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An innovative steam methane reforming for pure hydrogen production with molten salts as heat transfer fluid has been analyzed validating experimental data by means of a mathematical model. The technology, developed in the project CoMETHy and realized on a pilot scale at the ENEA-Casaccia research center, is based on a steam-reforming reactor with a structured open foam catalyst and Pd-based membranes, both integrated in the reaction environment to improve the reactor performance. The pilot plant allowed the production of ≥3 Nm 3 / h of pure hydrogen, achieving an overall methane conversion of 60% at

To live in the information society means to be surrounded by billions of electronic devices full of sensors that constantly acquire data. This enormous amount of data must be processed and classified. A solution commonly adopted is to send these data to server farms to be remotely elaborated. The drawback is a huge battery drain due to high amount of information that must be exchanged. To compensate this problem data must be processed locally, near the sensor itself. But this solution requires huge computational capabilities. While microprocessors, even mobile ones, nowadays have enough computational power, their performance are severely limited by the Memory Wall problem. Memories are too slow, so microprocessors cannot fetch enough data from them, greatly limiting their performance. A solution is the Processing-In-Memory (PIM) approach. New memories are designed that are able to elaborate data inside them eliminating the Memory Wall problem. In this work we present an example of such system, using as a case of study the Bitmap Indexing algorithm. Such algorithm is used to classify data coming from many sources in parallel. We propose an hardware accelerator designed around the Processing-In-Memory approach, that is capable of implementing this algorithm and that can also be reconfigured to do other tasks or to work as standard memory. The architecture has been synthesized using CMOS technology. The results that we have obtained highlights that, not only it is possible to process and classify huge amount of data locally, but also that it is possible to obtain this result with a very low power consumption.

During the years, microprocessors went through impressive performance improvement thanks to technology development. CPUs became able to process great quantities of data. Memories also faced growth especially in density, but as far as speed is concerned the improvement did not proceed as the same rate. Processing-in-Memory (PIM) consists in enhancing the storage unit of a system, adding computing capabilities to memory cells, partially eliminating the need to transfer data from memory to execution unit. In this paper, a PIM architecture is presented for bulk bitwise operation mapped on the Bitmap Index application. The architecture is a memory array with logical computing abilities inside the cells. The array is a configurable modular architecture distributed in different banks, each bank is able to perform a different operation at the same time. This architecture has remarkable performance being faster than other solutions available in literature.

Perpendicular NanoMagnet Logic (pNML) can be considered one of the most interesting emerging technology since it has unique features that cannot be naturally implemented with standard transistor technologies. Each device can act both as a memory and a logic circuit. Because of its intrinsic properties, this technology makes it possible to easily design 3D circuits. In this paper, we propose several complex architectures by exploiting the 3D integrability of the pNML technology. The presented circuits belong to different categories, covering both combinational and sequential circuits. Memory elements and logic circuits have been designed and simulated taking into account the technology constraints. As an absolute novelty, the first Finite State Machine based on pNML is also introduced.

The susceptibility of 253 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates to pyrazinamide (PZA) was assessed using the BACTECTM MGITTM 960 (M960) system. Resistant strains underwent paired repeat testing using 1) a critical concentration of 200 g/ml (PZA-200), and 2) a reduced inoculum of 0.25 ml. They were also examined using the BACTEC 460 (B460) reference method and investigated for pncA mutations. On M960, 37 isolates were resistant. In the PZA-200 assay, 20 of these were resistant and 17 susceptible, while 18 were resistant and 19 susceptible with reduced inoculum. The B460 assay and pncA sequencing confirmed results with reduced inoculum.

Processing systems are in continuous evolution thanks to the constant technological advancement and architectural progress. Over the years, computing systems have become more and more powerful, providing support for applications, such as Machine Learning, that require high computational power. However, the growing complexity of modern computing units and applications has had a strong impact on power consumption. In addition, the memory plays a key role on the overall power consumption of the system, especially when considering data-intensive applications. These applications, in fact, require a lot of data movement between the memory and the computing unit. The consequence is twofold: Memory accesses are expensive in terms of energy and a lot of time is wasted in accessing the memory, rather than processing, because of the performance gap that exists between memories and processing units. This gap is known as the memory wall or the von Neumann bottleneck and is due to the different rate of progress between complementary metal&ndash, oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology and memories. However, CMOS scaling is also reaching a limit where it would not be possible to make further progress. This work addresses all these problems from an architectural and technological point of view by: (1) Proposing a novel Configurable Logic-in-Memory Architecture that exploits the in-memory computing paradigm to reduce the memory wall problem while also providing high performance thanks to its flexibility and parallelism, (2) exploring a non-CMOS technology as possible candidate technology for the Logic-in-Memory paradigm.

In the last decades transistor scaling has driven electronics toward an extraordinary evolution. The ability to squeeze millions of transistors on a single chip makes it possible to have an incredible computational power in very small size. Many computational systems are still based on the Von Neumann architecture, where computational units and memory blocks are two separate entities. Nanometer-sized transistors enable the development of incredibly fast logic units that cannot work at full speed due to limitations in data transfer from memory. To further evolve electronic circuits, new innovative architectural solutions must be developed to overcome the main limitations of current systems. In this work, we present an architectural implementation of the Logic-In-Memory (LIM) concept that we characterize by considering three data-intensive benchmarks: the odd even sort, the integral image and the binomial filter. The architecture is synthesized on a 28 nm CMOS technology and it is validated by comparing it to a previous version of the LIM structure and to conventional architectures, showing an impressive increase in performance, in terms of speed gain and power consumption reduction.

This paper presents the design space exploration of a novel microprogrammable accelerator in which PEs are connected with a Network-on-Chip and benefit from low-power features enabled through a practical implementation of a Dual-V dd assignment scheme. An analytical model, fitted with postlayout data obtained with a 28nm FDSOI design kit, returns implementations with optimal energy-performance tradeoff by taking into consideration all the key design-space variables. The obtained Pareto analysis helps us infer optimization rules aimed at improving quality of design.

Specialized computing engines are required to accelerate the execution of Deep Learning (DL) algorithms in an energy-efficient way. To adapt the processing throughput of these accelerators to the workload requirements while saving power, Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) seems the natural solution. However, DL workloads need to frequently access the off-chip memory, which tends to make the performance of these accelerators memory-bound rather than computation-bound, hence reducing the effectiveness of DVFS. In this work we use a performance-power analytical model fitted on a parametrized implementation of a DL accelerator in a 28-nm FDSOI technology to explore a large design space and to obtain the Pareto points that maximize the effectiveness of DVFS in the sub-space of throughput and energy efficiency. In our model we consider the impact on performance and power of the off-chip memory using real data of a commercial low-power DRAM.

Among various emerging technologies, Nano Magnetic Logic (NML) is the one that may represent, in future, a replacement of CMOS for many reasons. In the last years, researchers have been conducting experiments to understand the properties and potentialities of this novel technology. NML can be used to build any kind of logic circuit and, because of its intrinsic magnetic nature, it is perfectly suitable to store data. However, the exploration of NML structures used as memories is very poor. In this paper, we propose the design of a 4×4 memory entirely based on perpendicular NML (pNML) technology. Magnets are placed onto two different overlapped layers to avoid routing congestion. The novelty introduced by this work is a distributed and modular memory cell that enables the design of highly regular memory structures optimized in terms of area occupation and write and read latency. The entire memory was also modeled in VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) and simulated to demonstrate its functional correctness.

La ricerca empirica sul Mental Imagery ha approfondito come soggetti non vedenti possano creare un’immagine mentale di cio che non hanno mai visto, o che hanno visto solo prima che sopraggiungesse la cecita; e come riescano, inoltre, a creare una rappresentazione mentale che consenta di muoversi ed orientarsi nello spazio. Nel presente studio sono state valutate anche le differenze fra persone non vedenti e ipovedenti, che hanno invece potuto usufruire di stimolazione visiva, anche se fortemente ridotta. Soggetti non vedenti e ipovedenti possono rappresentare mentalmente uno spazio o un oggetto, senza osservare gli stimoli tramite il senso della vista, ma attraverso altre modalita. I dati della ricerca, che si e avvalsa anche di un campione di controllo di normovedenti pareggiato per eta e genere, confermano che soggetti non vedenti ed ipovedenti hanno competenze sufficienti, seppur ridotte, per produrre immagini mentali e rappresentazioni spaziali. Condizioni sia dello stimolo che del contenuto dell’immagine influiscono sulla possibilita che questa possa essere generata adeguatamente.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a serious threat in industrialized countries, but information from Southern Italy is lacking. Here, we present the results of a retrospective study of TB cases diagnosed in 2008-2013 in Naples, the largest city in Southern Italy.Six hundred ninety Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains were isolated at the Ospedali dei Colli of Naples, and resistance to first-line and second-line drugs was determined.Multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB increased from 2008 to 2013, with 77.4% of strains isolated from migrants from 41 countries. Overall, 4.5% of strains were MDR: Italian-born persons, 2.2%; Romania, 7.5%; Former Soviet Union countries (Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Georgia), 22.4%; all other foreign countries, 2.0%. Resistance of MDR strains to second-line drugs was high against kanamycin, ofloxacin, capreomycin.MDR-TB in Naples increased in 2008-13 and was observed predominantly in migrants, indicating the need to intensify diagnosis and treatment of these populations in this town.

SummaryA case of visceral disseminated infection by Mycobacterium sherrisii in an African HIV-infected adolescent with multiple abdominal abscesses is reported. Despite multiple drug resistance to first-line antibiotics in vitro, long-term treatment with clarithromycin, moxifloxacin, and clindamycin, together with appropriate antiretroviral treatment, resulted in clinical and radiological cure after 19 months of therapy and follow-up.

Introduction: Nontuberculous mycobacterial lung infections are relatively common in immunocompromised patients but are now increasingly being diagnosed in immunocompetent individuals. These organisms are not always pathogenic bacteria when isolated from human samples. The identification of which isolates are contaminants or colonizers is based on internationally accepted criteria. The clinical significance of the isolation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from respiratory specimens in Italy is unknown. Objective: study was performed to evaluate the local epidemiology of NTM pulmonary infection in Naples in patients with positive respiratory specimens, and also to describe the clinical and radiological features of NTM pulmonary disease in immunocompetent patients with or without pre-existing lung disease. Methods: Between December 2006 and September 2009, the clinical records and radiological examinations of 39 patients with 55 positive cultures for NTM species by sputum or bronchial wash or lavage were reviewed. Results: According to microbiological, clinical and radiological criteria, our study identified 16 patients with NTM lung infection as a ‘disease’ group and 23 patients in a ‘contamination’ group but without disease. M. intracellulare (n = 7, 41.2%), followed by M. kansasii (n = 5, 29.4%) were the most common NTM found in the ‘disease’ group. We detected a high number of M. gordonae isolates in respiratory samples obtained by fibrobronchoscopy. Conclusions: We evaluated the clinical significance of isolations in our reference centre in Naples. Forty-one of all patients have ‘disease’, M. intracellulare and M. kansasii are mainly responsible. NTM species were analyzed in relation to their frequency. Assumptions were made about low pathogenic NTM isolations. Please cite this paper as: Del Giudice G, Iadevaia C, Santoro G, Moscariello E, Smeraglia R and Marzo C. Nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease in patients without HIV infection: a retrospective analysis over 3 years. Clin Respir J 2011; 5:203–210.

HIV infection is a risk factor for re-activation of latent tubercolosis infection (LTBI). In recent years new blood tests for the detection of TB infection have been developed: Quantiferon TB Gold in Tube and TSPOT TB, which are interferon-γ releasing assays (IGRAs), have improved the identification of LTBI. In our study we have compared IGRAs and TST in HIV-positive patients with different settings of immunodeficiency.98 consecutive HIV patients were recruited. They underwent a blood draw, a chest radiography and a tuberculin skin test. The HIV infection setting was detected and IGRAs were carried-out. Five patients showed a complete correspondence of TST, TSPOT-TB and QFT-IT. Discordant results were observed in patients testing positive to IGRAs but negative to TST. Only 2 patients showed positive TST and negative IGRAs.Our study showed a poor concordance between tuberculin skin test and IGRAs, mainly in patients with a low CD4 cell count.

In most computational systems memory access represents a relevant bottleneck for circuits performance. The execution speed of algorithms is severely limited by memory access time. An emerging technology like Nano Magnet Logic (NML), where its magnetic nature leads to an intrinsic memory ability, represents therefore a very promising opportunity to solve this issue. Nano Magnet Logic is the ideal candidate to implement the so called Logic-In-Memory (LIM) architecture. But how is it possible to organize an architecture where logic and memory are mixed and not separated entities? In this paper we try to address this issue presenting our recent developments on LIM architectures. We originally conceived a LIM architecture without considering any technological constraints. Here we present the first adaptation of that architecture to Nano Magnet Logic technology. The architecture is based on an array of identical cells developed on three virtual layers, one for logic, one for memory and one for information routing. These three virtual layers are mapped on two physical layers exploiting all our recent improvements on Nano Magnet Logic technology, which are validated with the help of low level simulations. The structure has been tested implementing two different algorithms, a sort algorithm and an image manipulation algorithm. A complete characterization in terms of area and power is reported. The structure here presented is therefore the first step of an ongoing effort directed toward the development of truly innovative architectures.

Nontuberculous mycobacterial lung infections are relatively common in immunocompromised patients but are now increasingly being diagnosed in immunocompetent individuals. These organisms are not always pathogenic bacteria when isolated from human samples. The identification of which isolates are contaminants or colonizers is based on internationally accepted criteria. The clinical significance of the isolation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from respiratory specimens in Italy is unknown.study was performed to evaluate the local epidemiology of NTM pulmonary infection in Naples in patients with positive respiratory specimens, and also to describe the clinical and radiological features of NTM pulmonary disease in immunocompetent patients with or without pre-existing lung disease.Between December 2006 and September 2009, the clinical records and radiological examinations of 39 patients with 55 positive cultures for NTM species by sputum or bronchial wash or lavage were reviewed.According to microbiological, clinical and radiological criteria, our study identified 16 patients with NTM lung infection as a 'disease' group and 23 patients in a 'contamination' group but without disease. M. intracellulare (n = 7, 41.2%), followed by M. kansasii (n = 5, 29.4%) were the most common NTM found in the 'disease' group. We detected a high number of M. gordonae isolates in respiratory samples obtained by fibrobronchoscopy.We evaluated the clinical significance of isolations in our reference centre in Naples. Forty-one of all patients have 'disease', M. intracellulare and M. kansasii are mainly responsible. NTM species were analyzed in relation to their frequency. Assumptions were made about low pathogenic NTM isolations.

Introduction: In addition to sterility testings for common bacteria, from 2006 on we have introduced in our laboratory sterility tests for mycobacteria on surgical instruments such as bronchoscope and lava-endoscope fluid used for their sterilization as well. Methods: Bronchology and Pneumology SUN departments, doing bronchoscopies, regularly send to our laboratory bronchoscopes washing fluids. Bronchology department also sends liquids used in lavaendoscopes. Our standard protocol consists of liquids inoculation directly on Lowenstein - Jensen (LJ) solid ground and on Middlebrook 7H9 liquid medium into Mgit test tubes, both produced by Becton Dickinson, within 42 days (1, 5, 6). Results: When growth of acid-alcohol resistant bacilli was detected, they were identified through probes or Accuprobe bioMerieux Inno- LIPA Mycobacteria by Innogenetics. All positivite results were related to M. Gordonae. As for the liquids examined, we found one positivite result in liquid medium in 2006 and none in 2007. On the contrary, in 2008 and the first 6 months of 2009, we have identified the following positive results: 2008 - 2009 (6m) LJ pos TOT 20 C. Lavaendoscope 8 V. 12 FBS We linked the positive findings on equipment with positivity for M. gordonae observed in patients undergoing bronchoscopy. Conclusions: Data analysis indicates within the period 2008-2009 we observed a recurring positivity for M. gordonae on equipment and therefore in some patients. On a careful evaluation, they showed no signs of clinical infection, also considering that this mycobacteria is usually a saprophyte (2, 3, 4). However, the protocol we adopted allowed us to recognize equipment contamination at birth and to urge fellow users to review sterilization protocols.

AimsTyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) can cause cardiovascular adverseevents. So far, the Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) charts of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) have beenused to identify cancer patients at increased cardiovascular risk. The primary aim of our study was to evaluate the usefulnessof the new cardiovascular risk assessment model proposed by the Cardio-Oncology Study Group of the Heart Failure Associ-ation (HFA) of the ESC in collaboration with the International Cardio-Oncology Society (ICOS) to stratify the cardiovascular riskin CML patients, compared with SCORE risk charts. The secondary aim was to establish the incidence of adverse arterial events(AEs) in patients with CML treated with TKIs and the influence of preventive treatment with aspirin.Methods and resultsA retrospective single-centre observational study was carried out on 58 patients (32 men and 26women; mean age ± SD: 59 ± 15 years) with CML treated with TKIs for a median period of 43 ± 31 months. Cardiological eval-uation was performed and cardiovascular risk was estimated with SCORE risk charts and with the new risk assessment toolproposed by HFA/ICOS. AEs were recorded. According to SCORE charts and the new HFA/ICOS risk stratification tool, respec-tively, 46% (Group A1) and 60% (Group A2) of patients were at high–very high risk, and 54% (Group B1) and 40% (Group B2) atlow–moderate risk. AEs were significantly more frequent in Group A1 than Group B1 (Pvalue

The present study aims to explore the potential influence of leucocyte telomere length (LTL) on both a single indicator and a composite construct of physical functioning in a large European population of elderly men and women across diverse geographical locations. A total of 1,221 adults (65-79 years) were recruited from five European countries within the framework of NU-AGE study. The physical functioning construct was based on the 36-item Short Form Health Survey. Handgrip strength was used as a single indicator of muscle function and LTL was assessed using quantitative real-time PCR. Women had significantly longer (p < 0.05) LTL than men. Participants in Poland had significantly shorter LTL than in the other study centers, whereas participants in the Netherlands had significantly longer LTL than most of the other centers (p < 0.01). An analysis of LTL as a continuous outcome against physical functioning by using linear models revealed inconsistent findings. In contrast, based on an analysis of contrasting telomere lengths (first vs. fifth quintile of LTL), a significant odds ratio (OR) of 1.7 (95% CI: 1.1 -2.6; p < 0.05) of having functional limitation was observed in those belonging to the first LTL quintile compared to the fifth. Interestingly, having the shortest LTL was still related to a higher likelihood of having physical limitation when compared to all remaining quintiles (OR: 1.5, 95% CI: 1.1 -2.1; p < 0.05), even after adjustment by study center, age, sex, and overweight status. Collectively, our findings suggest that short LTL is an independent risk factor that accounts for functional decline in elderly European populations. The influence of LTL on functional limitation seems driven by the detrimental effect of having short telomeres rather than reflecting a linear dose-response relationship.