Detector and Front-end electronics for ALICE and STAR silicon strip layers

Detector modules consisting of Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) and Front End Electronics (FEE) assembly have been designed in order to provide the two outer layers of the ALICE Inner Tracker System (ITS) [1] as well as the outer layer of the STAR Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) [2]. Several prototypes have beenproduced and tested in the SPS and PS beam at CERN to validate the final design. Double-sided, AC-coupled SSD detectors provided by two different manufacturers and also a pair of single-sided SSD have been asssociated to new low-power CMOS ALICE128C ASIC chips in a new detector module assembly. The same detectors have also been associated to current Viking electronics for reference purpose. These prototype detector modules are described and some first results are presented

Prognostic value of simple frailty and malnutrition screening tools in patients with acute heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Background: Frailty and malnutrition are common in patients with heart failure (HF), and are associated with adverse outcomes. We studied the prognostic value of three malnutrition and three frailty indices in patients admitted acutely to hospital with HF. Methods: 265 consecutive patients [62% males, median age 80 (interquartile range (IQR): 72–86) years, median NTproBNP 3633 (IQR: 2025–6407) ng/l] admitted with HF between 2013 and 2014 were enrolled. Patients were screened for frailty using the Derby frailty index (DFI), acute frailty network (AFN) frailty criteria, and clinical frailty scale (CFS) and for malnutrition using the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI), controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score and prognostic nutritional index (PNI). Results: According to the CFS (> 4), DFI, and AFN, 53, 50, and 53% were frail, respectively. According to the GNRI (≤ 98), CONUT score (> 4), and PNI (≤ 38), 46, 46, and 42% patients were malnourished, respectively. During a median follow-up of 598 days (IQR 319–807 days), 113 patients died. One year mortality was 1% for those who were neither frail nor malnourished; 15% for those who were either malnourished or frail; and 65% for those who were both malnourished and frail. Amongst the malnutrition scores, PNI, and amongst the frailty scores, CFS increased model performance most compared with base model. A final model, including CFS and PNI, increased c-statistic for mortality prediction from 0.68 to 0.84. Conclusion: Worsening frailty and malnutrition indices are strongly related to worse outcome in patients hospitalised with HF

Finding gene regulatory network candidates using the gene expression knowledge base

BACKGROUND: Network-based approaches for the analysis of large-scale genomics data have become well established. Biological networks provide a knowledge scaffold against which the patterns and dynamics of ‘omics’ data can be interpreted. The background information required for the construction of such networks is often dispersed across a multitude of knowledge bases in a variety of formats. The seamless integration of this information is one of the main challenges in bioinformatics. The Semantic Web offers powerful technologies for the assembly of integrated knowledge bases that are computationally comprehensible, thereby providing a potentially powerful resource for constructing biological networks and network-based analysis. RESULTS: We have developed the Gene eXpression Knowledge Base (GeXKB), a semantic web technology based resource that contains integrated knowledge about gene expression regulation. To affirm the utility of GeXKB we demonstrate how this resource can be exploited for the identification of candidate regulatory network proteins. We present four use cases that were designed from a biological perspective in order to find candidate members relevant for the gastrin hormone signaling network model. We show how a combination of specific query definitions and additional selection criteria derived from gene expression data and prior knowledge concerning candidate proteins can be used to retrieve a set of proteins that constitute valid candidates for regulatory network extensions. CONCLUSIONS: Semantic web technologies provide the means for processing and integrating various heterogeneous information sources. The GeXKB offers biologists such an integrated knowledge resource, allowing them to address complex biological questions pertaining to gene expression. This work illustrates how GeXKB can be used in combination with gene expression results and literature information to identify new potential candidates that may be considered for extending a gene regulatory network. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12859-014-0386-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Recherches complémentaires en laboratoire sur quelques céramiques de Pistiros

National audienc

How to encourage non-donors to be more willing to donate blood? Testing of binding communication based interventions

International audienc

New constraints on geomagnetic field intensity variations in the Balkans during the Early Byzantine period from ceramics unearthed at Thasos and Delphi, Greece

We report on five new archeomagnetic field intensity data obtained in Greece from groups of pottery fragments precisely dated to between the middle of the fourth century and the beginning of the seventh century CE. These potsherds were unearthed on the islands of Thasos (Northern Greece) and Delphi (Central Greece). Their dating is primarily ensured by typo-morphological arguments, combined with archeological and historical constraints. Archeointensity measurements were performed using the Triaxe protocol, which involves continuous magnetization measurements at high temperatures and which allows us to overcome the thermoremanent magnetization anisotropy and cooling rate effects. Magnetic mineralogy measurements such as low-field magnetic susceptibility versus temperature and thermal demagnetization of three orthogonal IRM components have identified magnetite with possible impurities as the main carrier of the magnetization. The new data range from 52.0μT to 61.5μT after reduction to Thessaloniki and show an increase in geomagnetic field intensity in Greece during the Early Byzantine period. They appear in good agreement with previous intensity results satisfying a set of quality criteria and obtained in a region of 700 km around Thessaloniki, therefore incorporating data from Bulgaria, Greece and South Italy. This study is part of an ongoing effort to better constrain the evolution in geomagnetic field intensity in the Balkans over the past few millennia, with potential use for dating in archeology. The rapid intensity variations documented here during the Early Byzantine period are clearly of interest in this respect. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Neural harmonic detection approaches for FPGA area efficient implementation

This paper deals with new neural networks based harmonics detection approaches to minimize hardware resources needed for FPGA implementation. A simple type of neural network called Adaline is used to build an intelligent Active Power Filter control unit for harmonics current elimination and reactive power compensation. For this purpose, two different approaches called Improved Three-Monophase (ITM) and Two-Phase Flow (TPF) methods are proposed. The ITM method corresponds to a simplified structure of the three-monophase method whereas the TPF method derives from the Synchronous Reference Frame method. Indeed, for both proposed methods, only 50% of Adalines with regard to the original methods is used. The corresponding designs were implemented on a FPGA Stratix II platform through Altera DSP Builder® development tool. After analyzing those two methods with respect to performance and size criteria, a comparative study with the popular p-q and also the direct method is reported. From there, one can notice that the p-q is still the most powerful method for three-phase compensation but the TPF method is the fastest and the most compact in terms of size. An experimental result is shown to validate the feasibility of FPGA implementation of ANN-based harmonics extraction algorithms