Firmware Updates over the Air via LoRa: Unicast and Broadcast Combination for Boosting Update Speed.

The capacity to update firmware is a vital component in the lifecycle of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, even those with restricted hardware resources. This paper explores the best way to wirelessly (Over The Air, OTA) update low-end IoT nodes with difficult access, combining the use of unicast and broadcast communications. The devices under consideration correspond to a recent industrial IoT project that focuses on the installation of intelligent lighting systems within ATEX (potentially explosive atmospheres) zones, connected via LoRa to a gateway.

Management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Guidelines from the Société de pneumologie de langue française (summary).

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the chronic respiratory disease with the most important burden on public health in terms of morbidity, mortality and health costs. For patients, COPD is a major source of disability because of dyspnea, restriction in daily activities, exacerbation, risk of chronic respiratory failure and extra-respiratory systemic organ disorders. The previous French Language Respiratory Society (SPLF) guidelines on COPD exacerbations were published in 2003.

Human adaptation to ischemia by preconditioning or unstable angina: involvement of nuclear factor kappa B, but not hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha in the heart.

Objective: Ischemic preconditioning reduces infarct size and improves hemodynamic function. Unstable angina may be a clinical analogue to ischemic preconditioning, and involve activation of gene programs. We hypothesized that preceding unstable angina and/or ischemic preconditioning activated genes regulated by nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) or hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha in parallel to improved cardiac function.

[Evaluation of the efficacy of a carbon brace ("Corset monocoque carbone respectant la respiration" [CMCR]) preserving lung capacity to treat idiopathic scoliosis in children and adolescents: a retrospective study of 115 patients].

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate whether treatment with a carbon brace (CMCR) stops the progression of idiopathic scoliosis in children and adolescents affected by combined or thoraco-lumbar scoliosis.

Method: We compared clinical features (hump and vital capacity) and radiolographic data (Cobb angle, sacral slope, lumbar lordosis and thoracic kyphosis) at brace set-up and removal in 115 children and adolescents with combined or thoraco-lumbar scoliosis. The impact of the brace was evaluated in 2 subgroups: patients who started the treatment at Risser stages 0, 1 or 2 and those who started the treatment at Risser stages 3 or 4.

CDR3 sequence preference of TCRBV8S2+ T cells within the CNS does not reflect single amino acid dependent avidity expansion.

To investigate the influence of antigen and restricting MHC class II molecule on the T cell repertoire, we varied the peptide source by immunizing either with myelin basic protein (MBP) (rat)63-88 or MBP(GUINEA PIG (GP))63-88, which differ in the core region of the peptide binding site at position 79 by a single exchange of threonine (T) to serine (S) and by altering the MHC by immunizing MHC congenic LEW (RT1(1)) and LEW.1W (RT1u) rats. In both MHC haplotypes both peptides lead to oligoclonal dominance of TCRBV8S2 expressing T cells within the central nervous system (CNS) as assessed by complementary determining region 3 (CDR3) spectratyping.

Atherosclerosis and the immune system.

The immune system is involved at all stages of the atherosclerotic disease process. Innate immunity, represented by macrophages and other cells, is directly activated by microbial components and possibly also by autologous lipids and proteins. It elicits inflammatory activity, which is a key component of the atherosclerotic lesion.

CD1d-dependent activation of NKT cells aggravates atherosclerosis.

Adaptive and innate immunity have been implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Given their abundance in the lesion, lipids might be targets of the atherosclerosis-associated immune response. Natural killer T (NKT) cells can recognize lipid antigens presented by CD1 molecules.

Genetic characterization of forty ionizing radiation-sensitive strains of Deinococcus radiodurans: linkage information from transformation.

Natural transformation was used to help define a collection of ionizing radiation-sensitive strains of Deinococcus radiodurans. Three putative rec mutations were identified, as were three pol alleles. Forty of the ionizing radiation-sensitive strains were placed into 16 linkage groups, and evidence obtained indicates that each linkage group consists of a cluster of mutations not more than 1,000 bp apart.

Nonshivering thermogenesis in king penguin chicks. II. Effect of fasting.

The effect of fasting on the energy metabolism of skeletal muscle and liver was investigated in cold-acclimatized short-term fasting (STF) (3 wk) and naturally long-term fasting (LTF) (4-5 mo) king penguin chicks, both groups exhibiting nonshivering thermogenesis (NST). A comparison was made with nourished cold-acclimatized controls. In these chicks, no brown adipose tissue deposits could be found on electron-microscopic observations of fat deposits.

Nonshivering thermogenesis in king penguin chicks. I. Role of skeletal muscle.

In cold-acclimatized (CA) king penguin chicks exhibiting nonshivering thermogenesis (NST), protein content and cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity of tissue homogenates were measured together with protein content, CO, and respiration rates of isolated mitochondria from skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius and pectoralis) and liver. The comparison was made with chicks reared at thermoneutrality (TN) for at least 3 wk. In CA chicks showing a NST despite the lack of brown adipose tissue, an increase in thermogenic capacity was observed in skeletal muscle in which the oxidative capacity rose (+28% and +50% in gastrocnemius and pectoralis muscles, respectively), whereas no change occurred in the liver.

Loose-coupled mitochondria in chronic glucagon-treated hyperthermic ducklings.

In chronic glucagon-treated ducklings (GT) showing thermogenic and hyperthermic responses without shivering to glucagon test injection and in control ducklings (TN; both aged 44 +/- 1 days and reared at thermoneutrality), subsarcolemmal (S) and intermyofibrillar (I) mitochondria from gastrocnemius muscle and mitochondria from liver were isolated. Respiration and cytochrome oxidase activity were determined in these isolated mitochondria by polarography and creatine kinase activity by spectrophotometry, both at 25 degrees C. In GT ducklings, the powerful thermogenesis observed in vivo after a glucagon test injection may be due to the uncoupling effect of released free fatty acids (FFA) in loose-coupled mitochondria because their respiration increased as a function of FFA concentration, and the loose coupling of these mitochondria was reversed by addition of albumin.