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The number of sequenced bacteriophage genomes is growing at an exponential rate. The majority of sequenced bacteriophage genomes are annotated by one or more of several freely available gene identification programs (Glimmer, GeneMark, RAST, Prodigal, etc.). No program has been shown to consistently outperform the others; thus, the choice of which program to use is not obvious. We present the Phage Commander application for rapid identification of bacteriophage genes using multiple gene identification programs. Phage Commander runs a bacteriophage genome sequence through nine gene identification programs (and an additional program for identification of tRNAs) and integrates the results within a single output table. Phage Commander also generates formatted output files for direct export to National Center for Biotechnology Information GenBank or genome visualization programs such as DNA Master. Users can select the threshold for which genes to export (genes identified by at least one program, genes identified by at least two programs, etc.). Phage Commander was benchmarked using eight high-quality bacteriophage genomes whose genes are backed by experimental data. Our results show that the most accurate annotations are obtained by exporting genes identified by at least two or three programs. Many groups opt to manually curate the annotations obtained from gene identification programs, and Phage Commander was designed to facilitate manual curation of genome annotations. Our benchmarking results show that manual curation does indeed produce more accurate annotations than any individual gene identification program. The authors thus recommend manually curating the output of Phage Commander to generate maximally accurate annotations. Phage Commander is currently being used in the corresponding author's bacteriophage genome annotation class and has reduced the labor cost and improved the quality of genome annotations.

Background Individuals born very low birthweight (VLBW) are at increased risk of impaired cardiovascular and respiratory function in adulthood. To identify markers to predict future risk for VLBW individuals, we analyzed DNA methylation at birth and at 28 years in the New Zealand (NZ) VLBW cohort (all infants born Results Genomic DNA from archived newborn heel-prick blood (n = 109 VLBW, 51 controls) and from peripheral blood at ~ 28 years (n = 215 VLBW, 96 controls) was analyzed on Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC 850 K arrays. Following quality assurance and normalization, methylation levels were compared between VLBW cases and controls at both ages by linear regression, with genome-wide significance set to p p = 3.44E−11). The top 20 CpGs that differed most between VLBW cases and controls featured clusters in ARID3A, SPATA33, and PLCH1 and these 3 genes, along with MCF2L, TRBJ2-1 and SRC, led the list of 15,000 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) reaching FDR-adj significance. Fifteen of the 20 top CpGs in the neonate EWAS showed associations between methylation at birth and adult cardiovascular traits (particularly LnRHI). In 28-year-old adults, twelve CpGs differed between VLBW cases and controls at FDR-adjusted significance, including hypermethylation in EBF4 (four CpGs), CFI and UNC119B and hypomethylation at three CpGs in HIF3A and one in KCNQ1. DNA methylation GrimAge scores at 28 years were significantly greater in VLBW cases versus controls and weakly associated with cardiovascular traits. Four CpGs were identified where methylation differed between VLBW cases and controls in both neonates and adults, three reversing directions with age (two CpGs in EBF4, one in SNAI1 were hypomethylated in neonates, hypermethylated in adults). Of these, cg16426670 in EBF4 at birth showed associations with several cardiovascular traits in adults. Conclusions These findings suggest that methylation patterns in VLBW neonates may be informative about future adult cardiovascular and respiratory outcomes and have value in guiding early preventative care to improve adult health.

Previous research has utilized naturalistic observations of parent-child interactions at bedtime to identify constellations of specific parenting behaviors and qualities that predict better infant nighttime sleep. Little work, however, has naturalistically examined associations between aspects of bedtime parenting and nighttime sleep among young children. The present study assessed observed parenting practices and sensitivity in the context of bedtime as predictors of 3-6-year-olds' sleep. Participants were 51 children (53% boys; 80% White, 18% biracial, 2% Black) and their families. Trained raters coded video recordings of bedtime for parenting practices (parental presence, contact, quiet activities; children's technology use) and sensitivity. Children's nighttime sleep (minutes, efficiency) was assessed across seven nights using actigraphy. Partial correlation analyses controlling for child and family demographics showed that more quiet activities, greater parenting sensitivity, and less child technology use at bedtime were associated with longer and more efficient sleep. There were also several significant interactions. Longer parental presence and contact at bedtime were associated with better sleep (minutes, efficiency) for children who experienced high but not low parenting sensitivity. Lower child technology use in combination with higher parental presence was also associated with longer and more efficient child sleep. The findings illuminate aspects of the bedtime context that may promote emotional security and reduce physiological and cognitive arousal in young children. These naturalistic observations may readily translate into intervention programming targeting improvement in young children's sleep. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Executive function difficulties are common among children born very preterm and/or very low birthweight (1500 g; VLBW), but little is known about whether they persist into adulthood.Examine the nature and pattern of self-reported executive functioning at 23 and 28 years of age using data from a national cohort study of adults born VLBW and a comparison group of same-age full-term (FT) born adults. Also examined were associations between executive function difficulties and socio-economic outcomes.All infants born VLBW in New Zealand during 1986 were prospectively included in an audit of retinopathy of prematurity (n = 413), with 250 (77% of survivors) followed to median age 28 years. A comparison group of FT adults was also recruited at age 23 and followed to 28 years (n = 100). Across both adult assessments, executive functioning was assessed using the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A) and analysed with semi-parametric models to examine the effects of age and group on executive function.At 23 and 28 years, VLBW adults had increased risk of executive function impairment compared with FT adults in behaviour regulation (relative risk [CI] 2.37, 95% confidence interval (CI)1.27, 4.45), meta-cognition (RR 6.03, 95% CI 2.18, 16.78) and global functioning (RR 3.20, 95% CI 1.40, 7.28). Impaired global executive functioning was associated with lower socio-economic status (regression estimate [b] = -0.43, 95% CI -0.59, -0.27) and a reduced likelihood of home ownership by age 28 years (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96, 1.00), even after controlling for sex, ethnicity and parental socio-economic backgrounds for both groups.VLBW-born adults continue to experience more executive function difficulties in their everyday life relative to term controls at age 28 years. These difficulties were negatively associated with their socio-economic opportunities as young adults.

Antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) given to mothers with anticipated very preterm delivery are widely used and improve infant outcomes. Follow-up studies of the first trials of ACS have shown no adverse effects, but recently there have been concerns about possible longer-term harms.We aimed to assess the relationship of ACS therapy to a range of physical health and welfare measures in a cohort of very low birthweight (VLBW;1500 g) young adults.Population-based cohort follow-up study. All VLBW infants born in New Zealand in 1986 were included in a prospective audit of retinopathy of prematurity. Perinatal data collection included information on ACS. At 26-30 years, 250 of 323 (77%) survivors participated, 58% having received ACS, with 229 assessed in one centre, including cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory and neurocognitive measures. Differences in outcome between those receiving/not receiving ACS were summarised by the mean difference for continuous outcomes supplemented by Cohen's d as a standardised measure of effect size (ES), and risk ratios (RRI) for dichotomous outcomes, adjusted for relevant covariates using generalised linear regression methods.There were no or minimal adverse effects of receipt of ACS versus no receipt across a range of health and welfare outcomes, both for the full cohort (adjusted ES range d = 0.01-0.23; adjusted RR range 0.78-2.03) and for individuals with gestation28 weeks (extremely preterm; EP), except for a small increase in rates of major depression. In EP adults, receipt of ACS was associated with a higher incidence of hypertension, but might have a small benefit for IQ.In this population-based VLBW cohort, we detected minimal adverse outcomes associated with exposure to ACS by the third decade of life, a similar result to the 30-year follow-up of participants in the first ACS trial. However, further follow-up is warranted.

BACKGROUND There is individual variation in physiological ageing. Former very low birthweight (VLBW; birthweight

Purpose Oxygen saturation targeting aims to reduce the harm of hypoxia and hyperoxia. This study audited compliance with neonatal intensive care unit oxygen saturation alarm settings and surveyed nursing opinion to better understand factors that influence our ability to maintain infants within the recommended target range. Design: Audit of practice in a single tertiary neonatal intensive care unit followed by an anonymized survey of nursing opinion. Main outcome variable Oxygen saturation alarm setting compliance with local oxygen saturation targeting protocol. Results Audit of oxygen saturation alarm limit compliance revealed a high rate of non-compliance, particularly in babies on oxygen with a concerning rate of alarms set at 100% in infants

This paper describes our implementation of several neural networks built on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and used to recognize a handwritten digit dataset—the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) database. We also propose a novel hardware-friendly activation function called the dynamic Rectifid Linear Unit (ReLU)—D-ReLU function that achieves higher performance than traditional activation functions at no cost to accuracy. We built a 2-layer online training multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network on an FPGA with varying data width. Reducing the data width from 8 to 4 bits only reduces prediction accuracy by 11%, but the FPGA area decreases by 41%. Compared to networks that use the sigmoid functions, our proposed D-ReLU function uses 24% - 41% less area with no loss to prediction accuracy. Further reducing the data width of the 3-layer networks from 8 to 4 bits, the prediction accuracies only decrease by 3% - 5%, with area being reduced by 9% - 28%. Moreover, FPGA solutions have 29 times faster execution time, even despite running at a 60× lower clock rate. Thus, FPGA implementations of neural networks offer a high-performance, low power alternative to traditional software methods, and our novel D-ReLU activation function offers additional improvements to performance and power saving.

Publisher Summary This chapter explores memory system organization. It is a major factor in determining computer performance. Different memory technologies such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), static random-access memory (SRAM), and hard disks offer trade-offs in capacity, speed, and cost. This chapter introduces cache and virtual memory organizations that use a hierarchy of memories to approximate an ideal large, fast, inexpensive memory. Main memory is typically built from DRAM, which is significantly slower than the processor. A cache reduces access time by keeping commonly used data in fast SRAM. Virtual memory increases the memory capacity by using a hard disk to store data that does not fit in the main memory. Caches and virtual memory add complexity and hardware to a computer system, but the benefits usually outweigh the costs. All modern personal computers use caches and virtual memory. Most processors also use the memory interface to communicate with input/output (I/O) devices. This is called “memory-mapped I/O.” Programs use load and store operations to access the I/O devices.

Being born preterm (PT, &lt, 37 weeks gestation) or at very low birth weight (VLBW, &lt, 1500 g) is associated with increased rates of cardiopulmonary disorders in childhood. As survivors age, late cardiac effects, including right ventricular (RV) remodelling and occult pulmonary hypertension are emerging. In this population-based study, we aimed to investigate right heart structure and function in young adults born PT at VLBW compared to normal-weight term-born controls. The New Zealand VLBW Study has followed all infants born in 1986 with birth weight &lt, 1500 g. All were born preterm from 24 to 37 weeks. A total of 229 (71% of survivors) had echocardiograms aged 26–30 years which were compared to age-matched, term-born, normal-weight controls (n = 100). Young adults born preterm at very low birth weight exhibited smaller RV dimensions compared to term-born peers. Standard echocardiographic measures of RV function did not differ, but mildly reduced function was detected by RV longitudinal strain. This difference was related to birth weight and gestational age but not lung function or left ventricular function. Echocardiographic strain imaging may be an important tool to detect differences in RV function preterm and VLBW.

Rationale: Population-based data regarding the consequences of very low birth weight (VLBW) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) on adult exercise capacity is limited. Objectives: To compare exerci...

Preterm birth affects 1 in 10 pregnancies worldwide, with increasing survival rates over the last 30 years. However, as this new generation of long-term survivors approaches middle age, recent studies have revealed increased cardiovascular risk factors and higher rates of ischaemic heart disease and heart failure. Cardiovascular imaging has identified smaller cardiac chamber size, changes in myocardial mass and impaired ventricular function, particularly under physiological stress. Accordingly, this population should be recognised as having a higher risk of heart failure as they age. In this review, we present current evidence for increased rates of heart failure and evidence of alterations in cardiac structure and function in those born preterm. We discuss potential mechanisms to explain this risk including greater frequency of co-morbidities known to be associated with heart failure. We also explore potential mechanistic links specific to the preterm-born population, including the impact of premature birth on myocardial and vascular development and the effects of perinatal haemodynamic changes and chronic lung disease on the developing heart. We highlight gaps in our knowledge and consider implications for patient management relevant to the adult physician.

The number of sequenced phage genomes is growing at an exponential rate. The majority of newly sequenced phage genomes are annotated by one or more of several freely-available auto-annotation programs. No program has been shown to consistently outperform the others; thus the choice of which program to use is not obvious. We present the software Phage Commander for rapid annotation of phage genomes using multiple auto-annotation programs. Phage Commander runs a phage genome sequence through nine auto-annotation programs and integrates the results within a single output. Phage Commander generates properly formatted output files for direct export to NCBI GenBank. Users can select the threshold for determining which genes should be exported. Phage Commander was benchmarked using eight high-quality phage genomes whose genes have been identified through experiments. Results show that the best results are obtained by exporting genes identified by at least two or three of the nine auto-annotation programs.

Introduction Being born at very low birth weight (VLBW, Purpose To assess differences in right heart function using strain in young adults born at VLBW, compared to normal weight term born controls. Methods The New Zealand Very Low Birth Weight Study has followed all infants born in 1986 with birth weight Results VLBW subjects were smaller than their peers as young adults (Table 1). Strain measurement showed reduced myocardial deformation among VLBW subjects (RV myocardial GLS: −22.4% vs −23.5%, p=0.008; RV endocardial GLS: −23.6% vs −24.9%, p=0.005; free wall myocardial GLS −25.2% vs −26.1%, p=0.039; free wall endocardial GLS −26.7% vs −27.9%, p=0.009). TR velocity was higher in VLBW: 224 cm/s v 210 cm/s (p=0.002). RV S', and FAC were not different. Conclusion Young adults born at VLBW have impaired myocardial strain despite preserved RV function as assessed by standard techniques. Echocardiographic strain imaging may be an important tool to detect subclinical RV dysfunction. Graph 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Many electrical and computer engineering and computer science students take an introductory digital design course followed by a computer architecture course. This paper describes a curriculum to support these courses that culminates in designing a simplified ARM® microprocessor on an FPGA. We also wrote a supporting textbook to help other instructors interested in teaching such a course. The textbook includes supplementary hands-on labs and exercises. Our experience is that enabling students to understand a microprocessor from the underlying gates and microarchitecture all the way up to the assembly and programming levels empowers them to fully understand both computer architecture as well as the design of complex digital systems.

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are a widely studied model species for addressing basic and applied biological questions, including the obesity epidemic (Hardy, Physiology and genetics of starvation-selected \( \hbar \). Las Vegas: Digital Scholarship@UNLV, 2016). Biologists investigate the effects of obesity through studying the physiology and behavior of normal and obese flies in response to exercise, diet, and other experimental conditions. In this paper, we propose an instrument, called “Fly Roller”, for exercising flies in biological experiments with or without measurement of metabolic rate. Fly Roller comprises two parts: a roller mechanism and a controller circuit. The roller mechanism supports and slowly rotates a plastic tube containing fruit flies, which reflexively walk along the inner wall of the tube. When metabolic measurements are desired, a gas analyzer can be coupled to a modified tube design with air valves at the ends of the tube, allowing the air lines to remain stationary in low-friction bearings while the tube containing the flies is rotated.

Background There is emerging evidence of differences in cardiac structure and function in preterm-born adults and increased risk of heart failure. However, there is a paucity of data in populations who have been exposed to modern intensive care and the impact of perinatal factors is unclear. Aims To compare echocardiographic measures of cardiac structure and function in a regional cohort of 17-year-olds born very preterm compared to term-born peers and the influence of perinatal factors. Study design Observational longitudinal cohort study. Subjects A regional cohort of ninety-one 17-year-olds born at Outcome measures Echocardiographic measures of cardiac structure and function. Results Left ventricular and right atrial volume and left ventricular mass, indexed to body surface area, were significantly smaller in preterm-born adolescents compared to term-born controls even when adjusted for sex. There were no between group differences in cardiac function. Within those born preterm we found a significant association between gestational age and birthweight z-score and measures of cardiac function at 17 years. Within the preterm group, those with a diagnosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia had higher left ventricular posterior wall thickness, higher mitral deceleration time and lower left atrial area and tricuspid annular plane of systolic excursion. Conclusions Adolescents born very prematurely, who have received modern intensive care, have measurable differences in heart structure compared to their term-born peers but heart function is preserved. For those born preterm, gestational age, birthweight and bronchopulmonary dysplasia are associated with differences in cardiac function.

In this study, the authors introduce MIPSfpga and its accompanying set of learning materials. MIPSfpga is a teaching infrastructure that offers access to the non-obfuscated Register-Transfer Level (RTL) source code of the MIPS microAptiv UP processor. The core is made available by Imagination Technologies for academic use and is targeted to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), making it ideal for both the classroom and research. The supporting materials and labs focus on hands-on learning that emphasises computer architecture, system on chip (SoC) design and hardware–software codesign. Among other things, students learn to set up the MIPS soft-core processor on an FPGA, run and debug programs on the core in simulation and in hardware, add new peripherals to the system, understand the microarchitecture and extend it to support new features, experiment with different cache sizes and content management policies, add new instructions using the CorExtend interface available in MIPS processors, and understand SoCs in embedded systems and how they are designed and built up in layers to run complex software such as Linux.

Background B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiac hormone released with an N-terminal fragment (NTproBNP) under conditions of ventricular pressure or volume overload. BNP has been proposed for use as a biomarker of cardiac dysfunction in premature infants in the setting of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (HsPDA) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). In adult settings the presence of proBNP and glycosylated isoforms may affect assay interpretation. However, there are limited data on how immature preterm physiology may affect BNP or NTproBNP levels and no published data on post-translational BNP processing in premature infants. Methods Pooled serial plasma samples from preterm infants born at less than 30 weeks gestation were analyzed for BNP congeners using Luminex® assay and high performance liquid chromatography. Samples were grouped according to clinical status: Group 1, no HsPDA and no BPD, Group 2 HsPDA and no/mild BPD, Group 3 HsPDA and moderate/severe BPD. Results Plasma from 15 infants was analyzed, and across all three groups NTproBNP predominated with minimal amounts of other isoforms; no glycosylation was detected. Conclusions NTproBNP appears to be the predominant isoform across each of our clinical groups in our pooled sample analysis with no evidence of significant glycosylation. This suggests NTproBNP is likely to be a robust marker in this clinical setting.

In this paper we propose a dynamic Rectified Linear Unit (D-ReLU) activation function for a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) learning network. We also implement the forward propagation of 2- and 3-layer multi-layer perceptron (MLP) networks with this D-ReLU function on a Cyclone IVE field programmable gate array (FPGA) using 8-bit precision. When compared to networks that use the approximated Sigmoid activation function, our proposed D-ReLU function uses 18-23% less area with only a 0.7-2.9% loss in accuracy. Moreover, the simplified calculations of the D-ReLU function result in 14% and 57% decreases in software execution time than Sigmoid function. In the FPGA hardware implementation, the D-ReLU function uses two fewer clock cycles per layer than the approximated Sigmoid activation function. Thus, using the D-ReLU activation function in MLP networks results in reduced area on an FPGA and lower execution time in software. In addition, the FPGA implementation runs at a 60× lower clock rate than the software version with a 29× faster execution time, indicating a potential of over 1,700× power savings.

For millenia, legged locomotion has been of central importance to humans for hunting, agriculture, transportation, sport, and warfare. Today, the same principal considerations of locomotor performance and economy apply to legged systems designed to serve, assist, or be worn by humans in urban and natural environments. Energy comes at a premium not only for animals, wherein suitably fast and economical gaits are selected through organic evolution, but also for legged robots that must carry sufficient energy in their batteries. Although a robot's energy is spent at many levels, from control systems to actuators, we suggest that the mechanical cost of transport is an integral energy expenditure for any legged system-and measuring this cost permits the most direct comparison between gaits of legged animals and robots. Although legged robots have matched or even improved upon total cost of transport of animals, this is typically achieved by choosing extremely slow speeds or by using regenerative mechanisms. Legged robots have not yet reached the low mechanical cost of transport achieved at speeds used by bipedal and quadrupedal animals. Here we consider approaches used to analyze gaits and discuss a framework, termed mechanical cost analysis, that can be used to evaluate the economy of legged systems. This method uses a point mass perspective to evaluate the entire stride as well as to identify individual events that accrue mechanical cost. The analysis of gait began at the turn of the last century with spatiotemporal analysis facilitated by the advent of cine film. These advances gave rise to the "gait diagram," which plots duty factors and phase separations between footfalls. This approach was supplanted in the following decades by methods using force platforms to determine forces and motions of the center of mass (CoM)-and analytical models that characterize gait according to fluctuations in potential and kinetic energy. Mechanical cost analysis draws from these approaches and provides a unified framework that interprets the spatiotemporal sequencing of leg contacts within the context of CoM dynamics to determine mechanical cost in every instance of the stride. Diverse gaits can be evaluated and compared in biological and engineered systems using mechanical cost analysis.

This paper describes our implementation of a multilayer perceptron (MLP) learning network on a Cyclone IVE field programmable gate array (FPGA). The MLP uses MNIST data, the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology database of handwritten digits, to train and test the design. Working with 8-bit precision, the FPGA design has similar accuracy and execution time as the 32-bit software solution but with 144 times slower clock frequency. With power consumption being proportional to frequency, the hardware solution provides power savings at no cost in accuracy or performance. Further reducing the precision from 8 to 4 bits only reduces accuracy from 89% to 78%, with area decreasing by 41%. Thus, the FPGA implementation of the MLP learning network offers a high-performance, low power alternative to traditional software methods.

This study aimed to investigate factors affecting N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) in preterm infants and the ability of NTproBNP to predict haemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (HsPDA). Prospective cohort study of 51 infants 30 weeks gestation. Blood NTproBNP and heart ultrasound were performed on day of life 3, 10, 28 and 36 weeks corrected age. NTproBNP levels analysed for prediction of HsPDA. The effect of gestational age, ventilation, hypoxia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), creatinine and haemoglobin levels on NTproBNP levels were investigated. Infants with HsPDA had higher mean (SD) day 3 NTproBNP (1840 pmol/L (1058) versus 178 pmol/L (140) p 0.001). Receiver operator curves of day 3 NTproBNP for prediction of day 3 and day 10 HsPDA had an area under the curve of 0.98 and 0.94, respectively. A chosen day 3 NTproBNP value of ≥ 287 pmol/L for the prediction of day 3 HsPDA correctly classified 92% (sensitivity 92%, specificity 92%). NTproBNP demonstrated only modest ability to predict severe BPD. Chronological but not gestational age affected NTproBNP. Ventilation, hypoxia and haemoglobin levels did not influence NTproBNP but creatinine level was positively correlated.Day 3 NTproBNP is a useful biomarker to predict HsPDA and may be a valuable tool in future trial design. What is Known: • NTproBNP is a cardiac hormone used to diagnose and monitor cardiac dysfunction in adults and has been shown to be higher in premature infants with haemodynamically significant ductus arteriosus (HsPDA). What is new: • NTproBNP is highly predictive of ultrasound-defined HsPDA and may be a useful tool for further triage • Early NTproBNP higher in infants who develop severe BPD and with renal impairment but not affected by gestational age, recent exposure to hypoxia or haemoglobin levels while late levels unexpectedly higher in those without BPD or HsPDA.

Este paper se basa en un artículo anterior titulado ”Practical experiences based on MIPSfpga”, publicado en el Workshop on Computer Architecture Education (celebrado en la conferencia ISCA-2017). Incluye algunas modificaciones: (1) Hemos ampliado la Sección II-D (que en este paper corresponde a la Sección 2.4) y la Sección III-A (que corresponde a la Sección 3); (2) Hemos eliminado las Secciones III-B y III-C; (3)., En este artículo se describe el uso de la infraestructura docente MIPSfpga v2.0 en las prácticas de la asignatura Arquitectura de Sistemas Integrados, una asignatura obligatoria en el Grado en Ingeniería Electrónica de Comunicaciones que se imparte en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid., In this paper we describe the use of the MIPSfpga v2.0 teaching infrastructure for the labs included in the course Integrated Systems Architecture, a compulsory subject in the fourth year of the Electronic Engineering of Communications degree offered at University Complutense of Madrid., Universidad de Granada: Departamento de Arquitectura y Tecnología de Computadores; Vicerrectorado para la Garantía de la Calidad., Los autores agradecen la contribución de Imagination University Program, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Imperial College London (UK), Grupo ArTeCS de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid y contratos TIN2015-65277-R, TIN2015- 65316-P y Artículo-83 (no 411-2016), Munir Hasan (IMG UK), Prashant Deokar (IMG India), Mahesh Firke (IMG India) Parimal Patel (Xilinx), Kent Brinkley (IMG USA), Rick Leatherman (IMG USA), Chuck Swartley (IMG USA), Sean Raby (IMG UK), Michio Abe (IMG Japan), Bingli Wang (IMG China), Sachin Sundar (IMG USA), Alex Wong (Digilent Inc.), Matthew Fortune (IMG UK), Jeffrey Deans (IMG UK), Laurence Keung (IMG UK), Roy Kravitz (Portland State University), Dennis Pinto (UCM), Tejaswini Angel (Portland State University), Christian White, Gibson Fahnestock, Jason Wong, Cathal McCabe (Xilinx), Larissa Swanland (Digilent).

In this paper we describe how to use MIPSfpga, a soft-core MIPS processor, to teach undergraduate and masters-level computer architecture courses. The most recent release of MIPSfpga (version 2.0), consists of three packages: the MIPSfpga Getting Started Guide, MIPSfpga Labs, and MIPSfpga System on Chip. After giving an overview of these packages, we provide examples of how to integrate MIPSfpga into curricula by describing three teaching experiences that used the MIPSfpga packages: an undergraduate course at the University Complutense of Madrid, a course at the Technical University of Darmstadt, and several seminars held at various Russian research centers and universities. MIPSfpga enabled students to bridge the gaps between theoretical concepts, hands-on practice, and industrial cores by allowing them to explore, modify, and test the MIPS core and system with the support of commercial compilers and tools.

We evaluated the effect of antenatal sildenafil on neonatal cardiovascular function in a subgroup of 27 infants of mothers participating in the STRIDER-NZAus randomized controlled trial. In this small study, we found no association between antenatal sildenafil and neonatal cardiac dysfunction including no pulmonary hypertension in exposed or unexposed infants.

To describe the survival, in-hospital morbidity, brain metrics and two-year neurodevelopmental outcomes of two extremely preterm cohorts and discuss the contribution of changes in clinical practice to these outcomes.Retrospective comparative cohort study, of two cohorts of neonates born28 weeks gestation: 47 infants born 1998-2000 and 39 infants 2006-2009.Comparing historical to the contemporary cohort respectively, admission temperature (35.9 degrees C, 36.5) and CRIB (Clinical Risk Index in Babies) score (5.4, 3.1) improved. Inotrope support fell significantly (55.3%, 28.2%). High frequency ventilation days fell (8.0, 2.7). CPAP days increased significantly (32.2, 47.9). Chronic lung disease at 36 weeks corrected age fell significantly (61.7%, 38.5%). Red cell transfusions decreased in number (7.1, 4.8) and volume (96.2ml/kg, 70.4ml/kg). Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) rates dropped significantly (66.0%, 28.2%). Survival was not significantly different. Nutritional improvements included shorter days to first enteral feed (3.4, 2.0), target protein (5.4, 4.3) and lipid levels (7.1, 4.1) with better breastfeeding rates at discharge (19.2%, 38.5%). By 36 weeks z scores for weight (-0.90, -0.39) were improved but not length (-1.94, -1.26) or head circumference (-0.72, -0.69). MRI brain metrics showed a significant improvement in bifrontal (59.2, 65.9), biparietal (73.7, 79.3) and transcerebellar diameter (50.6, 52.6) with improved neurodevelopmental outcome at two years.The contemporary cohort had better initial physiological stability, less chronic lung disease and retinopathy, improved body growth at 36 weeks and brain metrics at term equivalent. Improvement in neurodevelopment at two years has been seen and further analysis will be important to understand the impact of the changes in clinical care.

This chapter introduces principles for understanding and designing complex systems. It explains that although the real world is analog, digital designers discipline themselves to use a discrete subset of possible signals. In particular, binary variables have just two states: 0 and 1, also called FALSE and TRUE or LOW and HIGH. Logic gates compute a binary output from one or more binary inputs. Logic gates are commonly built from CMOS transistors, which behave as electrically controlled switches. nMOS transistors turn ON when the gate is 1. pMOS transistors turn ON when the gate is 0.