Design and implementation of a routing algorithm to maximize test coverage of permanent faults in FPGAs

Nowadays electronic devices are used in a huge number of applications, from entertainment market to military equipment, from mobile phones to satellites. Each application has its own requirements and constraints depending on its purpose. One particular kind of applications is the one called mission critical that is characterized by a large amount of money that could be lost if something goes wrong. As an example this is the case of satellites that cannot be repaired or returned for maintenance if some parts stop working. When electronic device, and in particular FPGAs, are used in mission critical applications their reliability requires a special attention, therefore a key aspect of them is the capability to tolerate faults. When FPGAs operate in harsh environment, like in space, both temporary and permanent faults can occur due to radiation. The on-line testing technique involves a testing circuit that is capable to test its own used resources. In this work a design and implementation of a routing algorithm to maximize fault coverage of permanent faults is presented

Incisori tedeschi del Cinquecento

L\u2019incisione moderna nacque nel XVI secolo in territorio tedesco. Quando la Germania non era ancora stato unitario, gli artisti di lingua tedesca svilupparono un efficiente sistema di produzione e diffusione delle stampa che ne elev\uf2 lo status, da mezzo di moltiplicazione delle immagini a basso costo, a linguaggio artistico indipendente. Ci\uf2 avvenne principalmente grazie a una delle massime menti del Rinascimento, quella di Albrecht D\ufcrer: ma le sue intuizioni furono replicate, sviluppate e consolidate da una formidabile schiera di maestri incisori. Questo \ue8 il primo studio comprensivo in lingua italiana sull\u2019argomento: raccoglie le biografie, una bibliografia di riferimento e un\u2019antologia di opere rappresentative di oltre sessanta artisti compresi tra l\u2019ultimo decennio del Quattrocento e la fine del secolo successivo, da Schongauer ai Piccoli Maestri di Norimberga, da Cranach a Altdorfer, passando per figure meno note e confronti con l\u2019Italia, la Francia, la Svizzera e le Fiandre. Completa il testo una selezione di saggi che approfondiscono il mondo dell\u2019incisione tedesca nelle sue molteplici sfaccettature storiche, tecniche e di espressione visiva

Clinical and Epidemiological Features of Pediatric Patients with COVID-19 in a Tertiary Pediatric Hospital

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects people of any age with high mortality and morbidity in adults older than 65 years. Reports on pediatric cases highlighted those children generally develop milder symptoms than adults or are asymptomatic. We aimed to assess the epidemiological and clinical data of children and adolescents with SARS-CoV-2 infection to improve pediatric COVID-19. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical and epidemiological features of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection hospitalized at the Pediatric Hospital of Pavia, Italy, between February 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021. Results: 71 patients aged 0-16 years were included; 33 (46%) females and 38 (54 %) males. Thirty-three (46%) patients had comorbidities, such as obesity and hematological diseases. Thirty-one children (44%) were exposed to COVID-19-positive household members. Nine (12.7 %) patients were asymptomatic, whereas 57 (80.3%) had a mild-moderate disease. Only five (7%) showed a severe or critical disease, and two patients required ICU admission. The most frequent symptoms were fever (76%), loss of appetite (26%), gastrointestinal symptoms (19%), and cough (19%). Chest X-ray was performed in 42 patients showing lung abnormalities in more than half of symptomatic patients. The most common laboratory features were lymphopenia and eosinopenia associated with high levels of inflammation markers. Conclusions: This study confirmed that COVID-19 has a mild course in children compared to adults. Most of the enrolled children were asymptomatic or had a mild-moderate disease. Patients with comorbidities were more prone to develop clinical complications. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Daily Oxygen/O3 Treatment Reduces Muscular Fatigue and Improves Cardiac Performance in Rats Subjected to Prolonged High Intensity Physical Exercise

Rats receiving daily intraperitoneal administration of O2 and running on a treadmill covered an average distance of 482.8 ± 21.8 m/week as calculated during 5-week observation. This distance was increased in rats receiving daily intraperitoneal administration of an oxygen/O3 mixture at a dose of 100; 150; and 300 μg/kg with the maximum increase being +34.5% at 300 μg/kg and still present after stopping the administration of oxygen/O3. Oxygen/O3 decreased the mean arterial blood pressure (−13%), the heart rate (−6%), the gastrocnemius and cardiac hypertrophy, and fibrosis and reduced by 49% the left ventricular mass and relative wall thickness measurements. Systolic and diastolic functions were improved in exercised oxygen/O3 rats compared to O2 rats. Oxygen/O3 treatment led to higher MPI index starting from the dose of 150 μg/kg (p<0.05) and more effective (+14%) at a dose of 300 μg/kg oxygen/O3. Oxygen/O3 dose-dependently increased the expression of the antioxidant enzymes Mn-SOD and GPx1 and of eNOS compared to the exercised O2 rats. The same doses resulted in decrease of LDH levels, CPK, TnI, and nitrotyrosine concentration in the heart and gastrocnemius tissues, arguing a beneficial effect of the ozone molecule against the fatigue induced by a prolonged high intensity exercise

Acute oxygen-ozone administration to rats protects the heart from ischemia reperfusion infarct

Objective and design: We tested here the effects of acute administration of an oxygen/ozone (O3) mixture on the myocardial tissutal damage following an ischemic event. Material or subjects: The study was done in Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Treatment: 100; 150; and 300 μg/kg oxygen/O3 mixture were insufflated intraperitoneally 1 h prior to I/R. Methods: Myocardial infarct size measurement and immunhistochemistry or ELISA for nitrotyrosine, CD68, CD8,CD4 and caspase-3 were done. Results: I/R produced a marked damage in the rat left ventricle with an infarct size as percentage of the area at risk (IS/ AR) of ∼45 ± 4 %. Rats insufflated with a oxygen/O3 mixture showed a significant 2-h cardio-protection (e. g. infarct size over area at risk for the dose of 300 μg/kg was about 30 ± 3 %,) as compared with control rats (P <0.01). This effect was paralleled by a decrease in tissue levels of immunostaining for biomarkers of nitrosative stress (nitrotyrosine), inflammation (CD68) and immunity response (CD8 and CD4) between heart tissues from infarcted rats and infarcted O3 treated rats. Conclusions: These data indicate that the tissutal and biochemical damages associated with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion can be counteracted by an acute O3 pretreatment

Functional analysis and gene expression profile of umbilical cord blood regulatory T cells

The aim of the study was to analyze and compare the functional properties and the gene expression profile of regulatory T cells (Tregs) isolated from cord blood (CB) units (n = 23) and from the peripheral blood (PB) of adult normal donors (n = 13). Tregs were purified from mononuclear cells and expanded for 6 days with anti-CD3, anti-CD28, and IL-2. CB and PB Tregs presented similar immunophenotypic features. However, Tregs isolated from CB presented a much higher expansion capacity; this was confirmed by the genomic characterization that showed in CB-derived Tregs significant enrichments of genes involved in cell proliferation, chromatin modification, and regulation of gene expression. All samples were positive for the FoxP3 gene and protein after expansion. CB and PB expanded Tregs exerted a comparable and potent suppressive function on the proliferative reaction of autologous T cells stimulated by allogeneic dendritic cells and presented a high in vitro IL-10 production capacity. Gene profile analysis also revealed for PB Tregs significant enrichments of genes involved in the adaptive immune response. These data offer further insights into the understanding of the biology of CB transplantation indicating a possible role played by CB Tregs in the suppression of the allogeneic T cell response