Search

The HKROC ASIC was originally designed to readout the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) for the Hyper-Kamiokande (HK) experiment. HKROC is a very innovative ASIC capable of readout a large number of channels satisfying stringent requirements in terms of noise, speed and dynamic range. Each HKROC channel features a low-noise preamplifier and shapers, a 10-bit successive approximation Analog-to-Digital Converter (SAR-ADC) (designed by AGH Krakow) for the charge measurement (up to 2500 pC) and a Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) (designed by CEA IRFU group) for the Time-of-Arrival (ToA) measurement with 25 ps binning. HKROC is auto-triggered and includes all necessary ancillary services as bandgap circuit, PLL (Phase-locked loop) and threshold DACs (Digital to Analog Converters). This paper will describe the ASIC architecture and the experimental results of the first HKROC prototype received in January 2022.

Journal of Instrumentation 17(05), P05022 (2022). doi:10.1088/1748-0221/17/05/P05022, The Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration is designing a new high-granularity endcap calorimeter, HGCAL, to be installed later this decade. As part of this development work, a prototype system was built, with an electromagnetic section consisting of 14 double-sided structures, providing 28 sampling layers. Each sampling layer has an hexagonal module, where a multipad large-area silicon sensor is glued between an electronics circuit board and a metal baseplate. The sensor pads of approximately 1.1 cm$^{2}$ are wire-bonded to the circuit board and are readout by custom integrated circuits. The prototype was extensively tested with beams at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron in 2018. Based on the data collected with beams of positrons, with energies ranging from 20 to 300 GeV, measurements of the energy resolution and linearity, the position and angular resolutions, and the shower shapes are presented and compared to a detailed Geant4 simulation., Published by Inst. of Physics, London

International audience; The paper describes various multi-channel ASICs designed by OMEGA laboratory and WEEROC company to readout SiPM or MPPC-based detectors used in particle physics or astrophysics experiments.

International audience; 1 Abstract—The two variants of HGCROC are the ASICs designed to readout the more than 6 million channels of the future HGCAL of CMS, which will consist of hexagonal silicon sensors for a large part but also SiPM-on-scintillators tiles. The SiPM version of the chip was made from the silicon version by adapting only the first amplifier stage. The first aspect is on the performance for both versions in terms of noise, charge and timing, the DAQ and Trigger paths, as well as results from irradiation qualification with total ionizing dose and heavy ions for single-event effects. The third version of HGCROC chip is a major digital release, with RadHard solutions and an additional buffer.

The High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL), presently being designed by the Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration (CMS) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters for the High Luminosity phase of the LHC, will feature unprecedented transverse and longitudinal readout and triggering segmentation for both electromagnetic and hadronic sections. The requirements for the front-end electronics are extremely challenging, including high dynamic range (0-10 pC), low noise (~2000 electrons), high-precision timing information in order to mitigate the pileup effect (25 ps binning) and low power consumption (~15 mW/channel). The front-end electronics will face a harsh radiation environment which will reach 200 Mrad at the end of life. It will work at a controlled temperature of 240 K. HGCROV-V2 is the second prototype of the front-end ASIC. It has 72 channels of the full analog chain: low noise and high gain preamplifier and shapers, and a 10-bit 40 MHz SAR-ADC, which provides the charge measurement over the linear range of the preamplifier. In the saturation range of the preamplifier, a discriminator and TDC provide the charge information from TOT (Time Over Threshold) over 200 ns dynamic range using 50 ps binning. A fast discriminator and TDC provide timing information to 25 ps accuracy. Both charge and timing information are kept in a DRAM memory waiting for a Level 1-trigger decision (L1A). At a bunch crossing rate of 40 MHz, compressed charge data are sent out to participate in the generation of the L1-trigger primitives. We report on the performances of the chip in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, charge and timing, as well as results from radiation qualification with total ionizing dose (TID). The High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL), presently being designed by the Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration (CMS) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters for the High Luminosity phase of the LHC (HL-LHC), will feature unprecedented transverse and longitudinal readout and triggering segmentation for both electromagnetic and hadronic sections. The requirements for the front-end electronics are extremely challenging, including high dynamic range (0–10 pC), low noise (0∼ 200 electrons), high-precision timing information in order to mitigate the pileup effect (25 ps binning) and low power consumption (∼ 15 mW/channel). The front-end electronics will face a harsh radiation environment which will reach 200 Mrad at the end of life. It will work at a controlled temperature of 240 K. HGCROC-v2 is the second prototype of the front-end ASIC. It has 72 channels of the full analog chain: low noise and high gain preamplifier and shapers, and a 10-bit 40 MHz SAR-ADC, which provides the charge measurement over the linear range of the preamplifier. In the saturation range of the preamplifier, a discriminator and TDC provide the charge information from TOT (Time Over Threshold) over 200 ns dynamic range using 50 ps binning. A fast discriminator and TDC provide timing information to 25 ps accuracy. Both charge and timing information are kept in a DRAM memory waiting for a Level 1-trigger decision (L1A). At a bunch crossing rate of 40 MHz, compressed charge data are sent out to participate in the generation of the L1-trigger primitives. We report on the performances of the chip in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, charge and timing, as well as results from radiation qualification with total ionizing dose (TID).

Journal of Instrumentation 16(04), T04001 (2021). doi:10.1088/1748-0221/16/04/T04001, The CMS experiment at the CERN LHC will be upgraded to accommodate the 5-fold increase in the instantaneous luminosity expected at the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) [1]. Concomitant with this increase will be an increase in the number of interactions in each bunch crossing and a significant increase in the total ionising dose and fluence. One part of this upgrade is the replacement of the current endcap calorimeters with a high granularity sampling calorimeter equipped with silicon sensors, designed to manage the high collision rates [2]. As part of the development of this calorimeter, a series of beam tests have been conducted with different sampling configurations using prototype segmented silicon detectors. In the most recent of these tests, conducted in late 2018 at the CERN SPS, the performance of a prototype calorimeter equipped with ���12,000 channels of silicon sensors was studied with beams of high-energy electrons, pions and muons. This paper describes the custom-built scalable data acquisition system that was built with readily available FPGA mezzanines and low-cost Raspberry Pi computers., Published by Inst. of Physics, London

Journal of Instrumentation 16(04), T04002 (2021). doi:10.1088/1748-0221/16/04/T04002, As part of its HL-LHC upgrade program, the CMS collaboration is developing a High Granularity Calorimeter (CE) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. The CE is a sampling calorimeter with unprecedented transverse and longitudinal readout for both electromagnetic (CE-E) and hadronic (CE-H) compartments. The calorimeter will be built with ���30,000 hexagonal silicon modules. Prototype modules have been constructed with 6-inch hexagonal silicon sensors with cell areas of 1.1 cm2, and the SKIROC2-CMS readout ASIC. Beam tests of different sampling configurations were conducted with the prototype modules at DESY and CERN in 2017 and 2018. This paper describes the construction and commissioning of the CE calorimeter prototype, the silicon modules used in the construction, their basic performance, and the methods used for their calibration., Published by Inst. of Physics, London

The High Luminosity phase of the Large Hadron Collider will deliver 10 times more integrated luminosity than the existing collider, posing significant challenges for radiation tolerance and event pileup on detectors, especially for forward calorimetry. As part of its upgrade program, the Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration is designing a high-granularity calorimeter (HGCAL) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. It will feature unprecedented transverse and longitudinal readout and triggering segmentation for both electromagnetic and hadronic sections. The electromagnetic section and a large fraction of the hadronic section will be based on hexagonal silicon sensors of 0.5-1 cm2 cell size, with the remainder of the hadronic section being based on highly-segmented scintillators with silicon photomultiplier readout. The intrinsic high-precision timing capabilities of the silicon sensors will add an extra dimension to event reconstruction, especially in terms of pileup rejection. First hexagonal silicon modules, using the existing Skiroc2 front-end ASIC developed for CALICE, have been tested in beams at Fermilab and CERN in 2016. We present results from these tests, in terms of system stability, calibration with minimum-ionizing particles and resolution (energy, position and timing) for electrons, and the comparisons of these quantities with GEANT4-based simulation. © 2018 CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration.. Nuclear Physics Collegio Ghislieri di Pavia China Medical University, Taiwan Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences aInsitute for High Energy Physics, Beijing, China bLaboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Palaiseau, France cOrganization for Microelectronics design and Applications (OMEGA), Palaiseau, France dSaha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India eTata Institute for Fundamental Research, Bombay, India fUniversity of Pavia, Pavia, Italy gCERN, Geneva, Switzerland hNational Central University, Chung-Li, Taiwan iNational Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan jCukurova University, Adana, Turkey kImperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, U.K. lBoston University, Boston, U.S.A. mCalifornia Insitute of Technology, Pasadena, U.S.A. nCarnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, U.S.A. oFermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, U.S.A. pFlorida State University, Tallahassee, U.S.A. qNorthwestern University, Evanston, U.S.A.

Triroc is the latest addition to SiPM readout ASICs family developed at Weeroc, a start-up company from the Omega microelectronics group of IN2P3/CNRS. This chip is developed under the framework TRIMAGE European project which is aimed for building a cost effective tri-modal PET/MR/EEG brain scan. To ensure the flexibility and compatibility with any SiPM in the market, the ASIC is designed to be capable of accepting negative and positive polarity input signals. This 64-channel ASIC, is suitable for SiPM readout which requires high accuracy timing and charge measurements. Targeted applications would be PET prototyping with time-of-flight capability. Main features of Triroc includes high dynamic range ADC up to 2500 photoelectrons and TDC fine time binning of 40 ps. Triroc requires very minimal external components which means it is a good contender for compact multichannel PET prototyping. Triroc is designed by using AMS $0.35 ~\mu\hbox{m}$ SiGe technology and it was submitted in March 2014. The detail design of this chip will be presented.

SPACIROC (Spatial Photomultiplier Array Counting and Integrating ReadOut Chip) is the front-end ASIC designed for the space-borne fluorescent telescope JEM-EUSO (Extreme Universe Space Observatory onboard Japanese Experiment Module). This ASIC is dedicated to readout 64-channel Multi-Anode Photo-Multiplier Tube (MAPMT). The two main features are the photon counting for each input and the charge conversion for each 8-channel sum. In the photon counting mode, 100% trigger efficiency is achieved for 1/3 photo-electron (p.e.) input charges. In order to avoid pile-up in the case of a large flux of photons, the double pulse separation must be shorter than 10 ns. The high-speed performance is obtained with a low power consumption (1 mW/channel) thanks to the SiGe technology and by integrating photo-electron trigger counters and a dedicated design to improve the double pulse separation up to 100 MHz. For the charge measurement, the ASIC should operate with a large dynamic range (1 p.e. to 100 p.e. per pixel). SPACIROC3 has been designed to improve the double pulse resolution compared to the previous version, which was extensively used in the EUSO balloon campaign of 2014. The architecture and the performance of the photon counting part will be detailed in this presentation.

Triroc is a highly configurable SiPM readout ASIC intended for PET prototyping with time-of-flight capability. This 64-channel ASIC incorporates a dual triggering system that will flag the arrival photons and provides energy cut-off at a specified level. Time and charge measurements are performed internally by 40ps-bin TDC and 10-bit ADC. The analog design of this ASIC has been optimized for accepting positive and negative polarity inputs while maintaining nearly similar performances for both input polarities. Channel-by-channel input DC level adjustment is also available in order to correct the non-uniformity of SiPM array and fine tuning each pixel gain. Additionally, the digital conversions are assignable to other analog components, which extends the suitability of Triroc for any application requiring SiPM readout.

Summary Inoculation of several animal species with a tissue culture passaged strain of Allerton virus, isolated at Gikongoro, Ruanda-Urundi, produced local skin lesions in bovines, sheep, goats, rabbits, guinea-pigs and baby mice. The reaction was of a necrotic character in bovines, sheep and guineapigs. Rabbits and goats showed reddening and thickening of the skin followed by scab formation. Baby mice proved highly susceptible to the virus by various routes. They developed skin lesions in which multinucleate giant cells were found similar to those observed in infected tissue cultures. Zusammenfassung Allerton-Virus, ein zytopathogenes Agens, vergesellschaftet mit „Lumpy Skin Disease” II. Beimpfung von Tieren mit Virus, das auf Gewebekulturen passagiert wurde Verschiedene Tierarten wurden mit einem auf Gewebekultur passagierten Stamm des Allerton-Virus, der in Gikongoro, Ruanda-Urundi, isoliert worden war, beimpft. Dabei wurden bei Rindern, Schafen, Ziegen, Kaninchen, Meerschweinchen und Sauglingsmausen ortliche Hautveranderungen hervorgerufen. Bei Rindern, Schafen und Meerschweinchen war die Reaktion von nekrotischem Charakter. Kaninchen und Ziegen zeigten Rotung und Verdickung der Haut, gefolgt von Krustenbildung. Sauglingsmause schienen fur das Virus auf verschiedenen Infektionswegen hochempfanglich zu sein. Sie entwickelten Hautveranderungen, in denen sich vielkernige Riesenzellen fanden, die denen glichen, die auch in infizierten Gewebekulturen gefunden wurden. Resume Un virus Allerton, agent cytopathogene en rapport avec la „Lumpy Skin Disease” II. Inoculation du virus a divers animaux apres passage sur culture de tissu Diverses especes animales ont ete inoculees avec une souche de virus Allerton isole a Gikongoro au Ruanda Urundi apres passage sur culture de tissu. On provoqua ainsi diez des bovins, des moutons, des chevres, des lapins, des cobayes et des souriceaux des lesions cutanees locales. Chez le boeuf, le mouton et le cobaye la reaction avait un caractere necrotique. Le lapin et la chevre presentaient une rougeur et un epaississement de la peau suivis de la formation de croutes. Les souriceaux semblent tres sensibles au virus et plusieurs voies d'infection sont possibles. Ils presentaient des lesions cutanees montrant des cellules geantes multinucleees qui ressemblent a celles que l'on trouve aussi dans les cultures de tissu infectees. Resumen El virus Allerton, un agente citopatogeno, asociado a la „enfermedad de piel nodular o aterronada” II. Inoculacion de animales con virus, al que se han dado unos pases por cultivos histicos Diversas especies animales fueron inoculadas con una cepa del virus Allerton, pasado por cultivos histicos, aislado en Gikongoro, Ruanda-Urundi. Con ella se produjeron alteraciones cutaneas locales en bovidos, ovejas, cabras, conejos, cobayas y ratones lactantes. En el ganado bovino, ovejas y cobayas, la reaccion era de caracter necrotico. Los conejos y cabras presentaban enrojecimiento y engrosamiento de la piel, seguido de formacion de costras. Los ratones lactantes parecieron ser altamente receptibles para el virus, siguiendo diferentes vias de infeccion. Se desarrollaron alteraciones cutaneas, en las cuales se encontraron celulas gigantes polinucleares, que se asemejaban a las que tambien se hallaron en tejidos histicos infectados.

ummary Experimental transmission of a virus, considered to be the cause of a severe dermatitis and stomatitis in cattle under field conditions in the Belgian Congo, was carried out on calves, sheep and goats. Extensive generalized skin lesions could not be reproduced experimentally, but a severe ulcerative stomatitis developed in the inoculated animals; some of them showed also cutaneous reactions on the muzzle and legs. Sheep and goats reacted more severely to the infection than calves and some of them died. Calves of pure native origin withstood the infection better than crossbred animals and one of the latter succumbed to the disease, developing severe lesions in the anterior portion of the digestive tract. Zusammenfassung Ubertragungsversuche mit einem Virus, das eine Dermatitis und ulzerative Stomatitis bei Rindern in Ruanda-Urundi verursacht Es wurden Ubertragungsversuche bei Kalbern, Schafen und Ziegen mit einem Virus durchgefuhrt, von dem man annimmt, das es unter naturlichen Bedingungen schwere Dermatitiden und Stomatitiden bei Rindern in Belgisch Congo verursacht. Umfangreiche generalisierte Hautlasionen konnten experimentell nicht hervorgerufen werden, jedoch entwickelte sich eine schwere ulzerative Stomatitis bei den infizierten Tieren. Einige von ihnen wiesen Hautreaktionen am Maul und an den Beinen auf. Schafe und Ziegen reagierten heftiger auf die Infektion als Kalber. Von den ersteren starben auch einige. Bei den Kalbern, die eingeborenen Rassen angehorten, konnte eine erhohtere Widerstandskraft gegenuber der Infektion beobachtet werden als bei den Kreuzungstieren, von denen auch ein Tier an dieser Krankheit starb. Bei diesem Tier entwickelten sich mehrere schwere Lasionen in den vorderen Gebieten des Verdauungstraktus. Resume Essais de transmission d'un virus qui provoque une dermatite et une stomatite ulcerative chez les bovides a Ruanda-Urundi Des essais de transmission furent effectues chez des veaux, des moutons et des chevres avec un virus dont on admet qu'il provoque dans des conditions naturelles des dermatites et stomatites graves chez les bovins au Congo Belge. Des lesions cutanees etendues ou generalisees ne purent etre reproduites dans l'infection experimentale. Cependant une stomatite ulcerative grave apparut chez les animaux infectes. Quelques animaux presenterent des reactions cutanees dans la region de la bouche et sur les membres. Les moutons et les chevres reagirent plus vivement a l'infection que les veaux. Il y eu meme chez les premiers des cas mortels. Chez les veaux qui appartenaient a des races indigenes on put constater une resistance plus grande a l'infection que chez les animaux de croisement. Parmi ceux-ci, un veau mourut de la maladie et l'on constata chez cet animal plusieurs lesions graves dans les parties anterieures du tube digestif. Resumen Ensayos de transmision con un virus que ocasiona la dermatitis y estomatitis ulcerativa de los bovidos en Ruanda-Urundi En terneras, ovejas y cabras se realizaron ensayos de transmision con un virus, del que supone que bajo condiciones naturales da lugar a graves dermatitis y estomatitis en el ganado vacuno en el Congo Belga. Por via experimental no se pudieron producir extensas lesiones cutaneas generalizadas, desarrollandose no obstante una grave estomatitis ulcerative en los animales infectados. Algunos de ellos mostraron reacciones cutaneas en el hocico y en las patas. Las ovejas y cabras reaccionaron con mayor intensidad frente a la infeccion que las terneras. De las primeras tambien murieron algunas. En las terneras pertenecientes a razas autoctonas se pudo observar una mayor resistencia frente a la infeccion que en los animales cruzados, uno de los cuales tambien murio de esta enfermedad. En este animal se desarrollaron varias lesiones graves en los primeros tramos del tracto digestivo.

The design of an interface to a specific sensor induces costs and design time mainly related to the analog part. So to reduce these costs it should have been standardized like digital electronics. The aim of the present work is the elaboration of a method based on multi objectives genetic algorithms (MOGAS) to allow automated synthesis of analog and mixed systems. This proposed methodology is used to find the optimal dimensional transistor parameters (length and width) in order to obtain operational amplifier performances for analog and mixed CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)-based circuit applications. Six performances are considered in this study, DC gain, unity-gain bandwidth, phase margin, power consumption, area, and slew rate. We used the Matlab optimization toolbox to implement the program. Also by using variables obtained from genetic algorithms, the operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) is simulated by using Cadence Virtuoso Spectre circuit simulator in standard TSMC RF 0.18μm CMOS technology. A good agreement is observed between the program optimization and electric simulation.

Petiroc is a 16-channel front-end ASIC designed to readout silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) for particle time-of-flight measurement applications. Petiroc combines a very fast and low-jitter trigger with an accurate charge measurement. The concept of the ASIC is to combine two measurement lines that won't interfere one with another to measure both first incident photon timing measurement and whole crystal light charge integration. An adjustment of the SiPM high voltage is possible using a channel-by-channel input DAC. That allows a fine SiPM gain and dark noise adjustment at the system level to correct for the non-uniformity of SiPMs. The power consumption is 3.5 mW/channel, excluding ASIC outing buffer. First measurement on Petiroc shows a time jitter down to 16ps on 20 photoelectrons test pulses and 46ps with 15 photoelectrons from a Hamamatsu MPPC. Charge measurement has been measured and 1% linearity has been measured up to 2000 photoelectrons. Energy resolution has been measured at 9.5% FWMH. The main application of Petiroc is PET time-of-flight prototyping but can be used for any application that requires both sharp time resolution and precise energy measurement.

International audience; SKIROC2_CMS is a chip derived from CALICE SKIROC2 that provides 64 channels of low noise charge preamplifiers optimized for 50 pF pin diodes and 10 pC dynamic range. They are followed by high gain and low gain 25 ns shapers, a 13-deep 40 MHz analog memory used as a waveform sampler at 40 MHz. and 12-bit ADCs. A fast shaper followed by discriminator and TDC provide timing information to an accuracy of 50 ps, in order to test TOT and TOA techniques at system level and in test-beam. The chip was sent to fabrication in January 2016 in AMS SiGe 0,35 μm and was received in May. It was tested in the lab during the summer and will be mounted on sensors for beam-tests in the fall.

The OMEGAPIX2 chip embeds a matrix of channels implemented in two vertically integrated (3D) circuits and designed to read out a matrix of 96×24 plannar pixels. The form factor of each pixel is 35×200 μm. The first 3D devices's layer includes the analogue part of the channel processing, it will be bounded to the sensor by connecting the channel inputs and the sensors pixels by the Through Silicon Vias (TSV); the other layer performs the digital memorization of each events and manages the sorting of good events after the Level 1 (L1) trigger acquisition. In this paper, the 3D technology is briefly described, some design considerations are discussed and some typical simulations are shown. The circuit has been submitted in October 2011 and is waited to be received in December 2012.

G. Kocjan, B. Cochand-Priollet, P. P. de Agustin, C. Bourgain, A. Chandra, Y. Daneshbod, A. Deery, J. Duskova, C. Ersoz, G. Fadda, A. Fassina, P. Firat, B. Jimenez-Ayala, P. Karakitsos, O. Koperek, N. Matesa, D. Poller, L. Thienpont, A. Ryska, U. Schenck, T. Sauer, F. Schmitt, E. Tani, T. Toivonen, M. Tötsch, G. Troncone, L. Vass and P. Vielh Diagnostic terminology for reporting thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology: European Federation of Cytology Societies thyroid working party symposium, Lisbon 2009 A European Federation of Cytology Societies (EFCS) working party of 28 members from 14 European countries met at the European Congress of Cytology in Lisbon in September 2009, with two observers from the USA, to discuss the need for standardising thyroid FNA nomenclature in the light of the National Institute of Cancer (NCI) recommendations resulting from the State of the Science conference in Bethesda in 2007. The data were obtained through two questionnaires sent by email and a transcript of the live discussion at the congress, which is presented in full. The surveys and discussion showed that there were currently no national terminologies for reporting thyroid FNA in the different European countries except in Italy and the UK. Personal, 'local', surgical pathology and descriptive terminologies were in use. All but one of the working party members agreed that thyroid FNA reporting should be standardised. Whilst almost a third would adopt the NCI Bethesda terminology, which offers the advantages of a 'risk of cancer' correlation and is linked to clinical recommendations, more than half favoured a translation of local terminology as the first step towards a unified nomenclature, as has been done recently in the UK. There was some disagreement about the use of: a) the six-tiered as opposed to four or five-tiered systems, b) the use of an indeterminate category and c) the 'follicular neoplasm' category, which was felt by some participants not to be different from the 'suspicious of malignancy' category. The conclusions will be passed to the different national societies of cytology for discussion, who will be asked to map their local terminologies to the Bethesda classification, observe its acceptance by clinicians and audit its correlation with outcome. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

This work has been done in order to study a new technology provided by X-FAB named xt018. It is an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) technology with a minimal gate length of 180 nm. Building blocks have been done to test the advantages and drawbacks of this technology compared to the one currently used (AMS SiGe 0.35 μm). These building blocks have been designed to fit in an existing experience housed by the CALICE collaboration: the read-out chip for the Electromagnetic CALorimeter (ECAL) of the foreseen International Linear Collider (ILC). Performances will be compared to those of the SKIROC2 chip designed by the OMEGA laboratory, trying to fit the same requirements. The chip is being manufactured and will be back for measurements in December, the displayed results are only simulation results and thus the conclusions concerning the performances of these building blocks are subject to change.

Petiroc and Citiroc are the two latest ASIC from Weeroc dedicated to SiPM read-out.Petiroc is a 16-channel front-end ASIC designed to readout silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) for particle time-of-flight measurement applications. It combines a very fast and low-jitter trigger with an accurate charge measurement.Citiroc is a 32-channel front-end ASIC designed to readout silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM). It allows triggering down to 1/3 pe and provides the charge measurement with a good noise rejection. Moreover, Citiroc outputs the 32-channel triggers with a high accuracy (100 ps).Each channel of both ASICs combines a trigger path with an accurate charge measurement path. An adjustment of the SiPM high voltage is possible using a channel-by-channel input DAC. That allows a fine SiPM gain and dark noise adjustment at the system level to correct for the non-uniformity of SiPMs.Timing measurement down to 16 ps RMS jitter for Petiroc and 100 ps RMS for Citiroc is possible along with 1% linearity energy measurement up to 2500 pe. The power consumption is around 3.5 mW/channel for Petiroc and 3 mW/channel for Citiroc, excluding ASICs outing buffer.

Zusammenfassung: Der Einflus von parenteralem Prednisolonazetat und oralen Antibiotika auf das Manifestwerden gastrointestinaler Candidosen beim Meerschweindien und die anschliesende Behandlung mit Miconazol wurden untersucht. Weiterhin wurde gepruft, inwieweit Miconazol bei Mausen Candida-Infektionen beeinflust, die ohne pradisponierende Stoffe hervorgerufen wurden. Miconazol beugte dem Manifestwerden dieser Infektionen vor, bzw. heilte in hoheren Dosen schon nachweisbare Infektionen. Die mit Miconazol erzielten Ergebnisse werden im Zusammenhang mit der Antibiotika-Prophylaxe bei Chirurgie-Patienten diskutiert. Summary: The effects of parenteral prednisolone acetate and oral antibiotics on the establishment of gastrointestinal candidosis in guinea pigs and its treatment with miconazole are reported. The effect of miconazole in gastrointestinal candidal infection in mice induced without predisposing agents was also studied. Miconazole was able to prevent establishment of the infection and at the higher doses to cure an already established infection. The results of miconazole treatment are discussed in relation to the clinical use of antibiotics in the prophylaxis of surgical patients.

Flubendazole is a broad spectrum anthelmintic which is well tolerated in all animals species. Its activity against the intestinal, migrating and encysted phase of Trichinella spiralis in rats has been tested. Flubendazole admixed in the diet of rats at 8 p.p.m. and administered for 7 consecutive days, was 100% active against the adult T. spiralis . Flubendazole prophylactically administered at 16 p.p.m. from day — 2 to day + 7 of infection was completely effective. A diet containing 125 p.p.m. of flubendazole given for 14 days was almost 100% active against migrating and encysted larvae; at 500 p.p.m. given for 2 or 3 weeks, it was 100% active against both phases.

Neoheterakis chapini n.g., n.sp. (Nematoda: Heterakoidea) is described from the caecum of a Congopeacock Afropavo congensis Chapin, 1936. The diagnostic features of the subfamily Spinaspidoderinae are extended to accomodate the new genus.

A relatively large number of animal models of candidosis exist in which the efficacy of antifungal substances can be evaluated. These include models of candidosis of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, genital system, and internal organs in a variety of animal species. The efficacy of ketoconazole administered orally and topically was evaluated; when given orally in relatively low doses, ketoconazole was found to be efficacious in all of the experimental models used. Scanning and transmission electron micrographs of infected tissue demonstrated the rapidity with which Candida albicans was eradicated from the host after administration of ketoconazole.

A severe outbreak of Trichuris suis infection in piglets is described. Fifteen per cent of the animals died and the morbidity, characterised by weight loss and diarrhoea, was over 50 per cent. The severity of symptoms observed in naturally infected pigs was related to the number of whipworms. A chemotherapeutic trial was worked out with flubendazole mixed in food for naturally infected and artificially infected piglets. Flubendazole at 30 ppm for five consecutive days controlled the infection in the pigs. Immature T suis in artificially infected pigs were also controlled at the same dose administered for 10 consecutive days.

Miconazole nitrate was investigated in 169 normal volunteers for its safety and its antifungal action on the bronchial and intestinal flora after oral administration, and for its biotransport and transformation after oral, intravaginal and percutaneous administration. — Oral doses of 3 g a day for nine weeks produced no haematological, biochemical or ECG abnormalities. Within the first week of treatment, miconazole significantly reduced the number of fungal colonies in cultures of sputum and faeces, and inhibited tetracycline-induced fungal overgrowth in the faeces. Oral miconazole significantly improved dermatophytosis. — Miconazole was absorbed moderately well from the gastrointestinal tract and was virtually not absorbed from the mucous membrane and skin.

Third-stage Haemonchus contortus larvae can derive additional energy from an aerobic metabolism. This is concluded from the following observations: 1 - the larvae exhibit a Pasteur effect, 2 - an electron transport system from NADH 2 and succinate to oxygen, which is rotenone, antimycin A and KCN sensitive, is demonstrable, 3 - cytochrome oxidase is present. Under anaerobic conditions these larvae may meet some of their energy requirements by a NADH 2 -coupled fumarate-succinate system which is tetramisole-sensitive.

A characteristic infection pattern was observed in nonscarified adult guinea-pigs that had been artificially infected with Candida albicans, and injected with 1 dose of 200 mg/kg of alloxan. Lesions appeared less rapidly in nonscarified animals but within 8–15 days of the induced infection the lesions were maximal and were much more homogeneous than in scarified animals. The guinea-pig is an excellent laboratory model for the study of anticandidal substances.

TETRAMISOLE is a potent, orally and parenterally effective broad spectrum anthelmintic. Studies in various species of domestic animals and in man have shown tetramisole to affect numerous species of roundworms (Thienpont et al., 1966). A single oral administration of 40 mg. tetramisole base per kg. body weight has a 96 to 100% effect against adult and immature forms of Capillaria obsignata (Madsen, 1945), Heterakis gallinarum (Schrank, 1788) and Ascaridia galli (Schrank, 1788). The present paper deals with the effect produced by a single or repeated administration of 40 mg. tetramisole base per kg. body weight, on growth rate and feed efficiency of healthy broilers, free from intestinal parasites. EXPERIMENTAL In a first experiment three hundred and twenty male broiler type chicks (Hybro) were used. They were supplied from a commercial hatchery ** as one day old chicks issued from the same breed. The birds were wing banded individually, raised in electrically …

1-[2-(2,4-Dichlorophenyl)-2-(2-propenyloxy)-ethyl]-1H-imidazole (imazalil) base and different salts were tested in vitro on various pathogenic fungi and bacteria; in vivo on guinea-pigs, rats and turkeys experimentally infected with dermatophytes and Candida albicans. In vitro the dermatophytes were the most sensitive. The plant-pathogenic fungi were more sensitive to the base than to the salts. The antibacterial activity was low. The in vivo antifungal activity was high for the dermatophytes and rather low for Candida. The acute, subacute and chronic toxicity studies in rats and dogs showed that imazalil wa a well tolerated substance. Ocular and dermal irritation were not seen at therapeutic doses. Fertility and reproductive capacity were not affected and embryotoxicity and teratogenicity were not seen. No mutagenic or cancerogenic potential was found.

The progressive micromorphological changes in Taenia taeniaeformis cysticerci, induced by a single parenteral treatment of the infected mice with mebendazole, are described. The time-related alterations concerned the tegument and tegumental cells and were successively: disappearance of microtubules, accumulation of secretory substances in the Golgi areas, decrease in number to complete loss of microtriches, "ballooning" of all tegumental cells with subsequent burst, vacuolization and degeneration of the tegument, and finally necrosis of the pseudoproglottids. Similar but less pronounced injuries were seen in the scolices, although microtubules disappeared as early as in the pseudoproglottids. Microtubules from the host tissues remained intact. The meaning of the apparent primary interference of mebendazole with the microtubular system in relation to the subsequently observed death of the cysticercoids is discussed.

The ultrastructural changes in the intestines of Ascaris suum and Syngamus trachea, induced by in vivo treatment of the hosts with the anthelmintic mebendazole, are reported. The primary site of drug action seemed to be the organelles involved in the secretory mechanism of the intestinal cells. The block in the transport of secretory granules and in the movement of other subcellular organelles coincided clearly with the disappearance of cytoplasmic microtubules. On the other hand, the microtubular system of the host cells was unaffected by the treatment. Degenerative changes in the intestinal cells of the parasites observed afterwards were correlated with the primary deteriorative effect of the drug on cytoplasmic microtubules.

Toxocara vitulorum infection in calves has been diagnosed in several European and in most subtropical and tropical countries. All breeds of cattle are susceptible to infection which is transmitted from cow to calf by the transmammary route. The infective larvae, present in the colostrum, develop directly to adult parasites in the calf. Clinical signs of disease depend on the wormburden and may cause severe enteritis and even death. In herds where toxocariasis is prevalent, a treatment with levamisole is indicated for the calf and the cow. The possibility of transmission to man to produce visceral larva migrons should be considered.

Ninety-, 60-, and 40-percent population coverages with levamisole 2.5 mg/kg of body weight were compared for their effects on Ascaris lumbricoides, ancylostoma, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Trichuris trichiura infections. They were shown to be effective in maintaining a reduced prevalence of A. lumbricoides in the treated subjects for 9, 6, and 3 months, respectively. Nine months after treatment, the prevalence of ascariasis was still lower than before treatment both in the levamisole and in the control subjects, regardless of the population coverage. This was probably because the egg output had been reduced. It is concluded that mass treatment with single oral doses of levamisole repeated at 3-month intervals might help control ascariasis, and that population coverages between 60 and 90% might be appropriate. No clear-cut effects against hookworms could be shown, possibly because the first follow-up examinations were performed three months after treatment. No changes in the prevalence of S. stercoralis and T. trichiura could be demonstrated. There were no adverse exp

Toxocara vitulorum, a parasite of suckling calves, was again diagnosed in Belgium in imported cattle of French origin. The infectious larvae are present in the milk and colostrum; they do not undergo further migration in the tissues of calves. This form of transmammary migration is not specific of T. vitulorum, but was also reported in S. ransomi in pigs. Treatment with levamisole at a dosage of 5 mg/kg results in complete disappearance of the worms. In addition to the cycles, the elements of a specific parasitological diagnosis are also described.

The time-related topographical changes in mature cysticerci of Taenia taeniaformis induced after medication of infected mice with 250 ppm of mebendazole are described. The changes included the gradual disappearance of microtriches and progressive degeneration of the tegment resulting in an irregular surface with grooves, holes, and craterlike structures. Host cells adhered to the altered areas and the number of these cells increased when more severe changes became apparent. Finally the necrotized cysticerci, which lost their tegument completely, were almost entirely covered with adhesive host cells. A difference in the time sequence of the reported changes occurred between the scolex, the pseudoproglottids, and the bladder. This difference in susceptibility towards the drug between the three parts of the parasite in relation to the morphology of their microtrichous covering is discussed.