-ray overdensity exhibits a rise at larger radii, significantly larger than the corresponding optical overdensity. Finally, using redshift information of all optical counterparts, we derive the spatial overdensity profile of the clusters. We find that the agreement between X-ray and optical overdensities in the first radial bin is also suggested in the 3-dimensional analysis. However, we argue that the X-ray overdensity "bump" at larger radial distance is probably a result of flux boosting by gravitational lensing of background QSOs. For high redshift clusters an enhancement of X-ray AGN activity in their outskirts is still possible., Comment: 16 pages. Accepted for publication in A&A

We present a new method to detect and remove ringing artifacts produced by the deconvolution process in image deblurring techniques. The method takes into account non-invertible frequency components of the blur kernel used in the deconvolution. Efficient Gabor wavelets are produced for each non-invertible frequency and applied on the deblurred image to generate a set of filter responses that reveal existing ringing artifacts. The set of Gabor filters is then employed in a regularization scheme to remove the corresponding artifacts from the deblurred image. The regularization scheme minimizes the responses of the reconstructed image to these Gabor filters through an alternating algorithm in order to suppress the artifacts. As a result of these steps we are able to significantly enhance the quality of the deblurred images produced by deconvolution algorithms. Our numerical evaluations using a ringing artifact metric indicate the effectiveness of the proposed deringing method.

Commercial multi-alkane product whose normal alkane distribution is of the ‘normal logarithmic type’, has been modified by adding pure components (n-C20H42, n-C32H66, n-C50H102) in different proportions. The molecular alloys resulting have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction, at room temperature. It appears that addition of pure components to the initial product has no influence on the structural state of the wax when the proportion is lower than that of the component of higher concentration contained in the initial multi-alkane mixture. On the contrary, when the added proportion is higher than the concentration of the average alkane representative of the distribution, a new series of 00 l reflections characteristic of the pure component structure added, is observed. Moreover, this work has shown the possible existence of a solubility of wax in pure n-alkane.

Pseudomonas cepacia (PC) lipase was encapsulated in silica and aluminosilicate gels made by different chemical processes. Some samples were dried by the supercritical method in CO 2 to obtain aerogels, while other ones made by the same wet chemical procedure were dried by evaporation to produce xerogels. The biocatalysts which were obtained were compared in the esterification reaction of 1-octanol by lauric acid. In all cases, the aerogels performed better than the corresponding xerogels. This biocatalysis behavior is discussed in relationship with the textural and structural characteristics of the gels, studied by nitrogen sorption, 29 Si NMR and 27 Al NMR. It is proposed that supercritical drying avoids a simultaneous compression of the gel network and of the enzyme, hence improving the biocatalytic activity.

As a result of the recent recommendations of the ICRP 60, and in anticipation of possible regulation on occupational exposure of Canadian-based aircrew, an extensive study was carried out by the Royal Military College of Canada over a one-year period to measure the cosmic radiation at commercial jet altitudes. A tissue-equivalent proportional counter was used to measure the ambient total dose equivalent rate on 62 flight routes, resulting in over 20,000 data points at one-minute intervals at various altitudes and geomagnetic latitudes (i.e. which span the full cut-off rigidity of the Earth's magnetic field). These data were then compared to similar experimental work at the Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, using a different suite of equipment, to measure separately the low and high linear energy transfer components of the mixed radiation field, and to predictions with the LUIN transport code. All experimental and theoretical results were in excellent agreement. From these data, a semiempirical model was developed to allow for the interpolation of the dose rate for any global position, altitude and date (i.e. heliocentric potential). Through integration of the dose rate function over a great circle flight path, a computer code was developed to provide an estimate of the total dose equivalent on any route worldwide at any period in the solar cycle.

Thanks to a well-controlled CMOS FDSOI technology we have recently been able to demonstrate breakthroughs in the combined use of field effect and Coulomb blockade phenomena. On one hand, we have demonstrated room temperaturehybrid circuits based on single electron transistors and MOSFETs. On the other hand, we have shown the practical performance of electron pumps designed with a single silicided Coulomb island and MOSFETs as tunable barriers for metrologic applications.

As a result of the recent recommendations of the ICRP-60 and in anticipation of possible regulation on occupational exposure of commercial aircrew, a two-phase investigation was carried out over a 1-y period to determine the total dose equivalent on representative Canadian-based flight routes. In the first phase of the study, dedicated scientific flights on a Northern round-trip route between Ottawa and Resolute Bay provided the opportunity to characterize the complex mixed-radiation field and to intercompare various instrumentation using both a conventional suite of powered detectors and passive dosimetry. In the second phase, volunteer aircrew carried (passive) neutron bubble detectors during their routine flight duties. From these measurements, the total dose equivalent was derived for a given route with a knowledge of the neutron fraction as determined from the scientific flights and computer code (CARI-3C) calculations. This study has yielded an extensive database of over 3,100 measurements providing the total dose equivalent for 385 different routes. By folding in flight frequency information and the accumulated flight hours, the annual occupational exposures of 20 flight crew have been determined. This study has indicated that most Canadian-based domestic and international aircrew will exceed the proposed annual ICRP-60 public limit of 1 mSv y(-1) but will be well below the occupational limit of 20 mSv y(-1).

The novel antipsychotic drugs offer significant advantages over conventional antipsychotic drugs because of their favorable extrapyramidal side-effect profiles. These medications do have some side effects that are clinically significant to our patients with psychotic disorders, however. We summarize

Apres avoir brievement decrit les 3 constituants fondamentaux des amas de galaxies (matiere noire, gaz et galaxies) nous presenterons les amas d'un point de vue plus theorique : ce sont les entites les plus massives a l'equilibre connues dans l'univers. Les amas de galaxies jouent donc un role de premier plan dans toute etude cosmologique et par consequent, sont indispensables a notre comprehension globale de l'univers. Dans l'introduction generale, nous detaillons cet aspect fondamental en montrant comment l'etude des amas peut contribuer a contraindre les scenarios cosmologiques. Une fois le contexte scientifique delimite, les chapitres suivants s'attachent a presenter les diverses proprietes des amas et leur evolution cosmique observee dans diverses longueurs d'onde – principalement dans les domaines visible (galaxies), X (gaz) et radio (gaz et particules). Nous verrons que l'etude detaillee d'un amas implique celle de l'interaction entre ses differentes composantes et est un passage oblige pour remonter au parametre ultime (ou premier) qu'est sa masse. Loin d'etre un detour ennuyeux, ceci sera l'occasion d'aborder des phenomenes physiques extremement varies tel l'aspect multi-phases du milieu intra-amas, les sursauts de formation d'etoiles et l'evolution morphologique des galaxies capturees par les amas, ou bien encore, l'interaction entre le plasma intra-amas et les particules relativistes accelerees lors de la fusion entre deux amas. Bien sur, pour chaque longueur d'onde, nous ne manquerons pas de decrire simplement les techniques d'observation et d'analyse mises en oeuvre ; celles-ci sont particulierement interessantes dans le cas de l'instrumentation spatiale. Nous terminerons en presentant des projets d'observatoires pour l'horizon 2010 et leur impact prevu sur l'etude des amas de galaxies.

The formation of Large Scale Structures (LSS) in the universe was first studied at optical wavelengths as the galaxy spatial distribution appeared to be far from homogeneous. Considerable effort has been invested in semi-analytical approaches and in numerical simulations (DM + hot gas) to explain the observed structures, given some set of initial conditions and using additional constraints provided by the COBE results. It is now clear however, that these two extreme data set are not sufficient to discriminate between the possible remaining cosmological scenarios. It is thus timely to investigate LSS at a much higher redshift than the present survey limits both in the optical and in other wavebands. In this context, the X-ray band will certainly become a hot field with the advent of the XMM observatory. The next section briefly summarizes what is known about LSS from optical wavelengths and simulations. Sect. 3 reviews the particular points that can be addressed in the X-ray band. Last section presents realistic prospects for mapping LSS with XMM.

We apply the method of confining phase superpotentials to N = 2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with the exceptional gauge group G_2. Our findings are consistent with the spectral curve of the periodic Toda lattice, but do not agree with the hyperelliptic curve suggested previously in the literature. We also apply the method to theories with fundamental matter, treating both the example of SO(5) and G_2.

Center, Greater Los Angeles, CA; Hollie A. L. Gelberg, PhD, RD, clini Medical Center, Greater Los Angeles, CA; Jennifer A. Rosen, PharmD PGY-2 pharmacy residency program director in psychiatry, Departmen Long Beach, CA; Valery Chamberlin, MD, co-investigator, Sepulveda UCLA, and associate residency director, UCLA-SFV Psychiatry, Departm Chandresh Shah, MD, co-investigator, Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Greater Los Angeles, CA; Charles N Mental Health, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Long Angeles VA, associate director of residency education, UCLA Semel In co-chief, Schizophrenia Treatment Unit, West Los Angeles VA Medica chiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at Los Angeles, CA; Zachary D. Erickson, program manager, Medical Re Los Angeles, CA; Shirley J. Mena, MSN, RN, research assistant, Med Greater Los Angeles, CA; Michael King, Jr, research assistant, Medic Greater Los Angeles, CA; Irina Arnold, MS, MD (MD obtained in Russia Affairs Medical Center, Greater Los Angeles, CA; Matthew R. Baker, Affairs Medical Center, Greater Los Angeles, CA; Hilary B. Meyer, resea Medical Center, Greater Los Angeles, CA; and Donna Ames, MD, pri tation and Recovery Center, and professor in residence, David Geffen Medical Center, Greater Los Angeles, CA.

This paper introduces a new approach for finite-precision error modeling based on affine arithmetic. The paper demonstrates that there is a common hazard in affine arithmetic-based error modeling methods described in the literature. The hazard is linked to early substitution of the signal terms that emerge in operations such as multiplication and division. The paper proposes postponed substitution combined with function maximization to address this problem. The paper also proposes a modification in the error propagation process to enhance the error modeling accuracy. An existing word length optimization method is reproduced to evaluate the efficiency of this modification. The results demonstrate that the proposed modification can improve the hardware area results by up to 7.0% at the expense of negligible complexity overhead.

Shaken baby syndrome (SBS) is defined by the association of intracranial hemorrhage and retinal hemorrhage in infants under 2 years of age, with no obvious external trauma. This syndrome leads to frequent neurological sequelae. Therefore, these infants can claim compensation for damage if sequelae are directly and irrefutably linked to the trauma. Data on the judicial treatment are for the most part inexistent in the medical literature, the reason for which this study was conducted.We conducted a retrospective study over a period of 10 years. We included all cases of SBS reported to the High Courts of the Ille-et-Vilaine department (Rennes and St Malo). The cases were listed from the archives of the Department of Medical Information, the Specialized Unit for Abused Children and Forensic Department at the Rennes University Hospital. We were able to look the judicial cases up after receiving agreement from the prosecutors of the two courts.Of the 34 cases included, 12 could not be used (lost, ongoing, destroyed, transferred to another court), 16 led to an order of dismissal or to no further action because of an unknown perpetrator, insufficiently described offense, or insufficient evidence. Six authors were sentenced. It was the father (n=5) or the childminder (n=1). All perpetrators had confessed to part or all of the charges brought against them. Five children received compensation: three by the civil court and two by the commission of compensation for victims of an offense.Most cases led to no conviction and no compensation. The identification by the physician of the person responsible for the lesions in SBS does not mean that the perpetrator will be convicted because of the strict application of criminal law. The nomination of an administrator representing the infant could resolve the lack of compensation.

Defining the borders of mental illness is challenging due to the lack of established validity for psychiatric disorders, a diagnostic system based largely on reported symptoms, and the highly subjective nature of distress and functional impairment. Consequently, debates about the potential perils of overdiagnosis (e.g., false positives) and underdiagnosis (e.g., false negatives) with new diagnostic revisions are ongoing as we prepare for the release of DSM-5. Such debates are rooted in the many different and often conflicting applications of psychiatric diagnosis, with clinical work generally favoring lowered diagnostic thresholds on the one hand and the work of rationing of healthcare resources necessitating higher thresholds on the other. Deciding what should or should not be considered a mental disorder in DSM can only be resolved by a pragmatic analysis of contextual utility. A philosophically satisfying, scientifically grounded, and economically viable model of future psychiatry should more formally acknowledge a continuum of mental illness and mental health, apply research evidence-based guidelines regarding optimal interventions along this continuum rather than assuming pharmacotherapy is a panacea, and concede that specialty care provided by psychiatrists must be integrated within the larger scope of mental health care.

During the past century, the scope of mental health intervention in North America has gradually expanded from an initial focus on hospitalized patients with psychoses to outpatients with neurotic disorders, including the so-called worried well. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Fifth Edition, is further embracing the concept of a mental illness spectrum, such that increasing attention to the softer end of the continuum can be expected in the future. This anticipated shift rekindles important questions about how mental illness is defined, how to distinguish between mental disorders and normal reactions, whether psychiatry is guilty of prevalence inflation, and when somatic therapies should be used to treat problems of living. Such debates are aptly illustrated by the example of complicated bereavement, which is best characterized as a form of adjustment disorder. Achieving an overarching definition of mental illness is challenging, owing to the many different contexts in which DSM diagnoses are used. Careful analyses of such contextual utility must inform future decisions about what ends up in DSM, as well as how mental illness is defined by public health policy and society at large. A viable vision for the future of psychiatry should include a spectrum model of mental health (as opposed to exclusively mental illness) that incorporates graded, evidence-based interventions delivered by a range of providers at each point along its continuum.

Price: £45 (~€56) -or£36 (~€45) with EGU discount Publisher’s summary This book provides a systematic treatment of the geometrical and transport properties of fractures, fracture networks, and fractured porous media. A concise introduction to a topical field, it provides a unique theoretical view point on fractured porous media based on percolation theory for students and professionals in Geophysics, Materials Science, and Earth Sciences.

We access properties of single dopants embedded in ultra-scaled MOSFET. In such nanostructures, the ionization energy of a single dopant is enhanced. We establish a new method to determine the energy spectrum of a single dopant by connecting two dopants in series and using one dopant as an energy probe for the second one. Gigahertz microwave driving of this double donor system reveals coherent charge transfert in this ultimate “atomic” transistor.

The 1993 introduction in France of the vaccine against the serotype b of Haemophilus influenzae (Hib) resulted in a fast reduction of invasive infections caused by this species. However, despite the introduction of a booster dose, cases of Hib meningitis can still be observed, even if they are exceptional. We report here on 3 cases of Hib meningitis observed at Rennes University Hospital, which occurred during the winter seasons between 2007 and 2010, in properly vaccinated infants and children aged 9, 14, and 29 months. Progression after treatment was satisfactory in all 3 cases, and no immune deficiency was detected. After 18 years of the vaccination policy in France, these observations demonstrate that a risk, although much lower, of Hib meningitis persists in infants and children, including in vaccinated patients, and that strains still are circulating within the general population.

In face of the multiple controversies surrounding the DSM process in general and the development of DSM-5 in particular, we have organized a discussion around what we consider six essential questions in further work on the DSM. The six questions involve: 1) the nature of a mental disorder; 2) the definition of mental disorder; 3) the issue of whether, in the current state of psychiatric science, DSM-5 should assume a cautious, conservative posture or an assertive, transformative posture; 4) the role of pragmatic considerations in the construction of DSM-5; 5) the issue of utility of the DSM – whether DSM-III and IV have been designed more for clinicians or researchers, and how this conflict should be dealt with in the new manual; and 6) the possibility and advisability, given all the problems with DSM-III and IV, of designing a different diagnostic system. Part 1 of this article took up the first two questions. Part 2 took up the second two questions. Part 3 now deals with Questions 5 & 6. Question 5 confronts the issue of utility, whether the manual design of DSM-III and IV favors clinicians or researchers, and what that means for DSM-5. Our final question, Question 6, takes up a concluding issue, whether the acknowledged problems with the earlier DSMs warrants a significant overhaul of DSM-5 and future manuals. As in Parts 1 & 2 of this article, the general introduction, as well as the introductions and conclusions for the specific questions, are written by James Phillips, and the responses to commentaries are written by Allen Frances.

International audience; Aiming at increasing the resolution of otolith tracers, we investigated the possibility to use Mn, Co, Zn, Rb, Cd, Sn, Ba, Sr, and Pb otolith composition to retrieve the movements of eels (Anguilla anguilla) in the lower Gironde watershed. Caging experiments were designed to validate the site specific otolith signatures. Individually identified eels were reared in cages in three locations along the estuarine and river gradient. Three trials were set up for successive periods of 3 months and 6 months. Water Mn, Co, Zn, Rb, Cd, Sn, Ba, Sr, and Pb concentrations were monitored. The eel otolith composition corresponding to the experimental period was measured with an ICPMS coupled with a femtosecond laser. Liver Cd, Zn and Pb concentrations were measured. For each caging experiments, we tested the influence of individual weight gain, caging site and trial on elemental otolith concentrations. Mn, Co, Zn, Rb, Cd, Sn, Ba, Sr, and Pb were detected in eel otolith above the detection limits. Otolith Sr and Ba concentrations significantly discriminated the caging sites for one trial. Individual weight gain did not have a significant influence on otolith elemental concentrations. Co, Rb, Cd, Sn, Zn, Sr and Ba otolith concentrations were significantly influenced by the trials. Water elemental composition was only partly reflected by otolith elemental composition. The results showed that otolith composition had a more integrative value than water composition. Complex elemental seasonal variations and individual eel incorporation potential complicated the interpretation of otolith composition. Liver and otolith Cd and Zn concentrations did not show a statistically significant correlation.

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field. © 2012 Landes Bioscience.

This paper introduces a framework to develop and characterize digital circuits using Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors (CNFET). We define a 4-step process that involves design capture, pre-processing, circuit simulation and results extraction and interpretation. The initial work leading to this framework involves the selection of appropriate CNFET model and model parameters, and determination of optimized substrate voltage. Through a set of custom-design automated scripts, various logic gates were simulated, data were compiled and characterization results were obtained. A complete approximate squarer circuit was also designed, implemented and characterized using the framework. To demonstrate the power of Carbon Nanotube technology, the same circuit was also implemented in 16 nm CMOS technology for comparison. An improvement by factor of 17× in PDP was achieved with CNT.

Tone-mapping (TM) aims to adapt high dynamic range images to conventional display devices. TM algorithms are usually implemented on general purpose processors and graphics processing units. Such platforms may not meet performance, area, power and flexibility constraints imposed by the embedded system domain. This paper presents the design and implementation of a customized processor for a global TM algorithm. Using an architecture description language, three custom instructions to calculate luminance, logarithm and maximum luminance were added to a 32-bit RISC-based processor. The logarithm was computed using an improved Mitchell approximation. Experimental results demonstrate a 169% performance improvement when adding all three instructions, with a hardware overhead of only 22%.

Particle filters have been widely used for video tracking due to their robustness. However, most particle filter algorithm implementations are computationally expensive which makes them ill-suited for real-time embedded systems. There have been some attempts to provide hardware implementations for the particle filter, but none of them tried to simplify the algorithm first in order to make it more efficient for the hardware implementation. In this paper, a new sampling algorithm inspired from the particle filter methodology is proposed. It includes a resampling scheme that uses a new method to assign the number of particles between filter iterations and a criterion to reduce the number of processed samples, both in order to reduce the computational burden. Our experiments demonstrate that the algorithm can be as accurate as the CONDENSATION algorithm, while reducing the computational load by a factor of 30%.

Determining the motion pattern of laboratory animals is very important in order to monitor their reaction to various stimuli. In this paper, we propose a robust method to track animals, and consequently determine their motion pattern. The method is designed to work under uncontrolled normal laboratory conditions. It consists of two steps. The first step tracks the animal coarsely, using the combination of four features, while the second step refines the boundaries of the tracked area, in order to fit more precisely the boundaries of the animal. The method achieves an average tracking error smaller than 5% for our test videos.

This paper presents a fine-grained configurable processor model used to generate image processing Application Specific Instruction Set Processors (ASIPs). A methodology to develop a minimal instruction set ASIP with the processor model is also proposed. The methodology is based on using specialized instructions in conjunction with Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) subsetting to reduce hardware costs and improve execution time. The performance of an FPGA implementation of the proposed processor model is measured for a two-dimensional Gaussian filter and results are compared to a popular commercial soft core processor. With ISA subsetting and specialized instructions, the proposed processor uses up to 45% fewer slices while achieving a 1.57× speedup.

Image contrast enhancement methods play a key role in many image processing and vision applications. For surveillance applications, real-time contrast improvement over the whole image is required when videos are taken in poor lighting conditions. It is also necessary to highlight details in shadowed regions without introducing artifacts. In this paper, several state-of-the-art contrast enhancement methods are compared. Image quality is evaluated by means of objective metrics such as intensity contrast and brightness error, and by subjective assessment. Execution time is also measured. Experimental results show that a technique based on histogram modification presents a better trade-off considering both aspects.

A reporter molecule consisting of a synthetic oligonucleotide is being characterised for a novel damage detection scenario for its potential use as a field-deployable, personal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) dosemeter for radiation detection. This dosemeter is devoid of any biological properties other than being naked DNA and therefore has no DNA repair capabilities. It supports biodosimetry techniques, which require lengthy analysis of cells from irradiated individuals, and improves upon inorganic dosimetry, thereby providing for a more relevant means of measuring the accumulated dose from a potentially mixed-radiation field. Radiation-induced single strand breaks (SSBs) within the DNA result in a quantifiable fluorescent signal. Proof of concept has been achieved over 250 mGy-10 Gy dose range in radiation fields from . 60Co, with similar results seen using a linear accelerator X-ray source. Further refinements to both the molecule and the exposure/detection platform are expected to lead to enhanced levels of detection for mixed-field radiological events. © Crown copyright 2011

For the first time a state-of-the-art CMOS foundry (CEA-LETI-MINATEC) has been used to design silicon nanostructures with single or multiple gates dedicated to the study of single electron effects. The nanofabrication uses two e-beam lithography steps to define an active region formed by silicon-on-insulator (SOI) nanowires of cross section down to 20 nm × 10 nm and polysilicon gates of lengths down to 20 nm. The pitch at the gate level (distance between centers of the successive gates) is as small as 70 nm. Several technological splits (SOI thickness, channel doping, LDD doping, nitride spacer’s length, trimming of active layer) have been made to compare devices differing only by one crucial parameter. Several dozen of designs have been introduced in the e-beam data base to analyse the impact of key geometrical parameters. As a whole more than 40,000 samples have been fabricated and several hundreds of them have been studied electrically, mostly at low temperature. Some of them are described in this contribution.