78 research outputs found
Pixel-wise parameter adaptation for single-exposure extension of the image dynamic range
High dynamic range imaging is central in application fields like surveillance, intelligent transportation and advanced driving assistance systems. In some scenarios, methods for dynamic range extension based on multiple captures have shown limitations in apprehending the dynamics of the scene. Artifacts appear that can put at risk the correct segmentation of objects in the image. We have developed several techniques for the on-chip implementation of single-exposure extension of the dynamic range. We work on the upper extreme of the range, i. e. administering the available full-well capacity. Parameters are adapted pixel-wise in order to accommodate a high intra-scene range of illuminationsPeer reviewe
Efficacy and safety of secukinumab for the treatment of severe ABCA12 deficiency‐related ichthyosis in a child
Summary Background Patients with severe autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI) show a T helper 17/interleukin 17 (Th17/IL17) skewing in their skin and serum, resembling the inflammatory profile of psoriatic patients. Secukinumab, an IL‐17A inhibitor, has shown clinical efficacy in patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis. Aims To test the clinical efficacy and safety of secukinumab in a paediatric patient with ATP‐binding cassette subfamily A member 12 deficiency‐related severe erythrodermic ARCI. Materials & Methods 6‐months therapeutic trial. During the first 4‐weeks induction period, the patient received weekly subcutaneous injections of 150 mg secukinumab (five injections in total). During the following 20‐weeks maintenance period, the patient was given a subcutaneous injection of 150 mg secukinumab every 4 weeks. Result & Discussion After the 6‐months therapy period, there was a 48% reduction from the baseline Ichthyosis‐Area‐Severity‐Index (‐Erythema/‐Scaling) score. The treatment was well tolerated. Moreover, cytokine analysis revealed a reduction of keratinocyte‐derived proinflammatory cytokines and an abrogation of Th17‐skewing during therapy. Conclusion Further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of the use of IL‐17A inhibition in ARCI patients
A De Novo Mutation in COL1A1 in a Holstein Calf with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type II
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) type II is a genetic connective tissue disorder characterized by bone fragility, severe skeletal deformities and shortened limbs. OI usually causes perinatal death of affected individuals. OI type II diagnosis in humans is established by the identification of heterozygous mutations in genes coding for collagens. The purpose of this study was to characterize the pathological phenotype of an OI type II-affected neonatal Holstein calf and to identify the causative genetic variant by whole-genome sequencing (WGS). The calf had acute as well as intrauterine fractures, abnormally shaped long bones and localized arthrogryposis. Genetic analysis revealed a private heterozygous missense variant in COL1A1 (c.3917T>A) located in the fibrillar collagen NC1 domain (p.Val1306Glu) that most likely occurred de novo. This confirmed the diagnosis of OI type II and represents the first report of a pathogenic variant in the fibrillar collagen NC domain of COL1A1 associated to OI type II in domestic animals. Furthermore, this study highlights the utility of WGS-based precise diagnostics for understanding congenital disorders in cattle and the need for continued surveillance for rare lethal genetic disorders in cattle
MSSM Higgs Couplings to Bottom Quarks: Two-Loop Corrections
We present the two-loop SUSY-QCD corrections to the effective bottom Yukawa
couplings within the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model.
The effective Yukawa couplings include the resummation of the non-decoupling
corrections Delta m_b for large values of tg(beta). We have derived the
two-loop SUSY-QCD corrections to the leading SUSY-QCD and top-induced
SUSY-electroweak contributions to Delta m_b. The scale dependence of the
resummed Yukawa couplings is reduced from O(10%) to the per-cent level. These
results reduce the theoretical uncertainties of the MSSM Higgs branching ratios
to the accuracy which can be achieved at a future linear e+e- collider.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Difluorination of α-(bromomethyl)styrenes via I(I)/I(III) catalysis: facile access to electrophilic linchpins for drug discovery
Simple α-(bromomethyl)styrenes can be processed to a variety of 1,1-difluorinated electrophilic building blocks via I(I)/I(III) catalysis. This inexpensive main group catalysis strategy employs p-TolI as an effective organocatalyst when combined with Selectfluor® and simple amine·HF complexes. Modulating Brønsted acidity enables simultaneous geminal and vicinal difluorination to occur, thereby providing a platform to generate multiply fluorinated scaffolds for further downstream derivatization. The method facilitates access to a tetrafluorinated API candidate for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Preliminary validation of an enantioselective process is disclosed to access α-phenyl-β-difluoro-γ-bromo/chloro esters
Spin fluctuations, magnetic long-range order and Fermi surface gapping in NaxCoO2
In this study an extended low energy phase diagram for NaxCoO2 is
experimentally established with emphasis on the high x range. It is based on
systematic heat capacity studies on both polycrystalline and single crystalline
samples and on uSR measurements. Main features are the existence of mass
enhancement, spin fluctuations without long-range order, and magnetic order
with associated Fermi surface gapping. The latter is seen in the electronic
density of states (DOS) and suppression of nuclear specific heat. While there
is agreement between the band structure and the low energy DOS in the low x
range, in the high x range (x > 0.6) the thermodynamically determined DOS is
approximately three times that deduced from the angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy (ARPES)-measured band dispersion or local-density approximation
(LDA) calculations.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
The barocaloric effect: A Spin-off of the Discovery of High-Temperature Superconductivity
Some key results obtained in joint research projects with Alex M\"uller are
summarized, concentrating on the invention of the barocaloric effect and its
application for cooling as well as on important findings in the field of
high-temperature superconductivity resulting from neutron scattering
experiments.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure
New allowed mSUGRA parameter space from variations of the trilinear scalar coupling A0
In minimal Supergravity (mSUGRA) models the lightest supersymmetric particle
(assumed to be the lightest neutralino) provides an excellent cold dark matter
(CDM) candidate. The supersymmetric parameter space is significantly reduced,
if the limits on the CDM relic density, obtained from WMAP data, are used.
Assuming a vanishing trilinear scalar coupling A0 and fixed values of
tan(beta), these limits result in narrow lines of allowed regions in the
m0-m1/2 plane, the so called WMAP strips. In this analysis the trilinear
coupling A0 has been varied within +/-4 TeV. A fixed non vanishing A0 value
leads to a shift of the WMAP strips in the m0-m1/2 plane.Comment: Typos corrected, Fig.1. updated, references adde
A Comprehensive Workflow for General-Purpose Neural Modeling with Highly Configurable Neuromorphic Hardware Systems
In this paper we present a methodological framework that meets novel
requirements emerging from upcoming types of accelerated and highly
configurable neuromorphic hardware systems. We describe in detail a device with
45 million programmable and dynamic synapses that is currently under
development, and we sketch the conceptual challenges that arise from taking
this platform into operation. More specifically, we aim at the establishment of
this neuromorphic system as a flexible and neuroscientifically valuable
modeling tool that can be used by non-hardware-experts. We consider various
functional aspects to be crucial for this purpose, and we introduce a
consistent workflow with detailed descriptions of all involved modules that
implement the suggested steps: The integration of the hardware interface into
the simulator-independent model description language PyNN; a fully automated
translation between the PyNN domain and appropriate hardware configurations; an
executable specification of the future neuromorphic system that can be
seamlessly integrated into this biology-to-hardware mapping process as a test
bench for all software layers and possible hardware design modifications; an
evaluation scheme that deploys models from a dedicated benchmark library,
compares the results generated by virtual or prototype hardware devices with
reference software simulations and analyzes the differences. The integration of
these components into one hardware-software workflow provides an ecosystem for
ongoing preparative studies that support the hardware design process and
represents the basis for the maturity of the model-to-hardware mapping
software. The functionality and flexibility of the latter is proven with a
variety of experimental results
Supersymmetric Higgs Yukawa Couplings to Bottom Quarks at next-to-next-to-leading Order
The effective bottom Yukawa couplings are analyzed for the minimal
supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model at two-loop accuracy within
SUSY-QCD. They include the resummation of the dominant corrections for large
values of tg(beta). In particular the two-loop SUSY-QCD corrections to the
leading SUSY-QCD and top-induced SUSY-electroweak contributions are addressed.
The residual theoretical uncertainties range at the per-cent level.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, added comments and references, typos corrected,
results unchanged, published versio
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