Implementation of a feed-forward artificial neural network in VHDL on FPGA

Describing an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) using VHDL allows a further implementation of such a system on FPGA. Indeed, the principal point of using FPGA for ANNs is flexibility that gives it an advantage toward other systems like ASICS which are entirely dedicated to one unique architecture and allowance to parallel programming, which is inherent to ANN calculation system and one of their advantages. Usually FPGAs do not have unlimited logical resources integrated in a single package and this limitation forcesrequirement for optimizations for the design in order to have the best efficiency in terms of speed and resource consumption. This paper deals with the VHDL designing problems which can be encountered when trying to describe and implement such ANNs on FPGAs

Impacts of dietary exposure to pesticides on faecal microbiome metabolism in adult twins

Background Dietary habits have a profound influence on the metabolic activity of gut microorganisms and their influence on health. Concerns have been raised as to whether the consumption of foodstuffs contaminated with pesticides can contribute to the development of chronic disease by affecting the gut microbiome. We performed the first pesticide biomonitoring survey of the British population, and subsequently used the results to perform the first pesticide association study on gut microbiome composition and function from the TwinsUK registry. Methods Dietary exposure of 186 common insecticide, herbicide, or fungicide residues and the faecal microbiome in 65 twin pairs in the UK was investigated. We evaluated if dietary habits, geographic location, or the rural/urban environment, are associated with the excretion of pesticide residues. The composition and metabolic activity of faecal microbiota was evaluated using shotgun metagenomics and metabolomics respectively. We performed a targeted urine metabolomics analysis in order to evaluate whether pesticide urinary excretion was also associated with physiological changes. Results Pyrethroid and/or organophosphorus insecticide residues were found in all urine samples, while the herbicide glyphosate was found in 53% of individuals. Food frequency questionnaires showed that residues from organophosphates were higher with increased consumption of fruit and vegetables. A total of 34 associations between pesticide residue concentrations and faecal metabolite concentrations were detected. Glyphosate excretion was positively associated with an overall increased bacterial species richness, as well as to fatty acid metabolites and phosphate levels. The insecticide metabolite Br2CA, reflecting deltamethrin exposure, was positively associated with the phytoestrogens enterodiol and enterolactone, and negatively associated with some N-methyl amino acids. Urine metabolomics performed on a subset of samples did not reveal associations with the excretion of pesticide residues. Conclusions The consumption of conventionally grown fruit and vegetables leads to higher ingestion of pesticides with unknown long-term health consequences. Our results highlight the need for future dietary intervention studies to understand effects of pesticide exposure on the gut microbiome and possible health consequences.Molecular basis of bacterial pathogenesis, virulence factors and antibiotic resistanc