Reliability of Logic-in-Memory Circuits in Resistive Memory Arrays

Producción CientíficaLogic-in-memory (LiM) circuits based on resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices and the material implication logic are promising candidates for the development of low-power computing devices that could fulfill the growing demand of distributed computing systems. However, these circuits are affected by many reliability challenges that arise from device nonidealities (e.g., variability) and the characteristics of the employed circuit architecture. Thus, an accurate investigation of the variability at the array level is needed to evaluate the reliability and performance of such circuit architectures. In this work, we explore the reliability and performance of smart IMPLY (SIMPLY) (i.e., a recently proposed LiM architecture with improved reliability and performance) on two 4-kb RRAM arrays based on different resistive switching oxides integrated in the back end of line (BEOL) of the 0.25-μm BiCMOS process. We analyze the tradeoff between reliability and energy consumption of SIMPLY architecture by exploiting the results of an extensive array-level variability characterization of the two technologies. Finally, we study the worst case performance of a full adder implemented with the SIMPLY architecture and benchmark it on the analogous CMOS implementation.European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant 64863

AVALIAÇÃO DO PERFIL PANCREÁTICO EXÓCRINO DE BOVINOS ESPONTÂNEAMENTE INFECTADOS POR Eurytrema sp.

Euritrematose bovina é causada pelo Eurytrema spp., um trematódeo que viveprincipalmente nos ductos pancreáticos de ruminantes, predominantemente nos estadosdo sul do Brasil. Lesões pancreáticas macroscópicas foram descritas como atrofiapancreática, pancreatite intersticial fibrosante e obliteração total ou parcial dos ductospancreáticos. Estas alterações potencialmente podem ocasionar transtornos nasfunções do pâncreas. Neste contexto, é sensato admitir que os processos digestivos emetabólicos dependentes das funções pancreáticas podem ser afetados e os animaisportadores de lesões pancreáticas podem apresentar diminuição na digestibilidade denutrientes, podendo acarretar em alterações séricas, hematológicas e fecais, sendo oobjetivo deste projeto a identificação destas alterações

COVID-19 in rheumatic diseases in Italy: first results from the Italian registry of the Italian Society for Rheumatology (CONTROL-19)

OBJECTIVES: Italy was one of the first countries significantly affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. The Italian Society for Rheumatology promptly launched a retrospective and anonymised data collection to monitor COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), the CONTROL-19 surveillance database, which is part of the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance. METHODS: CONTROL-19 includes patients with RMDs and proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) updated until May 3rd 2020. In this analysis, only molecular diagnoses were included. The data collection covered demographic data, medical history (general and RMD-related), treatments and COVID-19 related features, treatments, and outcome. In this paper, we report the first descriptive data from the CONTROL-19 registry. RESULTS: The population of the first 232 patients (36% males) consisted mainly of elderly patients (mean age 62.2 years), who used corticosteroids (51.7%), and suffered from multi-morbidity (median comorbidities 2). Rheumatoid arthritis was the most frequent disease (34.1%), followed by spondyloarthritis (26.3%), connective tissue disease (21.1%) and vasculitis (11.2%). Most cases had an active disease (69.4%). Clinical presentation of COVID-19 was typical, with systemic symptoms (fever and asthenia) and respiratory symptoms. The overall outcome was severe, with high frequencies of hospitalisation (69.8%), respiratory support oxygen (55.7%), non-invasive ventilation (20.9%) or mechanical ventilation (7.5%), and 19% of deaths. Male patients typically manifested a worse prognosis. Immunomodulatory treatments were not significantly associated with an increased risk of intensive care unit admission/mechanical ventilation/death. CONCLUSIONS: Although the report mainly includes the most severe cases, its temporal and spatial trend supports the validity of the national surveillance system. More complete data are being acquired in order to both test the hypothesis that RMD patients may have a different outcome from that of the general population and determine the safety of immunomodulatory treatments

Long-Term Symptoms Onset and Heterotopic Bone Formation around a Total Temporomandibular Joint Prosthesis: a Case Report.

Background: The literature on total alloplastic temporomandibular joint (TMJ) reconstructions is encouraging, and studies on total alloplastic TMJ replacements outcomes showed acceptable improvements in terms of both pain levels and jaw function. Nevertheless, some adverse events, such as heterotopic bone formation around the implanted prosthesis, may occur. In consideration of that, the present manuscript describes a case of heterotopic bone formation around a total temporomandibular joint prosthesis, which occurred several years after the implant. Methods: The present manuscript describes a case of heterotopic bone formation around a total TMJ prosthesis, which occurred several years after the implant in patients, who previously underwent multiple failed TMJ surgeries. Results: Ten years after the surgical TMJ replacement to solve an ankylotic bone block, the patient came to our attention again referring a progressive limitation in mouth opening. A computerized tomography showed evidence of marked heterotopic bone formation in the medial aspects of the joint, where a new-born ankylotic block occupied most part of the gap created by resecting the coronoid process at the time of the TMJ prosthesis insertion. Conclusions: Despite this adverse event has been sometimes described in the literature, this is the first case in which its occurrence happened several years after the temporomandibular joint replacement. It can be suggested that an accurate assessment of pre-operative risk factors for re-ankylosis (e.g., patients with multiple failed temporomandibular joint surgeries) and within-intervention prevention (e.g., strategies to keep the bone interfaces around the implant separated) should be better standardized and define in future studies

A Conservative Surgical Approach to Temporomandibular Joint Ankylosis

The current article describes a case of a patient with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) ankylosis undergoing surgery performed with a tailored technique for condylar reshaping. A patient with posttraumatic bilateral TMJ ankylosis underwent interpositional arthroplasty with temporalis fascia, and focus was put on the need to maintain the vertical height of the mandible. The postoperative course was uneventful, and positive outcomes were kept during a 1-year follow-up span. The adoption of surgical strategies aiming at restoring a condylar shape as similar as possible to the natural one may be important in the light of the search for surgeries providing and/or recreating normal function of the TMJ

New horizons for catalysis disclosed by supramolecular chemistry

The adoption of a supramolecular approach in catalysis promises to address a number of unmet challenges, ranging from activity (unlocking of novel reaction pathways) to selectivity (alteration of the innate selectivity of a reaction, e.g. selective functionalization of C-H bonds) and regulation (switch ON/OFF, sequential catalysis, etc.). Supramolecular tools such as reversible association and recognition, pre-organization of reactants and stabilization of transition states upon binding offer a unique chance to achieve the above goals disclosing new horizons whose potential is being increasingly recognized and used, sometimes reaching the degree of ripeness for practical use. This review summarizes the main developments that have opened such new frontiers, with the aim of providing a guide to researchers approaching the field. We focus on artificial supramolecular catalysts of defined stoichiometry which, under homogeneous conditions, unlock outcomes that are highly difficult if not impossible to attain otherwise, namely unnatural reactivity or selectivity and catalysis regulation. The different strategies recently explored in supramolecular catalysis are concisely presented, and, for each one, a single or very few examples is/are described (mainly last 10 years, with only milestone older works discussed). The subject is divided into four sections in light of the key design principle: (i) nanoconfinement of reactants, (ii) recognition-driven catalysis, (iii) catalysis regulation by molecular machines and (iv) processive catalysis

49th European Solid-State Device Research Conference (ESSDERC 2019)

Producción CientíficaRecently, artificial intelligence reached impressive milestones in many machine learning tasks such as the recognition of faces, objects, and speech. These achievements have been mostly demonstrated in software running on high-performance computers, such as the graphics processing unit (GPU) or the tensor processing unit (TPU). Novel hardware with in-memory processing is however more promising in view of the reduced latency and the improved energy efficiency. In this scenario, emerging memory technologies such as phase change memory (PCM) and resistive switching memory (RRAM), have been proposed for hardware accelerators of both learning and inference tasks. In this work, a multilevel 4kbit RRAM array is used to implement a 2-layer feedforward neural network trained with the MNIST dataset. The performance of the network in the inference mode is compared with recently proposed implementations using the same image dataset demonstrating the higher energy efficiency of our hardware, thanks to low current operation and an innovative multilevel programming scheme. These results support RRAM technology for in-memory hardware accelerators of machine learning.German Research Foundation (grant FOR2093