Safeguarded Processing of Sensor Data

International audienceThe spectrum of software tasks no longer includes only rare function controlling tasks for sensor actuator chains in reactive embedded systems. However, more and more responsible challenges like safety-critical scenarios are tackled. Therefore sensor data have to be safeguarded by several mechanism. An obvious and widely used approach is the use of two redundant hardware controllers, but this comes along with an additional cost, space and energy factor. Another way to fulfill certain safety properties is to implement a second diverse software channel in a single micro-controller architecture according the Safely Embedded Software (SES) approach. However, a lack of performance occurs by implementing this diverse channel for complex computations e.g. floating-point operations. This paper gives an approach for transferring the SES into a coprocessor and to migrate SES to a flexible and powerful FPGA architecture

Kupfer- und andere Schwermetalle in Hopfen- und Weinbergsböden und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Bodenzönose

Copper and other heavy metals in hop and vineyard soils and their effects on soil coenosisZusammenfassungHintergrund des Projektes sind Forderungen der EU, verlässliche Daten über das Ausmaß der Kupferbelastung in Sonderkulturböden zu generieren, um über eine weitere Zulassung kupferhaltiger Pflanzenschutzmittel im ökologischen Landbau zu entscheiden. Bei der Beprobung von 85 Reb- und 13 Hopfenlagen an konventionell und ökologisch bewirtschafteten Standorten wurden 2522 Einzelbodenproben von Prüf-, Referenz- (Brachen, wo früher Kupfer angewendet wurde) und Kontrollflächen, ohne anthropogen zugeführtes Kupfer zur Analyse der Kupfer-Gesamtgehalte im Königwasserextrakt und der pflanzenverfügbaren Kupfergehalte im NH4NO3-Extrakt entnommen. Zusätzlich wurden Bodenparameter wie pH-Wert, C/N-Verhältnis, Bodenart etc. untersucht. Die Korrelation zwischen pflanzenverfügbaren und Gesamtkupfergehalten ist nicht sehr hoch, eventuell wegen der Vielzahl an Einfluss nehmenden Faktoren wie z.B. unterschiedliche Bodenparameter oder Kulturmaßnahmen. Ein aktuell laufendes Regenwurmmonitoring soll Aufschluss über mögliche Schädigungen des Bodenlebens geben. Stichwörter: pflanzenverfügbares Kupfer, Sonderkulturen, Wein, Hopfen, Schwermetallanalyse, Risikoabschätzung, MonitoringAbstractBackground of the project are claims of the EU regulation to generate reliable data considering the extent of copper contaminations in soils of specialized crops in order to decide about copper restrictions in organic farming. 2522 single soil samples were collected on 85 vineyard and 13 hop areas with different management histories. Samples were taken from sites presently under cultivation, formerly cultivated sites and sites without anthropogenic copper contamination as control, indicating natural background values. In addition to Aqua Regia extraction for determining total copper contents, plant available copper contents were analyzed in NH4NO3 extraction. Soil parameters as pH-value, C/N ratio, soil type etc. were also analyzed. The correlation between plant available and total copper contents is not very high probably due to the broad range of relevant values e.g. soil parameters or cultivation measurements. An ongoing biological survey about the present status of earthworm populations will give information about possible impairments of soil coenosis.Keywords: plant available copper, specialized crops, vine, hop, heavy metal analysis, risk assessment, monitorin

An archival case study : revisiting the life and political economy of Lauchlin Currie

This paper forms part of a wider project to show the significance of archival material on distinguished economists, in this case Lauchlin Currie (1902-93), who studied and taught at Harvard before entering government service at the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Board as the intellectual leader of Roosevelt's New Deal, 1934-39, as FDR's White House economic adviser in peace and war, 1939-45, and as a post-war development economist. It discusses the uses made of the written and oral material available when the author was writing his intellectual biography of Currie (Duke University Press 1990) while Currie was still alive, and the significance of the material that has come to light after Currie's death

Light emission from direct band gap germanium containing split-interstitial defects

The lack of useful and cost-efficient group-IV direct band gap light emitters still presents the main bottleneck for complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-compatible short-distance data transmission, single-photon emission, and sensing based on silicon photonics. Germanium, a group-IV element like Si, is already widely used in silicon fabs. While the energy band gap of Ge is intrinsically indirect, we predict that the insertion of Ge-Ge split-[110] interstitials into crystalline Ge can open up a direct band gap transmission path. Here, we calculate from first principles the band structure and optical emission properties of Ge, Sb, and Sn split-[110] interstitials in bulk and low-dimensional Ge at different doping concentrations. Two types of electronic states provide the light-emission enhancement below the direct band gap of Ge: a hybridized L-Γ state at the Brillouin zone center and a conduction band of Δ band character that couples to a raised valence band along the Γ-X direction. Majority carrier introduced to the system through doping can enhance light emission by saturation of nonradiative paths. Ge-Sn split interstitials in Ge shift the top of the valence band towards the Γ-X direction and increase the Γ character of the L-Γ state, which results in a shift to longer emission wavelengths. Key spectral regions for datacom and sensing applications can be covered by applying quantum confinement in defect-enhanced Ge quantum dots for an emission wavelength shift from the midinfrared to the telecom regime.FWN – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide

Changes in Hepatic Venous Pressure Gradient Predict Hepatic Decompensation in Patients Who Achieved Sustained Virologic Response to Interferon-Free Therapy

BaCKgRoUND aND aIMS: Sustained virologic response (SVR) to interferon (IFN)-free therapies ameliorates portal hypertension (PH); however, it remains unclear whether a decrease in hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) after cure of hepatitis C translates into a clinical benefit. We as- sessed the impact of pretreatment HVPG, changes in HVPG, and posttreatment HVPG on the development of hepatic decompensation in patients with PH who achieved SVR to IFN-free therapy. Moreover, we evaluated transient elastogra- phy (TE) and von Willebrand factor to platelet count ratio (VITRO) as noninvasive methods for monitoring the evolu- tion of PH. appRoaCH aND ReSUltS: The study comprised 90 patients with HVPG ≥ 6 mm Hg who underwent paired HVPG, TE, and VITRO assessments before (baseline [BL]) and after (follow-up [FU]) IFN-free therapy. FU HVPG but not BL HVPG predicted hepatic decompensation (per mm Hg, hazard ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.08- 1.28; P < 0.001). Patients with BL HVPG ≤ 9 mm Hg or patients who resolved clinically significant PH (CSPH) were protected from hepatic decompensation. In patients with CSPH, an HVPG decrease ≥ 10% was similarly protective (36 months, 2.5% vs. 40.5%; P < 0.001) but was observed in a substantially higher proportion of patients (60% vs. 24%; P < 0.001). Importantly, the performance of noninva- sive methods such as TE/VITRO for diagnosing an HVPG reduction ≥ 10% was inadequate for clinical use (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC], < 0.8), emphasizing the need for HVPG measurements. However, TE/VITRO were able to rule in or rule out FU CSPH (AUROC, 0.86-0.92) in most patients, especially if assessed in a sequential manner. CoNClUSIoNS: Reassessment of HVPG after SVR im- proved prognostication in patients with pretreatment CSPH. An “immediate” HVPG decrease ≥ 10% was observed in the majority of these patients and was associated with a clinical benefit, as it prevented hepatic decompensation. These results support the use of HVPG as a surrogate endpoint for inter- ventions that lower portal pressure by decreasing intrahepatic resistance

Growth with Unused Capacity and Endogenous Depreciation

This paper contributes to the debate on income growth and distribution from a nonmainstream perspective. It looks, in particular, at the role that the degree of capacity utilization plays in the process of growth of an economy that is not perfectly competitive. The distinctive feature of the model presented in the paper is the hypothesis that the rate of capital depreciation is an increasing function of the degree of capacity utilization. This hypothesis implies analytical results that differ somewhat from those yielded by other Kaleckian models. Our model shows that, in a number of cases, the process of growth can be profit-led rather than wage-led. The model also determines the value to which the degree of capacity utilization converges in the long run

Catalogue of BRITE-Constellation targets I. Fields 1 to 14 (November 2013 - April 2016)

The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) mission collects photometric time series in two passbands aiming to investigate stellar structure and evolution. Since their launches in the years 2013 and 2014, the constellation of five BRITE nano-satellites has observed a total of more than 700 individual bright stars in 64 fields. Some targets have been observed multiple times. Thus, the total time base of the data sets acquired for those stars can be as long as nine years. Our aim is to provide a complete description of ready-to-use BRITE data, to show the scientific potential of the BRITE-Constellation data by identifying the most interesting targets, and to demonstrate and encourage how scientists can use these data in their research. We apply a decorrelation process to the automatically reduced BRITE-Constellation data to correct for instrumental effects. We perform a statistical analysis of the light curves obtained for the 300 stars observed in the first 14 fields during the first ~2.5 years of the mission. We also perform cross-identification with the International Variable Star Index. We present the data obtained by the BRITE-Constellation mission in the first 14 fields it observed from November 2013 to April 2016. We also describe the properties of the data for these fields and the 300 stars observed in them. Using these data, we detected variability in 64% of the presented sample of stars. Sixty-four stars or 21.3% of the sample have not yet been identified as variable in the literature and their data have not been analysed in detail. They can therefore provide valuable scientific material for further research. All data are made publicly available through the BRITE Public Data Archive and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics, 13 pages main text, 22 pages of appendi

Durability of SVR in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with peginterferon-a2a/ribavirin in combination with a direct-acting anti-viral

SUMMARY Background The introduction of direct-acting anti-virals has increased sustained virological response (SVR) rates in chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 infection. At present, data on long-term durability of viral eradication after successful triple therapy are lacking