Implementation Issues of Kohonen Self-Organizing Map Realized on FPGA

Abstract. Presented are the investigations showing an impact of the length of data signals in hardware implemented Kohonen Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) on the quality of the learning process. The aim of this work was to determine the allowable reduction of the number of bits in particular signals that does not deteriorate the network behavior. The efficiency of the learning process has been quantified by using the quantization error. The results obtained for the SOM realized on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), as well as by means of the software model of the SOM show that the smallest allowable resolution (expressed in bits) of the weight signals equals seven, while the minimal bit length of the neighborhood signal ranges from 3 to 6 (depending on the map topology). For such values and properly selected values of other parameters the learning process remains undisturbed. Reducing the number of bits has an influence on the number of neurons that can be synthesized on a single FPGA device.

Emergency Computed Tomography: What is Missed at First Reading?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of preliminary computed tomography (CT) interpretations made by radiology residents in the emergency department

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia: to transplant or not to transplant - is there a right time for liver transplantation?

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia is characterized by arterio-venous malformations (AVM). It frequently involves the liver without clinical symptoms, but may lead to biliary ischaemia, portal hypertension, or fatal high-output heart failure. The indication of liver transplantation is controversial

L'éveil des Muses

L’Éveil des Muses : le titre du volume de mélanges offert au professeur Édouard Guitton et qui paraît dans la collection « Interférences » des Presses universitaires de Rennes indique clairement qu’il y est question de poésie – et pour l’essentiel, compte tenu de l’époque à laquelle le destinataire a consacré ses recherches, de la poésie des Lumières. Une bonne trentaine de contributions réunissent les plus grands noms du temps : Voltaire, Chénier, Roucher, Parny, Delille… non sans regarder à l’occasion en amont et en aval. Elles laissent aussi place à des écrivains moins attendus (Laclos en versificateur, Rousseau et sa « poésie du cœur »), et à nombre de minores, jusqu’à cet abbé Beuf inconnu du catalogue de la BnF. Car le XVIIIe siècle fut un siècle de poètes, il n’y a pas si longtemps qu’on en est assuré, tout particulièrement grâce aux travaux d’Édouard Guitton. Comme le donnent à comprendre les titres des trois sections du volume, « Figures », « Poétiques », « Enjeux », plusieurs approches et méthodes ont été employées, de l’analyse très attentive des textes, aux études théoriques et à l’histoire littéraire. Elles interviennent ici, non en compétition, mais dans une féconde complémentarité : livre d’amis pour un ami, cet Éveil des Muses est un livre savant, qui enrichira aussi bien notre connaissance du XVIIIe siècle que celle du genre auquel il est consacré

The genetics of recurrent hydatidiform moles: new insights and lessons from a comprehensive analysis of 113 patients

Hydatidiform mole is an aberrant human pregnancy characterized by early embryonic arrest and excessive trophoblastic proliferation. Recurrent hydatidiform moles are defined by the occurrence of at least two hydatidiform moles in the same patient. Fifty to eighty percent of patients with recurrent hydatidiform moles have biallelic pathogenic variants in NLRP7 or KHDC3L. However, in the remaining patients, the genotypic types of the moles are unknown. We characterized 80 new hydatidiform mole tissues, 57 of which were from patients with no mutations in the known genes, and we reviewed the genotypes of a total of 123 molar tissues. We also reviewed mutation analysis in 113 patients with recurrent hydatidiform moles. While all hydatidiform moles from patients with biallelic NLRP7 or KHDC3L mutations are diploid biparental, we demonstrate that those from patients without mutations are highly heterogeneous and only a small minority of them are diploid biparental (8%). The other mechanisms that were found to recur in patients without mutations are diploid androgenetic monospermic (24%) and triploid dispermic (32%); the remaining hydatidiform moles were misdiagnosed as moles due to errors in the analyses and/or their unusual mechanisms. We compared three parameters of genetic susceptibility in patients with and without mutations and show that patients without mutations are mostly from non-familial cases, have fewer reproductive losses, and more live births. Our data demonstrate that patients with recurrent hydatidiform moles and no mutations in the known genes are, in general, different from those with mutations; they have a milder genetic susceptibility and/or a multifactorial etiology underlying their recurrent hydatidiform moles. Categorizing these patients according to the genotypic types of their recurrent hydatidiform moles may facilitate the identification of novel genes for this entity