Real-time highly-parallel tracking processing with FPGA at LHCb Fantechi, R.; Baldini, W.; Bassi, G. ...
2023 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Medical Imaging Conference and International Symposium on Room-Temperature Semiconductor Detectors (NSS MIC RTSD),
2023-Nov.-4
Conference Proceeding
For the future high luminosity LHC runs, it is expected to reconstruct events more complex than the actual ones. in view of this need, the LHCb Collaboration has established a testbed for ...heterogeneous computing equipment to develop solutions for real-time event reconstruction integrated with the LHCb DAQ infrastructure. The most advanced one is a highly-parallelized tracking processor, based on the "Artificial Retina", which uses a set of FPGA, to which the data are distributed using a custom optical mesh with high speed links. The aim at the testbed is to implement a demonstrator for the tracking of pixel detectors, able to manage the data of a sector of a detector. The scalability to a full size processor will be discussed, as well as the DAQ integration issues for a system running on real data.
In Run-3, beginning in 2022, the LHCb software trigger will start reconstructing events at the LHC average crossing rate of 30 MHz. Within the upgraded DAQ system, LHCb established a testbed for new ...heterogeneous computing solutions for real-time event reconstruction, in view of future runs at even higher luminosities. One such solution is a highly-parallelized custom tracking processor ("Artificial Retina"), implemented in state of the art FPGA devices connected by fast serial links. We describe the status of a realistic prototype for the reconstruction of pixel tracking detectors that will run on real data during Run-3.
Liver resection (LR) for patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with preserved liver function, employing liver transplantation (LT) as a salvage procedure (SLT) in the event of HCC ...recurrence, is a debated strategy.
From 1996 to 2005, we treated 227 cirrhotic patients with HCC transplantable: 80 LRs and 147 LTs of 293 listed for transplantation. Among 80 patients eligible for transplantation who underwent LR, 39 (49%) developed HCC recurrence and 12/39 (31%) of these patients presented HCC recurrence outside Milan criteria. Only 10 of the 39 patients underwent LT, a transplantation rate of 26% of patients with HCC recurrence.
According to intention‐to‐treat analysis of transplantable HCC patients who underwent LR (n = 80), compared to all those listed for transplantation (n = 293), 5‐year overall survival was 66% in the LR group versus 58% in patients listed for LT, respectively (p = NS); 5‐year disease‐free survival was 41% in the LR group versus 54% in patients listed for LT (p = NS).
Comparable 5‐year overall (62% vs. 73%, p = NS) and disease‐free (48% vs. 71%, p = NS) survival rates were obtained for SLT and primary LT for HCC, respectively.
LR is a valid treatment for small HCC and in the event of recurrence, SLT is a safe and effective procedure.
By intention to treat analysis of survival of transplantable HCC patients who underwent liver resection (LR) compared to those listed for transplantation, this study shows that LR for patients with small HCC with preserved liver function, employing LT as a salvage procedure (SLT) in the event of HCC recurrence, is a safe and effective strategy. See also editorial by Botha in this issue on page 1085.
Background & Aims Number-needed-to-treat is used in assessing the effectiveness of a health-care intervention, and reports the number of patients who need to be treated to prevent one additional bad ...outcome. Although largely used in medical literature, there are no studies measuring the benefit of liver transplantation (LT) over hepatic resection (HR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in terms of “Number of patients needed to transplant (NTT).” Methods Exclusion criteria: Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) Classes B–C, very large (>10 cm) and multi-nodular (>2 nodules) tumours, macroscopic vascular invasion and extra-hepatic metastases. Study population: 1028 HCC cirrhotic patients from one Eastern (n = 441) and two Western (n = 587) surgical units. Patient survival observed after HR by proportional hazard regression model was compared to that predicted after LT by the Metroticket calculator. The benefit obtainable from LT compared to resection was analysed in relationship with number of nodules (modelled as ordinal variable: single vs. oligonodular), size of largest nodule (modelled as a continuous variable), presence of microscopic vascular invasion (MVI), and time horizon from surgery (5-year vs. 10-year). Results 330 patients were beyond the Milan criteria (32%) and 597 (58%) had MVI. The prevalence of MVI was 52% in patients within Milan criteria and 71% in those beyond ( p <0.0001). In the 5-year transplant benefit analysis, nodule size and HCC number were positive predictors of transplant benefit, while MVI had a strong negative impact on NTT. Transplantation performed as an effective therapy (NTT <5) only in oligonodular HCC with largest diameter >3 cm (beyond conventional LT criteria) when MVI was absent. The 10-year scenario increased drastically the transplant benefit in all subgroups of resectable patients, and LT became an effective therapy (NTT <5) for all patients without MVI whenever tumor extension and for oligonodular HCC with MVI within conventional LT criteria. Conclusions Based on NTT analysis, the adopted time horizon (5-year vs. 10-year scenario) is the main factor influencing the benefit of LT in patients with resectable HCC and Child A cirrhosis.
Sustainable groundwater management strategies in water-scarce countries need to guide future decision-making processes pragmatically, by simultaneously considering local needs, environmental problems ...and economic development. The socio-hydrogeological approach named ‘Bir Al-Nas’ has been tested in the Grombalia region (Cap Bon Peninsula, Tunisia), to evaluate the effectiveness of complementing hydrogeochemical and hydrogeological investigations with the social dimension of the issue at stake (which, in this case, is the identification of groundwater pollution sources). Within this approach, the social appraisal, performed through social network analysis and public engagement of water end-users, allowed hydrogeologists to get acquainted with the institutional dimension of local groundwater management, identifying issues, potential gaps (such as weak knowledge transfer among concerned stakeholders), and the key actors likely to support the implementation of the new science-based management practices resulting from the ongoing hydrogeological investigation. Results, hence, go beyond the specific relevance for the Grombaila basin, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach and the importance of including social assessment in any given hydrogeological research aimed at supporting local development through groundwater protection measures.
This position paper proposes that the study of embodied cognitive agents, such as humanoid robots, can advance our understanding of the cognitive development of complex sensorimotor, linguistic, and ...social learning skills. This in turn will benefit the design of cognitive robots capable of learning to handle and manipulate objects and tools autonomously, to cooperate and communicate with other robots and humans, and to adapt their abilities to changing internal, environmental, and social conditions. Four key areas of research challenges are discussed, specifically for the issues related to the understanding of: 1) how agents learn and represent compositional actions; 2) how agents learn and represent compositional lexica; 3) the dynamics of social interaction and learning; and 4) how compositional action and language representations are integrated to bootstrap the cognitive system. The review of specific issues and progress in these areas is then translated into a practical roadmap based on a series of milestones. These milestones provide a possible set of cognitive robotics goals and test scenarios, thus acting as a research roadmap for future work on cognitive developmental robotics.
•Donation after circulatory death (DCD) is a promising strategy for increasing organ supply worldwide.•DCD donor programs in italy have to face many logistical, clinical, ethical and technical ...issues.•In the veneto experience, histological data and hypothermic perfusion have proven to be very useful tools to make a decision concerning DCD donor suitability for kidney transplantation.
Donation after circulatory death (DCD) is a promising strategy for increasing organ supply worldwide. The Italian current legislative framework has represented a major barrier to the implementation of such program, given the 20-minute no-touch period required for donor death declaration.
In this study, we describe DCD reporting activity in Veneto, number of procurements and kidney transplants performed from DCD donors since the beginning of its application, in 2017. We considered donor characteristics (DCD Maastricht category, age, sex) and number of kidney grafts retrieved and transplanted for each donor.
All the procured kidney grafts underwent ex situ hypothermic perfusion and pre-implantation kidney biopsy according to Karpinski-Remuzzi score. Perfusion parameters were monitored in order to predict functional recovery after transplantation and the histological evaluation focused on evaluating the extension of the ischemic injury. In the Veneto experience, histological data and hypothermic perfusion have proven to be very useful tools to make a decision concerning whether a kidney is suitable for transplantation.
Considering logistical, clinical, ethical and technical issues related to DCD donor program in Italy, many resources had to be dedicated in Veneto to build adequate technical expertise and to develop dedicated care pathways. The Veneto Region Transplant Coordination has encouraged and supported the development of DCD activity, increasing kidney transplantation from DCD donors.
PDF
