Spectral Ranking in Complex Networks Using Memristor Crossbars

Various centrality measures have been proposed to identify the influence of each node in a complex network. Among the most popular ranking metrics, spectral measures stand out from the crowd. They rely on the computation of the dominant eigenvector of suitable matrices related to the graph: EigenCentrality, PageRank, Hyperlink Induced Topic Search (HITS) and Stochastic Approach for Link-Structure Analysis (SALSA). The simplest algorithm used to solve this linear algebra computation is the Power Method. It consists of multiple Matrix-Vector Multiplications (MVMs) and a normalization step to avoid divergent behaviours. In this work, we present an analog circuit used to accelerate the Power Iteration algorithm including current-mode termination for the memristor crossbars and a normalization circuit. The normalization step together with the feedback loop of the complete circuit ensure stability and convergence of the dominant eigenvector. We implement a transistor level peripheral circuitry around the memristor crossbar and take non-idealities such as wire parasitics, source driver resistance and finite memristor precision into account. We compute the different spectral centralities to demonstrate the performance of the system. We compare our results to the ones coming from the conventional digital computers and observe significant energy savings while maintaining a competitive accuracy

Can mean platelet volume be used as a biomarker for asthma?

Introduction : Platelets play important roles in airway inflammation and are activated in inflammatory lung diseases, including asthma. Aim :We evaluated the mean platelet volume (MPV), used as a marker of platelet activation, in asthmatic patients during asymptomatic periods and exacerbations compared to healthy controls to determine whether MPV can be used as an indicator of inflammation. Material and methods :Our patient group consisted of95 children with exacerbation of asthma who were admitted to our allergy clinic. The control group consisted of 100 healthy children matched for age, gender, and ethnicity. Mean platelet volume values of the patient group obtained during exacerbation of asthma were compared to those of the same group during the asymptomatic period and with the control group. We investigated factors that can affect the MPV values of asthma patients, including infection, atopy, immunotherapy treatment, and severity of asthma exacerbation. Results :The patient group consisted of 50 (52.6%) boys and 45 (47.4%) girls with a mean age of 125 ±38 months old. Mean MPV values in the exacerbation period, the healthy period, and in the control group were 8.1 ±0.8 fl, 8.1 ±1.06 fl, and 8.2 ±0.9 fl, respectively; there were no significant differences between groups (p > 0.05). The severity of asthma, severity of asthma exacerbation, immunotherapy, coinfection, eosinophil count, and IgE level also had no effect on MPV (p > 0.05). Conclusions : Although platelets play a rolein the pathophysiology of asthma, MPV measurement is insufficient to detect inflammation through platelet

Clinical and Laboratory Characteristics of Hyperprolactinemia in Children and Adolescents: National Survey

Conclusion: We present the largest cohort of children and adolescents with hyperprolactinemia in the literature to date. Hyperprolactinemia is more common in females and cabergoline is highly effective and practical to use in adolescents, due to its biweekly dosing. Indications for surgery in pediatric cases need to be revised

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Memristor-Based Crossbar Applications in Machine Learning and Analog Circuit Design

The shift to the AI/ML driven data processing resulted in a significant research demand in this field. Due to the inefficiency of the conventional computers, analog and mixed-signal data processing structures became feasible solutions and memristor-based crossbars are among the popular ones. They are able to solve Vector-Matrix-Multiplications (VMMs) with a higher energy efficiency and competitive accuracy compared to digital computers. This dissertation proposes the implementation of the memristor-based crossbars in various ML applications including linear algebraic operations, Markov Chains, Eigencentrality measures, Gaussian Processes, complex networks, power method and custom analog circuit applications to perform critical tunable filtering tasks. The core block of this proposed work, memristor crossbars, are evaluated and analyzed in terms of non-idealities and noise in the system and the accuracy limits of the system is discussed. The overall performance comparison with the existing conventional methods are also discussed and given for each application. The main non-idealities discussed in this work are but not limited to: interconnect resistance and capacitance, source driver resistance, finite gain and bandwidth peripheral circuitry, random op-amp offset, memristor programming error, thermal noise, and programming noise. The comparison between the memristor crossbars and other conventional digital and analog systems revealed that memristor crossbars provide significant energy savings while maintaining a competitive accuracy. When they are being used as an analog processing core in a digital system, the round trip resulting from the analog to digital conversion limits their efficiency. The advances in material science and circuit design is projected to improve memristor-based processing accuracy to a digital precision scale

A case of immune-mediated type 1 diabetes mellitus due to congenital rubella infection

Congenital rubella infection is a transplacental infection that can cause intrauterine growth retardation, cataracts, patent ductus arteriosus, hearing loss, microcephaly, thrombocytopenia, and severe fetal injury. It has been shown that type 1 diabetes mellitus develops in 12%-20% of patients with congenital rubella infection, and disorders in the oral glucose tolerance test is observed in 40% of patients. No biochemical or serological markers exist which could indicate that type 1 diabetes was caused by a congenital rubella infection. We report a 13-year-old male patient who was admitted to our hospital with complaints of new-onset polyuria, polydipsia, urination, and weight loss. In addition, he was found to have neurosensory hearing loss, patent ductus arteriosus, and microcephaly. Immune-mediated type 1 diabetes mellitus was considered due to the fact that the autoantibodies of diabetes mellitus were positive

Presenting with Isolated Hepatitis Caused by Congenital Rubella Infection Due to Maternal Rubella Vaccination

Congenital rubella syndrome is a transplacental infection that may cause serious devastating damage in the fetus, including intrauterine growth retardation, cataracts, patent ductus arteriosus, hearing loss, microcephaly, thrombocytopenia, and hepatitis. Rubella vaccine is administered for preventing congenital rubella syndrome. It is suggested that patients must be screened for pregnancy before vaccination and should be informed regarding contraception for 3 months after vaccination. Herein, we presented a 1-month-old boy to whom rubella vaccine was administered. After performing multiple diagnostic studies to exclude other liver disorders, the patient, who had high liver enzymes, was diagnosed with congenital rubella infection by his mother's history and positive anti-rubella IgM. His liver enzymes returned to normal at 2 months of age of the follow-up period. Negative anti-rubella IgM was revealed at 6 months of age. As a result, when rubella vaccine is administered in pregnancy, high liver enzymes might occur without other congenital rubella syndrome signs in newborns. Infants who are borne by pregnant women with rubella vaccination should be monitored

Presenting with Isolated Hepatitis Caused by Congenital Rubella Infection Due to Maternal Rubella Vaccination

Congenital rubella syndrome is a transplacental infection that may cause serious devastating damage in the fetus, including intrauterine growth retardation, cataracts, patent ductus arteriosus, hearing loss, microcephaly, thrombocytopenia, and hepatitis. Rubella vaccine is administered for preventing congenital rubella syndrome. It is suggested that patients must be screened for pregnancy before vaccination and should be informed regarding contraception for 3 months after vaccination. Herein, we presented a 1-month-old boy to whom rubella vaccine was administered. After performing multiple diagnostic studies to exclude other liver disorders, the patient, who had high liver enzymes, was diagnosed with congenital rubella infection by his mother's history and positive anti-rubella IgM. His liver enzymes returned to normal at 2 months of age of the follow-up period. Negative anti-rubella IgM was revealed at 6 months of age. As a result, when rubella vaccine is administered in pregnancy, high liver enzymes might occur without other congenital rubella syndrome signs in newborns. Infants who are borne by pregnant women with rubella vaccination should be monitored