Interference Simulator for the Whole HF Band: Application to CW-Morse

In this paper, we use jointly a model of narrow band interference and a congestion model to model and implement an interference simulator for the whole HF band. The result is a model to generate interfering signals that could be found in a given frequency allocation, at a given time (past, present, or future) and for a given location. Our model does not require measurements and it is characterized by its ease of use and the freedom it offers to choose scene (modulation, location, week, year, etc.). In addition, we have defined a generic modulating function and the conditions to model a contact continuous wave (CW)-Morse, which meets the usual standards of contest. Consequently, our interference model in conjunction with the CW-Morse modulating function designed results in a specific CW-Morse model for amateur contests. As an example of the simulation model, we simulate the CW-Morse communications on the contest ARR ARRL Field Day 2011.Comment: copyright 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other work

Biometric parameters and biochemical composition of wild wreckfish (Polyprion americanus)

Wreckfish (Polyprion americanus) is considered to be a good candidate for European aquaculture. The main biometric parameters were recorded from 86 wild-caught fish (2.6-18 kg of total weight) for 14 months and the gonadosomatic index (GSI), hepatosomatic index (HIS) and viscerosomatic index (VSI) were obtained. Biochemical analyses of muscle, liver and gonads from wild wreckfish showed that wreckfish has a high level of protein in muscle, 84% of dry weight (DW), and low level of lipids (7% DW). Capture season, sex, size or weight of the fish did not have a strong effect on the variability observed in the levels of proteins, lipids and fatty acids of the different tissues. Reared wreckfish have more lipids in mature gonads than wild fish, which may be due to a more lipid-rich diet. However, some polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) such as arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) reached higher values in wild female gonads than in reared gonads, which could indicate the wreckfish has high requirements in these fatty acids. This study obtained valuable data on the biology and biochemical composition of wreckfish to estimate its nutritional requirements, which could be useful for the future of this species in aquaculture.European Union's Seventh Framework Programme Research, Technological development and demonstration (KBBE-2013-07)Postprint1,48

Copper-Catalyzed Sulfimidation in Aqueous Media:a Fast, Chemoselective and Biomolecule-Compatible Reaction

Performing transition metal-catalyzed reactions in cells and living systems has equipped scientists with a toolbox to study biological processes and release drugs on demand. Thus far, an impressive scope of reactions has been performed in these settings, but many are yet to be introduced. Nitrene transfer presents a rather unexplored new-to-nature reaction. The reaction products are frequently encountered motifs in pharmaceuticals, presenting opportunities for the controlled, intracellular synthesis of drugs. Hence, we explored the transition metal-catalyzed sulfimidation reaction in water for future in vivo application. Two Cu(I) complexes containing trispyrazolylborate ligands (Tpx) were selected, and the catalytic system was evaluated with the aid of three fitness factors. The excellent nitrene transfer reactivity and high chemoselectivity of the catalysts, coupled with good biomolecule compatibility, successfully enabled the sulfimidation of thioethers in aqueous media. We envision that this copper-catalyzed sulfimidation reaction could be an interesting starting point to unlock the potential of nitrene transfer catalysis in vivo.</p

Rotura traumática del colédoco

En el presente trabajo se describe un caso de rotura traumática del conducto colédoco, su diagnóstico, así como su tratamiento y evolución.The authours present in this article a case about a traumatic fracture of choledoco; diagnosis, treatment and evolution

Impact of Olive Extract Addition on Corn Starch-Based Active Edible Films Properties for Food Packaging Applications

Active edible films based on corn starch containing glycerol as a plasticizer and an olive extract obtained from Spanish olive fruit (Olea europaea) by-products (olive extract; OE) at different concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 wt%) were prepared by using the casting technique and further solvent-evaporation. OE showed high total phenolic and flavonoids contents and antioxidant activity, which was evaluated by using three different methods: free radical scavenging assay by (1, 1-Dipheny l-2-picrylhydrazyl) DPPH, 2, 2-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) ABTS radical inhibition and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The incorporation of OE into the corn starch/glycerol matrix underlined the antioxidant potential and antimicrobial effect against E. coli and S. aureus of these novel active films, being noticeable for films added with 0.2 wt% OE. The developed active films showed a clear thermo-oxidative stability improvement with OE incorporation, in particular at 0.2 wt% loading with an increase of around 50 °C in the initial degradation temperature (Tini) and oxidation onset temperature (OOT). The functional properties of control films were also improved with OE addition resulting in a decrease in Young´s modulus, elongation at break, shore D hardness and water vapor permeability. The present work suggested the potential of the developed corn starch-based edible films as low-price and sustainable food packaging systems to prevent the oxidative deterioration of packaged foodstuff while reducing also the generation of olive by-products

HF spectrum activity prediction model based on HMM for cognitive radio applications

Although most of the research on Cognitive Radio is focused on communication bands above the HF upper limit (30 MHz), Cognitive Radio principles can also be applied to HF communications to make use of the extremely scarce spectrum more efficiently. In this work we consider legacy users as primary users since these users transmit without resorting to any smart procedure, and our stations using the HFDVL (HF Data+Voice Link) architecture as secondary users. Our goal is to enhance an efficient use of the HF band by detecting the presence of uncoordinated primary users and avoiding collisions with them while transmitting in different HF channels using our broad-band HF transceiver. A model of the primary user activity dynamics in the HF band is developed in this work to make short-term predictions of the sojourn time of a primary user in the band and avoid collisions. It is based on Hidden Markov Models (HMM) which are a powerful tool for modelling stochastic random processes and are trained with real measurements of the 14 MHz band. By using the proposed HMM based model, the prediction model achieves an average 10.3% prediction error rate with one minute-long channel knowledge but it can be reduced when this knowledge is extended: with the previous 8 min knowledge, an average 5.8% prediction error rate is achieved. These results suggest that the resulting activity model for the HF band could actually be used to predict primary users activity and included in a future HF cognitive radio based station

Multipactor radiation analysis within a waveguide region based on a frequency-domain representation of the dynamics of charged particles

[EN] A technique for the accurate computation of the electromagnetic fields radiated by a charged particle moving within a parallel-plate waveguide is presented. Based on a transformation of the time-varying current density of the particle into a time-harmonic current density, this technique allows the evaluation of the radiated electromagnetic fields both in the frequency and time domains, as well as in the near- and far-field regions. For this purpose, several accelerated versions of the parallel-plate Green's function in the frequency domain have been considered. The theory has been successfully applied to the multipactor discharge occurring within a two metal-plates region. The proposed formulation has been tested with a particle-in-cell code based on the finite-difference time-domain method, obtaining good agreement.The authors would like to thank ESA/ESTEC for having funded this research activity through the Contract "RF Breakdown in Multicarrier Systems" (Contract No. 19918/06/NL/GLC).Gimeno, B.; Sorolla, E.; Anza, S.; Vicente, C.; Gil, J.; Pérez, AM.; Boria Esbert, VE.... (2009). Multipactor radiation analysis within a waveguide region based on a frequency-domain representation of the dynamics of charged particles. Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics. 79(4):1-9. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.79.046604S19794Figueroa, H., Gai, W., Konecny, R., Norem, J., Ruggiero, A., Schoessow, P., & Simpson, J. (1988). Direct Measurement of Beam-Induced Fields in Accelerating Structures. Physical Review Letters, 60(21), 2144-2147. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.60.2144Ng, K.-Y. (1990). Wake fields in a dielectric-lined waveguide. Physical Review D, 42(5), 1819-1828. doi:10.1103/physrevd.42.1819Rosing, M., & Gai, W. (1990). Longitudinal- and transverse-wake-field effects in dielectric structures. Physical Review D, 42(5), 1829-1834. doi:10.1103/physrevd.42.1829Gai, W., Kanareykin, A. D., Kustov, A. L., & Simpson, J. (1997). Numerical simulations of intense charged-particle beam propagation in a dielectric wake-field accelerator. Physical Review E, 55(3), 3481-3488. doi:10.1103/physreve.55.3481Burov, A., & Danilov, V. (1999). Suppression of Transverse Bunch Instabilities by Asymmetries in the Chamber Geometry. Physical Review Letters, 82(11), 2286-2289. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.82.2286Xiao, L., Gai, W., & Sun, X. (2001). Field analysis of a dielectric-loaded rectangular waveguide accelerating structure. Physical Review E, 65(1). doi:10.1103/physreve.65.016505Jing, C., Liu, W., Xiao, L., Gai, W., Schoessow, P., & Wong, T. (2003). Dipole-mode wakefields in dielectric-loaded rectangular waveguide accelerating structures. Physical Review E, 68(1). doi:10.1103/physreve.68.016502Stupakov, G., Bane, K. L. F., & Zagorodnov, I. (2007). Optical approximation in the theory of geometric impedance. Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, 10(5). doi:10.1103/physrevstab.10.054401Hatch, A. J., & Williams, H. B. (1954). The Secondary Electron Resonance Mechanism of Low‐Pressure High‐Frequency Gas Breakdown. Journal of Applied Physics, 25(4), 417-423. doi:10.1063/1.1721656Hatch, A. J., & Williams, H. B. (1958). Multipacting Modes of High-Frequency Gaseous Breakdown. Physical Review, 112(3), 681-685. doi:10.1103/physrev.112.681Vaughan, J. R. M. (1988). Multipactor. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 35(7), 1172-1180. doi:10.1109/16.3387Gilardini, A. L. (1995). Multipacting discharges: Constant‐ktheory and simulation results. Journal of Applied Physics, 78(2), 783-795. doi:10.1063/1.360336Riyopoulos, S. (1997). Multipactor saturation due to space-charge-induced debunching. Physics of Plasmas, 4(5), 1448-1462. doi:10.1063/1.872319Kryazhev, A., Buyanova, M., Semenov, V., Anderson, D., Lisak, M., Puech, J., … Sombrin, J. (2002). Hybrid resonant modes of two-sided multipactor and transition to the polyphase regime. Physics of Plasmas, 9(11), 4736-4743. doi:10.1063/1.1514969Udiljak, R., Anderson, D., Ingvarson, P., Jordan, U., Jostell, U., Lapierre, L., … Sombrin, J. (2003). New method for detection of multipaction. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 31(3), 396-404. doi:10.1109/tps.2003.811646De Lara, J., Perez, F., Alfonseca, M., Galan, L., Montero, I., Roman, E., & Garcia-Baquero, D. R. (2006). Multipactor prediction for on-board spacecraft RF equipment with the MEST software tool. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 34(2), 476-484. doi:10.1109/tps.2006.872450Torregrosa, G., Coves, A., Vicente, C. P., Perez, A. M., Gimeno, B., & Boria, V. E. (2006). Time evolution of an electron discharge in a parallel-plate dielectric-loaded waveguide. IEEE Electron Device Letters, 27(7), 619-621. doi:10.1109/led.2006.877284Udiljak, R., Anderson, D., Lisak, M., Semenov, V. E., & Puech, J. (2007). Multipactor in a coaxial transmission line. I. Analytical study. Physics of Plasmas, 14(3), 033508. doi:10.1063/1.2710464Semenov, V. E., Zharova, N., Udiljak, R., Anderson, D., Lisak, M., & Puech, J. (2007). Multipactor in a coaxial transmission line. II. Particle-in-cell simulations. Physics of Plasmas, 14(3), 033509. doi:10.1063/1.2710466Anza, S., Vicente, C., Gimeno, B., Boria, V. E., & Armendáriz, J. (2007). Long-term multipactor discharge in multicarrier systems. Physics of Plasmas, 14(8), 082112. doi:10.1063/1.2768019Udiljak, R., Anderson, D., Lisak, M., Puech, J., & Semenov, V. E. (2007). Multipactor in a Waveguide Iris. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 35(2), 388-395. doi:10.1109/tps.2007.892737Burton, R. J., de Jong, M. S., & Funk, L. W. (1991). Vacuum and multipactor performance of the hadron electron ring accelerator 52 MHz cavities. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, 9(3), 2081-2084. doi:10.1116/1.577417Yamaguchi, S., Saito, Y., Anami, S., & Michizono, S. (1992). Trajectory simulation of multipactoring electrons in an S-band pillbox RF window. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 39(2), 278-282. doi:10.1109/23.277497Kishek, R., & Lau, Y. Y. (1995). Interaction of Multipactor Discharge and rf Circuit. Physical Review Letters, 75(6), 1218-1221. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.75.1218Lay-Kee Ang, Lau, Y. Y., Kishek, R. A., & Gilgenbach, R. M. (1998). Power deposited on a dielectric by multipactor. IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 26(3), 290-295. doi:10.1109/27.700756Kishek, R. A., Lau, Y. Y., Ang, L. K., Valfells, A., & Gilgenbach, R. M. (1998). Multipactor discharge on metals and dielectrics: Historical review and recent theories. Physics of Plasmas, 5(5), 2120-2126. doi:10.1063/1.872883Neuber, A., Hemmert, D., Krompholz, H., Hatfield, L., & Kristiansen, M. (1999). Initiation of high power microwave dielectric interface breakdown. Journal of Applied Physics, 86(3), 1724-1728. doi:10.1063/1.370953Chojnacki, E. (2000). Simulations of a multipactor-inhibited waveguide geometry. Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams, 3(3). doi:10.1103/physrevstab.3.032001Cimino, R., Collins, I. R., Furman, M. A., Pivi, M., Ruggiero, F., Rumolo, G., & Zimmermann, F. (2004). Can Low-Energy Electrons Affect High-Energy Physics Accelerators? Physical Review Letters, 93(1). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.014801Abe, T., Kageyama, T., Akai, K., Ebihara, K., Sakai, H., & Takeuchi, Y. (2006). Multipactoring zone map of an rf input coupler and its application to high beam current storage rings. 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Economic evaluation of endoscopic radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of dysplastic Barrett's esophagus in Spain

Background and study aims: To assess the cost-effectiveness of introducing endoscopic treatment based on radiofrequency ablation plus endoscopic mucosal resection in selected patients into the standard of care of Barrett's esophagus patients with high-grade dysplasia or low-grade dysplasia in Spain. Methods: The disease evolution was modeled via a semi-Markov model. The treatment strategies compared included endoscopic treatment based on radiofrequency ablation plus endoscopic mucosal resection and the Standard of Care (esophagectomy or palliative chemoradiotherapy according to disease status for high-grade dysplasia and endoscopic surveillance for low-grade dysplasia). Efficacy rates, transition probabilities and utility values were obtained from the literature. Clinical management patterns and resource use were modeled according to Spanish clinical expert opinion. Costs were expressed in euros ((sic)) from 2016 reflecting the Spanish National Health System perspective. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness of the model. Results: With respect to the Spanish Standard of Care, endoscopic treatment based on radiofrequency ablation plus endoscopic mucosal resection was a dominant strategy for high-grade dysplasia patients. When a willingness-to-pay threshold of (sic)30,000 per quality-adjusted life-years gained was considered, this was cost-effective for low-grade dysplasia patients ((sic)12,865 per quality-adjusted life-years gained). The sensitivity analyses supported the base case analysis results and pointed towards the main drivers of uncertainty in the model. Conclusions: From a health care decision-maker, endoscopic treatment based on radiofrequency ablation plus endo-scopic mucosal resection is the intervention of choice for dysplasic Barrett's esophagus patients in Spain

Mechanisms of refractive index modification during femtosecond laser writing of waveguides in alkaline lead-oxide silicate glass

3 pages, 3 figures.We report on the mechanisms responsible for the formation of optical waveguides upon femtosecond laser irradiation of an alkaline lead-oxide silicate glass. MicroRaman spectroscopy and nonlinear fluorescence were employed to probe the local glass network structure and the formation of optically active defects respectively. At low laser pulse energies, the laser modified region is formed by a single light guiding region, whereas for pulses above 14 µJ the modified region is formed by a central dark zone, which does not guide light, accompanied by light guiding zones located in the surrounding of the dark one. This behavior is different from that observed in common silica glass systems but agrees with recent results obtained in phosphate and heavy metal oxide glasses. However, our results show that, unlike the latter glass, local densification of the glass occurs in the whole laser modified region, i.e., in the dark and the guiding zones. The suppression of light guiding in the dark region is explained by a high density of absorbing color centers.This work was partially supported by CICYT (Spain) under Project No. DPI2002-00151. One of the authors (V.D.B.) acknowledges the financial support of the CSIC and the European Social Fund through an I3P Ph.D. fellowship. Another author (P.L.-A. acknowledges funding from the Spanish Government ( the Ramón y Cajal program and Grant No. TIC2003-07485).Peer reviewe