Computer Architectures to Close the Loop in Real-time Optimization

© 2015 IEEE.Many modern control, automation, signal processing and machine learning applications rely on solving a sequence of optimization problems, which are updated with measurements of a real system that evolves in time. The solutions of each of these optimization problems are then used to make decisions, which may be followed by changing some parameters of the physical system, thereby resulting in a feedback loop between the computing and the physical system. Real-time optimization is not the same as fast optimization, due to the fact that the computation is affected by an uncertain system that evolves in time. The suitability of a design should therefore not be judged from the optimality of a single optimization problem, but based on the evolution of the entire cyber-physical system. The algorithms and hardware used for solving a single optimization problem in the office might therefore be far from ideal when solving a sequence of real-time optimization problems. Instead of there being a single, optimal design, one has to trade-off a number of objectives, including performance, robustness, energy usage, size and cost. We therefore provide here a tutorial introduction to some of the questions and implementation issues that arise in real-time optimization applications. We will concentrate on some of the decisions that have to be made when designing the computing architecture and algorithm and argue that the choice of one informs the other

Nonlinear predictive control on a heterogeneous computing platform

Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) is an advanced control technique that often relies on computationally demanding optimization and integration algorithms. This paper proposes and investigates a heterogeneous hardware implementation of an NMPC controller based on an interior point algorithm. The proposed implementation provides flexibility of splitting the workload between a general-purpose CPU with a fixed architecture and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to trade off contradicting design objectives, namely performance and computational resource usage. A new way of exploiting the structure of the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) matrix yields significant memory savings, which is crucial for reconfigurable hardware. For the considered case study, a 10x memory savings compared to existing approaches and a 10x speedup over a software implementation are reported. The proposed implementation can be tested from Matlab using a new release of the Protoip software tool, which is another contribution of the paper. Protoip abstracts many low-level details of heterogeneous hardware programming and allows quick prototyping and processor-in-the-loop verification of heterogeneous hardware implementations

Buletin Pa'biritta LPMP Sulawesi Selatan nomor 19 tahun X 2017

Buletin Pa'birita nomor 19 ini terbit setelah beberapa lama berhenti selama beberapa waktu. Penerbitanya merupakan permintaan dari widyaiswara, guru dan tenaga kependidikan yang ingin karyanya di publikasikan. Buletin ini menyajikan tulisan yang membahasa penjaminan mutu pendidikan, program induksi, efek samping haemodialisis, teknologi pembelajaran, Praktikum pembelajaran IPA, Fungsi dan ragam bahasa, Penyelesaian perkalian, dan pappaseng toriolota

Efficacy of Bamlanivimab/Etesevimab and Casirivimab/Imdevimab in Preventing Progression to Severe COVID-19 and Role of Variants of Concern

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of hospitalization or death in patients infected by SARS-CoV2 variants of concern (VOCs) receiving combinations of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), bamlanivimab/etesevimab or casirivimab/imdevimab. Methods: Observational prospective study conducted in two Italian hospitals (University Hospital of Pisa and San Donato Hospital, Arezzo) including consecutive outpatients with COVID-19 who received bamlanivimab/etesevimab or casirivimab/imdevimab from March 20th to May 10th 2021. All patients were at high risk of COVID-19 progression according to FDA/AIFA recommendations. Patients were divided into two study groups according to the infecting viral strain (VOCs): Alpha and Gamma group. The primary endpoint was a composite of hospitalization or death within 30 days from mAbs infusion. A Cox regression multivariate analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the primary outcome in the overall population. Results: The study included 165 patients: 105 were infected by the VOC Alpha and 43 by the VOC Gamma. In the Alpha group, no differences in the primary endpoint were observed between patients treated with bamlanivimab/etesevimab or casirivimab/imdevimab. Conversely, in the Gamma group, a higher proportion of patients treated with bamlanivimab/etesevimab met the primary endpoint compared to those receiving casirivimab/imdevimab (55% vs. 17.4%, p = 0.013). On multivariate Cox-regression analysis, the Gamma variant and days from symptoms onset to mAbs infusion were factors independently associated with higher risk of hospitalization or death, while casirivimab/imdevimab was protective (HR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13–0.83, p = 0.019). Conclusions: In patients infected by the SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant, bamlanivimab/etesevimab should be used with caution because of the high risk of disease progression

The family and community nurses cultural model in the times of the COVID outbreak: A focused ethnographic study

This is the final version. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record. Data Availability Statement: The data are not publicly available due to restrictions (e.g., privacy and limitations in consent about sharing data with others).The ageing population, increasingly frail and chronically ill, and COVID-19 pandemic challenges have highlighted national health systems’ vulnerability and, more strongly/to a greater extent, the pivotal role of the family and community nurse (FCN). However, the recent introduction of FCNs in primary care settings has yet to be explored in Italy. This study aimed to identify the FCNs’ cultural model and its implementation during the COVID-19 outbreak. A focused ethnographic study was performed in a primary care community service in northern Italy. Participants were FCNs (N = 5), patients and caregivers (N = 12). Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field notes, observation of FCNs’ activities and access to documents. Qualitative analysis identified themes concerned with crucial aspects of FCNs’ activities, role implementation, and their relationship with patients and families. This study illuminated how the FCN strategically takes care of and identifies patients’ and community needs. Although the COVID-19 outbreak hindered effective FCN project implementation, this study highlighted that the pandemic provided a chance to better identify cultural, organisational and educational weaknesses that need to be addressed to support the full accomplishment of FCNs’ scope of practice

Factors associated with HPV-DNA clearance in a cohort of HIV-positive patients : role of cART and gender

We aimed to assess any factors associated with dysplasia regression and with HPV clearance in a cohort of HIV+ patients, with particular focus on cART and gender