11 research outputs found
A hardware accelerator for real time simulation of complex neuronal models
No full textUnderstanding and emulating the brain behaviour
is one of the most challenging topic in neuroscience but
simulating such complicated models always requires a lot of
computation and, as a consequence, a lot of time. In order
to efficiently evaluate a model it could be very useful to
speed up the simulation process by using software or
hardware accelerators. This paper presents an FPGA based
accelerator who speeds up the simulation of two different
kinds of innovative cerebellar neurons model, such as the
Golgi cell and the granular cell, developed by the Physiology
department of the University of Pavia. Since the achieved
performance is real time compliant, such a circuit could be
used, in the future, to bypass some dysfunction of the
cerebellum in the human being
A wearable intelligent system for the health of expectant mom's and their childs
No full textIl monitoraggio dello stato di salute del feto anteparto mediante l’analisi della frequenza cardiaca fetale e delle contrazioni uterine (CTG) è, insieme all’ecografia, l’esame standard a cui tutte le donne si sottopongono almeno una volta durante la gravidanza. Tuttavia, la maggior parte dei presidi clinici in cui è effettuato il monitoraggio fetale non hanno a disposizione gli strumenti necessari per un’accurata analisi quantitativa dei segnali CTG, e devono affidarsi alla sola competenza del medico che esamina visivamente il tracciato. Pertanto, in termini di valutazione sull’intera popolazione delle gravidanze, l’affidabilità del monitoraggio anteparto è bassa.
Il problema può essere risolto grazie al progetto di un nuovo sistema per il monitoraggio remoto che consenta alle pazienti di effettuare l’esame in qualunque momento ed in qualunque luogo, ricevendo risposte tempestive ed affidabili sulla condizione del feto. Utilizzando le più recenti tecnologie nei settori dei “textile wearable devices” e dell’ICT, realizzeremo un sistema indossabile, in grado di inviare i segnali ad un centro diagnostico remoto, che combinerà la semplicità e la comodità d’uso con un’elevata affidabilità diagnostica.
Per raggiungere l’obiettivo è nato un progetto che coinvolge ricercatori del Politecnico di Milano, dell’università di Pavia e dell’Università di Napoli, al fine di:
• sviluppare e realizzare un sistema indossabile, costituito da una fascia addominale sensorizzata, per la rilevazione, la pre-elaborazione locale e la trasmissione via telefonia wireless dell’attività del cuore fetale e materno, delle contrazioni uterine e della stima dei movimenti fetali;
• definire e implementare algoritmi per l’analisi di segnali e adattamento a dati di sensori indossabili. La ricerca partirà dalla situazione esistente e potrà portare allo sviluppo di nuovi algoritmi di analisi e per la separazione dei contributi materni e fetali con estrazione di parametri e costruzione di classificatori;
• sviluppo di un database di conoscenze e implementazione di un Web Service per l’analisi remota dei dati;
• esecuzione di test clinici su un campione di soggetti volontari nel terzo trimestre di gravidanza in diverse condizioni (riposo, cammino, attività lavorativa, ecc..). Confronto con registrazioni CTG tradizionali già acquisite con il sistema Tocomat
A Video Elaboration System for Image Deinterlacing and Processing in Race Cars
No full textThe advent of digital technologies has been revolutionizing a lot of different field and video processing is certainly one of the most deeply impacted. Small digital cameras are nowadays common in many environments but unfortunately, digital video still carries some legacy from the old analog era, the interlacement being one of the most annoying. Video interlacement consists of alternatively sending only odd or even lines of frames in order to reduce necessary bandwidth. Interlacement is indeed a smart form of analog video compression made possible by CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) monitor's optical properties. Unfortunately interlacement is unacceptable for computer monitors, which instead work using a non interlaced mode (progressive). Showing interlaced videos on progressive screens results in annoying video defects. Moreover, technology evolved enough not to need interlacement any more. Nevertheless, interlaced cameras are still very common in every application that needs to preserve compatibility with analog television. Therefore, to make interlaced videos usable in modern systems, deinterlacement techniques have been developed. There are many deinterlace algorithms of different complexities, but none of them is able to deliver the best possible quality with both still and fast changing scenes. The best results are obtained using adaptive techniques, which dynamically change the algorithm depending on scene's motion characteristics. Deinterlacing a video using adaptive motion technique is computationally expensive. Doing it real-time is a challenge topic. The proposed idea consists in the implementation of four real-time deinterlacers on a single FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) in order to give the possibility to select the most suitable for the specific application using either a manual selection or a motion detection algorithm
A Wearable Intelligent System for The Health of Expectant Mom’s and of Their Children
No full textIn this paper, we present the implementation
of the Infomax algorithm on a computing unit
featuring a typical embedded processor of the ARM
family and a second partial execution on a custom
CPU developed through the FPGA technology. The
computational unit will be the “core” of an instrument
which aims at allowing the pregnant mothers a real
time monitoring of her and the fetus health state. The
Infomax algorithm belongs to the Independent
Component Analysis family and serves to separate the
fetal ECG from the mother’s one. Also the evaluation
of the wide literature and the corresponding debate is
illustrated together with the motivations for the
choice. In terms of performance, both the
implementations are suitable for the project’s goal,
but the FPGA overcomes the ARM processor (on a
reduced portion of the algorithm) by an order of
magnitud
Interactive learning environment for engineering courses
No full textIl contributo ha descritto i risultati si un progetto di ricerca (responsabile: Prof. Maria Grazia Albanesi) sull'innovazione nella didattica universitaria; il progetto ha vinto un grant internazionale messo a bando da HP (vedi indirizzo Web) del valore di 100000 dollari
3D GPR Model in the Military District of San Giacomo Degli Spagnoli (Palermo)
No full textThe georadar method was used to try to find some anthropic structures in a large square inside the Carabinieri barracks in the former military complex of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli in Palermo (Italy). These investigations are part of a broader context of a study of the entire area. The purpose of the investigations is to try to understand if under the ground there are the remains of an ancient horse passage that connected the Royal Palace of Palermo with the sea gate of the city. Furthermore, in the Middle Ages, on the site of the present square, there were most likely two churches, which no longer exist, as evidenced by numerous historical testimonies. One of the two, San Giacomo la Mazara, is known to have was placed right in front of the church of San Paolo, the subject of previous investigations. The investigations carried out on the main square of the military district allowed us to reconstruct a 3D georadar model in which numerous anomalies are highlighted. Some superficial anomalies have been attributed to the presence of sub-services, the deeper ones could be caused by the remains of the medieval underground way or those of the no longer existing medieval churches, but identifying their true nature requires further investigations and archaeological tests
The Human Brain Project: High Performance Computing for Brain Cells Hw/Sw Simulation and Understanding
No full textThis paper describes the challenge of understanding brain function through high performance computing dealt with by the Human Brain Project, the European Commission Future and Emerging Technologies Flagship involving a consortium of 112 partners spread in 24 European countries. In particular, we describe the activity, performed by one of the Italian units involved into the project, aiming at identifying very accurate models of cerebellum neurons. These models are processed through high end Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) during the tuning phase and later implemented on FPGA-based application specific processors for respecting real time requirements together with embedded implantability. Models and performance of granular neurons implementations are given in the results section
Physical and emotional symptom burden of patients with end-stage heart failure: what to measure, how and why
No full textОПЫТНЫЙ, СТРАНСТВУЮЩИЙ СИОНИСТ: ЖИЗНЬ И ТВОРЧЕСТВО ЗАХАРИИ КЛЮЧЕВИЧА МАЯНИ
No full textThe kaleidoscope of pseudonyms behind which he hid himself on the pages of the Russian- Jewish weekly Rassvet is a reflection of the multifaceted personality of Zakharia Klyuchevich. Historian, archaeologist, linguist, teacher, political activist, journalist, caricaturist, painter, poet, screenwriter, biologist, it is difficult to find an area into which he did not venture. The spectrum of languages he mastered, or tried as an author, is equally colorful: from his native Russian to quasi-native French, through English, Hebrew, German, Yiddish, Polish, Ancient Greek, Turkish, up to Albanian and Etruscan, two languages he tried to link by identifying the latter as a protolanguage of the former. The amount of material left behind by this polyhedric author is voluminous. Correspondence in various languages (Italian, Russian, English, and French), diaries, theater screenplays (Hebrew, English), essays (French), poetry (French, Russian, and Hebrew), authored language textbooks (French-Hebrew, Russian-Hebrew), sketches, paintings, and newspaper clippings are preserved at the Jabotinsky Institute in Tel Aviv. Through a thorough analysis of this material, we will try to draw the portrait of this ish eshkolot, this Renaissance type of intellectual, who has been forgotten in their treatises by historians of literature, Zionism, art and archeology, perhaps precisely because of the difficulty in tracing his movements and activities, the excessive chameleon-like nature of his occupations and cryptonyms.Kalejdoskop pseudonimów, za którymi ukrywał się na łamach rosyjsko-żydowskiego tygodnika „Rassvet” Zachary Kluczewicz Majani jest odzwierciedleniem jego wielowymiarowej osobowości. Historyk, archeolog, językoznawca, nauczyciel, działacz polityczny, dziennikarz, karykaturzysta, malarz, poeta, scenarzysta, biolog — trudno znaleźć dziedzinę, w którą by się nie zagłębiał. Spektrum języków, które opanował lub wykorzystywał jako autor, jest równie szerokie: od ojczystego rosyjskiego, do quasi-rodzimego francuskiego, przez angielski, hebrajski, niemiecki, jidysz, polski, starożytną grekę, turecki, aż po albański i etruski. Ilość materiału pozostawionego przez tego wszechstronnego autora jest ogromna. Korespondencja w różnych językach (włoskim, rosyjskim, angielskim i francuskim), pamiętniki i scenariusze teatralne (hebrajski, angielski), eseje (francuski), poezja (francuski, rosyjski i hebrajski), autorskie podręczniki językowe (francusko-hebrajski, rosyjsko-hebrajski), szkice, obrazy i wycinki z gazet — wszystko to przechowywane jest w Instytucie Żabotyńskiego w Tel-Awiwie. Poprzez analizę ogromnego materiału autorka artykułu stara się nakreślić portret ish eshkolot, renesansowego typu intelektualisty, zapomnianego przez historyków literatury, syjonizmu, sztuki i archeologii, być może właśnie z powodu trudności w śledzeniu jego różnorodnych działań i pseudonimów.Калейдоскоп псевдонимов, за которыми скрывался Захария Ключевич Маяни на страницах русско-еврейского еженедельника «Рассвет», является отражением его многогранной личности. Историк, археолог, лингвист, преподаватель, политический деятель, журналист, карикатурист, художник, поэт, сценарист, биолог — трудно найти область, которой он бы не занимался. Спектр языков, которыми он владел или пользовался как автор, столь же широк: от родного русского до квази-родного французского, через английский, иврит, немецкий, идиш, польский, древнегреческий, турецкий по албанский и этрусский. Количество материалов, оставленных этим разносторонним автором, огромно. Переписка на разных языках (итальянском, русском, английском и французском), дневники и театральные сценарии (иврит, английский), эссе (французский), поэзия (французский, русский и иврит), авторские пособия по языку (французский-иврит, русский-иврит), наброски, картины и газетные вырезки — все это хранится в Институте Жаботинского в Тель-Авиве. Анализируя обширный материал, автор статьи пытается нарисовать портрет иш эшколот, интеллектуала ренессансного типа, забытого историками литературы, сионизма, искусства и археологии, возможно, именно из-за сложности проследить его разнообразную деятельность и псевдонимы
Proteomics-based metabolic modeling reveals that fatty acid oxidation (FAO) controls endothelial cell (EC) permeability
No full textEndothelial cells (ECs) play a key role to maintain the functionality of blood vessels. Altered EC permeability causes severe impairment in vessel stability and is a hallmark of pathologies such as cancer and thrombosis. Integrating label-free quantitative proteomics data into genome-wide metabolic modeling, we built up a model that predicts the metabolic fluxes in ECs when cultured on a tridimensional matrix and organize into a vascular-like network. We discovered how fatty acid oxidation increases when ECs are assembled into a fully formed network that can be disrupted by inhibiting CPT1A, the fatty acid oxidation rate-limiting enzyme. Acute CPT1A inhibition reduces cellular ATP levels and oxygen consumption, which are restored by replenishing the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Remarkably, global phosphoproteomic changes measured upon acute CPT1A inhibition pinpointed altered calcium signaling. Indeed, CPT1A inhibition increases intracellular calcium oscillations. Finally, inhibiting CPT1A induces hyperpermeability in vitro and leakage of blood vessel in vivo, which were restored blocking calcium influx or replenishing the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Fatty acid oxidation emerges as central regulator of endothelial functions and blood vessel stability and druggable pathway to control pathological vascular permeability
