Different Scenarios of Autonomous Operation of an Environmental Sensor Node Using a Piezoelectric-Vibration-Based Energy Harvester.

This paper delves into the application of vibration-based energy harvesting to power environmental sensor nodes, a critical component of modern data collection systems. These sensor nodes play a crucial role in structural health monitoring, providing essential data on external conditions that can affect the health and performance of structures. We investigate the feasibility and efficiency of utilizing piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters to sustainably power environmental wireless sensor nodes on the one hand. On the other hand, we exploit different approaches to minimize the sensor node's power consumption and maximize its efficiency. The investigations consider various sensor node platforms and assess their performance under different voltage levels and broadcast frequencies. The findings reveal that optimized harvester designs enable real-time data broadcasting with short intervals, ranging from 1 to 3 s, expanding the horizons of environmental monitoring, and show that in case the system includes a battery as a backup plan, the battery's lifetime can be extended up to 9 times. This work underscores the potential of vibration energy harvesting as a viable solution for powering sensor nodes, enhancing their autonomy, and reducing maintenance costs in remote and challenging environments. It opens doors to broader applications of sustainable energy sources in environmental monitoring and data collection systems.

Analysis and Characterization of Optimized Dual-Frequency Vibration Energy Harvesters for Low-Power Industrial Applications.

We present a multiresonant vibration energy harvester designed for ultra-low-power applications in industrial environments together with an optimized harvester design. The proposed device features dual-frequency operation, enabling the harvesting of energy over a wider operational frequency range. It has been designed such that its harvesting bandwidth range is [50, 100] Hz, which is a typical frequency range for vibrations found in industrial applications. At an excitation level of 0.5 g, a maximum mean power output of 6 mW and 9 mW can be expected at the resonance frequencies of 63.3 and 76.4 Hz, respectively. The harvester delivers a power density of 492 µW/cm2. Design optimization led to improved harvester geometries yielding up to 2.6 times closer resonance frequencies, resulting in a wider harvesting bandwidth and a significantly higher power output.

Osteosarcoma of the testis.

This report describes a case of primary osteosarcoma of the testis in a 60-year-old man. Treatment consisted of an inguinal orchiectomy with no adjuvant therapy. The patient is alive and doing well without recurrent disease at 18 months after diagnosis. Only three reports have been published on primary osteosarcoma of the testis. The origin of this tumor from undifferentiated mesenchymal cells or from a malignant transformation of pre-existing teratomatous elements is still unclear. Management guidelines are difficult to establish due to the rarity of such tumors, but inguinal orchiectomy with careful follow up appears to be sufficient treatment.

[Primary renal non Hodgkin's lymphoma]. / Localisation rénale primitive d'un lymphome malin non hodgkinien (LMNH).

Primary renal non Hodgkin's lymphoma is a rare disease. The authors report a case of primary follicular lymphoma of the kidney diagnosed on nephrectomy specimen in a 53 year old man. In the light of this case and a review of the literature, aetiopathogenic, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects are discusses.

[Urinary bladder mesonephric clear cell adenocarcinoma]. / Adénocarcinome à cellules claires de type mésonéphrique de la vessie.

Mesonephric adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder is a rare tumour, whose origin is still uncertain. The authors report the case of a 19-year old woman hospitalized for a huge pelvic mass revealed by hematuria. Trans-urethral biopsy showed the mesonephric nature of this mass. The treatment consisted of an anterior pelvectomy with total colpectomy, associated to complementary radiotherapy. With a follow-up of 30 months, the patient is still alive without recurrence or metastasis. The etiopathogenic, histologic and therapeutic aspects of this tumour are reviewed.

[Endoscopic realignment for post-traumatic rupture of posterior urethra]. / Le réalignement endoscopique dans la rupture post-traumatique de l'urètre postérieur.

PURPOSE: To analyse the long-term results of treatment of posterior urethral disruptions with endoscopic realignment, and to assess the efficacy, simplicity and benefit of this technique. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 1989 and 2001, thirty six patients were treated by endoscopic realignment for traumatic rupture of the posterior urethra. The analysis of the results took in consideration the quality of urinary stream, the continence and the erectile function. RESULTS: With a mean follow-up of thirty four months (12 to 72 months), the 36 patients treated by endoscopic realignment are continent and urinate with a satisfactory urine output. This result was obtained after internal urethrotomy in 13 patients (36.1%), and after transperineal urethroplasty in two patients. Only 7 patients (19.4%) developed an impotence. CONCLUSION: The endoscopic realignment can be considered like initial treatment of all post-traumatic rupture of the posterior urethra. This simple and little aggressive technique doesn't compromise the recourse to another type of ulterior treatment and resulted in negligible morbidity. The secondary urethral strictures are short and accessible to an endoscopic urethrotomy.

Hamming distance geometry of a protein conformational space: application to the clustering of a 4-ns molecular dynamics trajectory of the HIV-1 integrase catalytic core.

Protein structures can be encoded into binary sequences (Gabarro-Arpa et al., Comput Chem 2000;24:693-698) these are used to define a Hamming distance in conformational space: the distance between two different molecular conformations is the number of different bits in their sequences. Each bit in the sequence arises from a partition of conformational space in two halves. Thus, the information encoded in the binary sequences is also used to characterize the regions of conformational space visited by the system. We apply this distance and their associated geometric structures to the clustering and analysis of conformations sampled during a 4-ns molecular dynamics simulation of the HIV-1 integrase catalytic core. The cluster analysis of the simulation shows a division of the trajectory into two segments of 2.6 and 1.4 ns length, which are qualitatively different: the data points to the fact that equilibration is only reached at the end of the first segment. The Hamming distance is compared also to the r.m.s. deviation measure. The analysis of the cases studied so far shows that under the same conditions the two measures behave quite differently, and that the Hamming distance appears to be more robust than the r.m.s. deviation.