Binary Replacement Technique for Application Programming Interface Level Simulation

International audienceDesign of complex embedded software requires ingenious solutions to many architectural problems. One such solution that would be a crucial catalyst in designing scalable and customized embedded software, is developed by API (Application Programming Interface) level simulator. The use of API level simulator has been gaining wide acceptance due to its design and verification efficiency by enabling parallel development in multiple software layers. However, there are two major bottlenecks in realizing practical systems: source code modification and recompilation of the target software. The paper proposes a novel simulation technique to resolve these two critical issues. The proposed technique makes it possible to replace any part of the target binary without modifying its source code and recompiling it

TKA patients with unsatisfying knee function show changes in neuromotor synergy pattern but not joint biomechanics

Nearly 20% of patients who have undergone total knee arthroplasty (TKA) report persistent poor knee function. This study explores the idea that, despite similar knee joint biomechanics, the neuro-motor synergies may be different between high-functional and low-functional TKA patients. We hypothesized that (1) high-functional TKA recruit a more complex neuro-motor synergy pattern compared to low-functional TKA and (2) high-functional TKA patients demonstrate more stride-to-stride variability (flexibility) in their synergies. Gait and electromyography (EMG) data were collected during level walking for three groups of participants: (i) high-functional TKA patients (n = 13); (ii) low-functional TKA patients (n = 13) and (iii) non-operative controls (n = 18). Synergies were extracted from EMG data using non-negative matrix factorization. Analysis of variance and Spearman correlation analyses were used to investigate between-group differences in gait and neuro-motor synergies. Results showed that synergy patterns were different among the three groups. Control subjects used 5–6 independent neural commands to execute a gait cycle. High functional TKA patients used 4–5 independent neural commands while low-functional TKA patients relied on only 2–3 independent neural commands to execute a gait cycle. Furthermore, stride-to-stride variability of muscles’ response to the neural commands was reduced up to 15% in low-functional TKAs compared to the other two groups

An extremely rare case of concurrent BRAF V600E mutation driven hairy cell leukemia and melanoma: case report and review of literature

BRAF protein is a serine/threonine kinase with 766 amino acids. Approximately 15% of human cancers harbor BRAF mutations as well as other BRAF anomalies (amplifications, fusions). Somatic mutations mainly occur in the catalytic kinase domain (CR3), and the predominant mutation is p.V600E which is the substitution of glutamic acid (E) for valine (V) as result of a mutation at codon 600 of the kinase domain. To our knowledge, the vast majority of the cancers have non-germline BRAF mutations. Here we describe a case of a 60-year-old female with a history of hairy cell leukemia (HCL) who presented with aphasia and forgetfulness. A follow-up Brain CT scan showed three distinct brain lesions which were found to be diagnostic of melanoma (confirmed by immunohistochemistry) with no evidence of a concurrent brain involvement by a B-cell neoplasm. Molecular studies confirmed the same BRAF p.V600E mutation in both malignancies (hairy cell leukemia and melanoma). Thereafter the patient was started on BRAF inhibitor treatment and is now symptom-free after one year of follow up. Having two concurrent malignancies with a shared BRAF mutation is extremely rare and makes this an excellent example of a genomic marker-driven treatment in two histologically and immunophenotypically distinct tumor

An extremely rare case of concurrent BRAF V600E mutation driven hairy cell leukemia and melanoma: case report and review of literature

BRAF protein is a serine/threonine kinase with 766 amino acids. Approximately 15% of human cancers harbor BRAF mutations as well as other BRAF anomalies (amplifications, fusions). Somatic mutations mainly occur in the catalytic kinase domain (CR3), and the predominant mutation is p.V600E which is the substitution of glutamic acid (E) for valine (V) as result of a mutation at codon 600 of the kinase domain. To our knowledge, the vast majority of the cancers have non-germline BRAF mutations. Here we describe a case of a 60-year-old female with a history of hairy cell leukemia (HCL) who presented with aphasia and forgetfulness. A follow-up Brain CT scan showed three distinct brain lesions which were found to be diagnostic of melanoma (confirmed by immunohistochemistry) with no evidence of a concurrent brain involvement by a B-cell neoplasm. Molecular studies confirmed the same BRAF p.V600E mutation in both malignancies (hairy cell leukemia and melanoma). Thereafter the patient was started on BRAF inhibitor treatment and is now symptom-free after one year of follow up. Having two concurrent malignancies with a shared BRAF mutation is extremely rare and makes this an excellent example of a genomic marker-driven treatment in two histologically and immunophenotypically distinct tumor

Redox flow desalination based on the temperature difference as a driving force

How to effectively reduce the consumption of electrical energy is a key topic in many studies of electrochemical desalination. In this work, we use the temperature difference to drive a continuous process of dialysis desalination. The system consists of a thermoelectric unit and a desalination unit connected in series. The thermoelectric unit includes a thermoelectric generator (TEG), a heater as heat source and an air-cooled heat sink to generate electricity and for the desalination unit. The desalination unit contains two platinum-coated hydrophobic carbon cloths as current collectors, a mixture of [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- as anolyte and catholyte, concentrated and diluted salt streams with two cationic and one anionic exchange membranes separated configuration (CEM|AEM|CEM). During the charging process driven by temperature difference, chloride and sodium ions in the diluted salt stream move to the concentrated salt stream and cathodic reservoir, respectively. The results show that the concentration of brine drops significantly from 5,000 ppm to 344.3 ppm as the current decreases to 0.06 mA from the initial 1.30 mA when the temperature difference is maintained at 65 K. Concurrently, the average salt removal rate is up to 8.8 μg cm-2 min-1 and average heat consumption is 284.3 MJ mole-1. Moreover, the influences from the temperature difference, salt feeds content and electrolyte concentration are also investigated in detail. This research has the potential application for the freshwater obtainment via the utilization of waste heat, and will be significant in places with the shortage of the electrical energy such as ships, islands and oceans with the temperature differences