Mechanically reconfigurable linear phased array antenna based on single-block waveguide reflective phase shifters with tuning screws

This work presents the design and prototyping of a reconfigurable phased array in Ku band (16 to 18 GHz) implemented in waveguide technology. The design is based on the use of a novel seamless waveguide module integrating four reconfigurable phase shifters to adjust the relative phase shift between the unitary elements of a linear array, which are illuminated uniformly by a corporate waveguide feeding network. The phase shifters are implemented by a 90º hybrid coupler in waveguide technology where two of its ports are loaded with a tunable reactive load, implemented in this proof of concept with a tuning screw. The four phase shifters have been manufactured in a single part using direct metal laser sintering, avoiding the losses related to bad electric contacts and misalignments associated to multipart devices. This also simplifies the assembly of the full phased array, leading to a modular approach with three parts whose design can be addressed separately. The experimental results for the complete array antenna show great performance and demonstrate that the main-lobe of the radiation pattern can be effectively scanned continuously between the angles - 25º and 25º, with a high efficiency in the whole design band thanks to the proposed waveguide implementationThis work was supported by the Spanish Government, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional: AEI/FEDER, UE, under Grant TEC2016-76070-C3-1-

Deciphering Network Community Structure by Surprise

The analysis of complex networks permeates all sciences, from biology to sociology. A fundamental, unsolved problem is how to characterize the community structure of a network. Here, using both standard and novel benchmarks, we show that maximization of a simple global parameter, which we call Surprise (S), leads to a very efficient characterization of the community structure of complex synthetic networks. Particularly, S qualitatively outperforms the most commonly used criterion to define communities, Newman and Girvan's modularity (Q). Applying S maximization to real networks often provides natural, well-supported partitions, but also sometimes counterintuitive solutions that expose the limitations of our previous knowledge. These results indicate that it is possible to define an effective global criterion for community structure and open new routes for the understanding of complex networks.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Waveguide manufacturing technologies for next-generation millimeter-wave antennas

Some recent waveguide-based antennas are presented in this paper, designed for the next generation of communication systems operating at the millimeter-wave band. The presented prototypes have been conceived to be manufactured using different state-of-the-art techniques, involving subtractive and additive approaches. All the designs have used the latest developments in the field of manufacturing to guarantee the required accuracy for operation at millimeter-wave frequencies, where tolerances are extremely tight. Different designs will be presented, including a monopulse antenna combining a comparator network, a mode converter, and a spline profile horn; a tunable phase shifter that is integrated into an array to implement reconfigurability of the main lobe direction; and a conformal array antenna. These prototypes were manufactured by diverse approaches taking into account the waveguide configuration, combining parts with high-precision milling, electrical discharge machining, direct metal laser sintering, or stereolithography with spray metallization, showing very competitive performances at the millimeter-wave band till 40 GHzThis work was supported by the Spanish Government under Grant TEC2016-76070- C3-1/2-R (ADDMATE); in part under Grant PID2020-116968RB-C32/33 (DEWICOM), Agencia Estatal de Investigación MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional: AEI/FEDER, UE. This work was also partially supported under Grant S2013/ICE3000 (SPADERADARCM), Madrid Regional Governmen

Quality indicators in radiation oncology: proposal of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) for a continuous improvement of the quality of care in oncology.

Purpose Current cancer treatment options include surgical intervention, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The quality of the provision of each of them and their effective coordination determines the results in terms of benefit/risk. Regarding the radiation oncology treatments, there are not stabilised quality indicators to be used to perform control and continuous improvement processes for healthcare services. Therefore, the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology has undertaken a comprehensive project to establish quality indicators for use with the information systems available in most Spanish healthcare services. Methods A two-round Delphi study examines consensus of several possible quality indicators (n = 28) in daily practice. These indicators were defined after a bibliographic search and the assessment by radiation oncology specialists (n = 8). They included aspects regarding treatment equipment, patient preparation, treatment, and follow-up processes and were divided in structure, process, and outcome indicators. Results After the evaluation of the defined quality indicators (n = 28) by an expert panel (38 radiation oncologist), 26 indicators achieved consensus in terms of agreement with the statement. Two quality indicators did not achieve consensus. Conclusions There is a high degree of consensus in Spanish Radiation Oncology specialists on which indicators in routine clinical practice can best measure quality. These indicators can be used to classify services based on several parameters (patients, equipments, complexity of the techniques used, and scientific research). Furthermore, these indicators allow assess our current situation and set improvements’ objectives.pre-print241 K

Diversification and Specialization of Plant RBR Ubiquitin Ligases

Background: RBR ubiquitin ligases are components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system present in all eukaryotes. They are characterized by having the RBR (RING – IBR – RING) supradomain. In this study, the patterns of emergence of RBR genes in plants are described. Methodology/Principal Findings: Phylogenetic and structural data confirm that just four RBR subfamilies (Ariadne, ARA54, Plant I/Helicase and Plant II) exist in viridiplantae. All of them originated before the split that separated green algae from the rest of plants. Multiple genes of two of these subfamilies (Ariadne and Plant II) appeared in early plant evolution. It is deduced that the common ancestor of all plants contained at least five RBR genes and the available data suggest that this number has been increasing slowly along streptophyta evolution, although losses, especially of Helicase RBR genes, have also occurred in several lineages. Some higher plants (e. g. Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa) contain a very large number of RBR genes and many of them were recently generated by tandem duplications. Microarray data indicate that most of these new genes have low-level and sometimes specific expression patterns. On the contrary, and as occurs in animals, a small set of older genes are broadly expressed at higher levels. Conclusions/Significance: The available data suggests that the dynamics of appearance and conservation of RBR genes is quite different in plants from what has been described in animals. In animals, an abrupt emergence of many structurall

New GOLD classification: Longitudinal data on group assignment

Rationale: Little is known about the longitudinal changes associated with using the 2013 update of the multidimensional GOLD strategy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Objective: To determine the COPD patient distribution of the new GOLD proposal and evaluate how this classification changes over one year compared with the previous GOLD staging based on spirometry only. Methods: We analyzed data from the CHAIN study, a multicenter observational Spanish cohort of COPD patients who are monitored annually. Categories were defined according to the proposed GOLD: FEV1%, mMRC dyspnea, COPD Assessment Test (CAT), Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), and exacerbations-hospitalizations. One-year follow-up information was available for all variables except CCQ data. Results: At baseline, 828 stable COPD patients were evaluated. On the basis of mMRC dyspnea versus CAT, the patients were distributed as follows: 38.2% vs. 27.2% in group A, 17.6% vs. 28.3% in group B, 15.8% vs. 12.9% in group C, and 28.4% vs. 31.6% in group D. Information was available for 526 patients at one year: 64.2% of patients remained in the same group but groups C and D show different degrees of variability. The annual progression by group was mainly associated with one-year changes in CAT scores (RR, 1.138; 95%CI: 1.074-1.206) and BODE index values (RR, 2.012; 95%CI: 1.487-2.722). Conclusions: In the new GOLD grading classification, the type of tool used to determine the level of symptoms can substantially alter the group assignment. A change in category after one year was associated with longitudinal changes in the CAT and BODE index

Search for Tidal Dwarf Galaxies Candidates in a Sample of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

(ABRIDGED) Star-forming small galaxies made out of collisional debris have been found in a variety of merging systems. So far only a few of them are known in ULIRGs although they show clear signs of interactions. Whether external star formation may take place in such objects is an open question. The aim of this paper is to identify and characterise the physical and kinematic properties of the external star forming regions in a sample of ULIRGs, including TDG candidates, using optical IFS and high angular resolution HST imaging. We have found that the presence of external star-forming regions is common with 12 objects being identified in 5 ULIRGs. These regions show a large range of dynamical mass up to 1x10^{10} M_sun, with average sizes of ~750 pc. In addition, the line ratios, metallicities and H\alpha equivalent widths are typical of young bursts of star formation (age ~ 5-8 Myr), and similar to those of other TDG candidates. Their extinction corrected H\alpha luminosities lead to masses for the young stellar component of ~2x10^6 - 7x10^8 M_sun. The likelihood of survival of these regions as TDGs is discussed based on their structural and kinematic properties. Most of these systems follow the relation between effective radius and velocity dispersion found for globular clusters and Ellipticals, which suggests they are stable against internal motions. The stability against forces from the parent galaxy have been studied and a comparison of the data with the predictions of dynamical evolutionary models is also performed. Five regions out of twelve show High-Medium or High likelihood of survival. Our best candidate, which satisfy all the utilized criteria, is located in the advanced merger IRAS15250+3609 and presents a velocity field decoupled from the relatively distant parent galaxy.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; A&A accepte

Interactome and Gene Ontology provide congruent yet subtly different views of a eukaryotic cell

15 pages, 6 figures.-- 19604360 [PubMed]BACKGROUND: The characterization of the global functional structure of a cell is a major goal in bioinformatics and systems biology. Gene Ontology (GO) and the protein-protein interaction network offer alternative views of that structure. RESULTS: This study presents a comparison of the global structures of the Gene Ontology and the interactome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sensitive, unsupervised methods of clustering applied to a large fraction of the proteome led to establish a GO-interactome correlation value of +0.47 for a general dataset that contains both high and low-confidence interactions and +0.58 for a smaller, high-confidence dataset. CONCLUSION: The structures of the yeast cell deduced from GO and interactome are substantially congruent. However, some significant differences were also detected, which may contribute to a better understanding of cell function and also to a refinement of the current ontologiesResearch supported by grant BIO2008-05067 (Programa Nacional de Biotecnología; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Spain), awarded to IM. AM was a FPI fellow from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain).Peer reviewe

Determinants of the Morning-Evening Home Blood Pressure Difference in Treated Hypertensives: The HIBA-Home Study

Background. The morning home blood pressure (BP) rise is a significant asymptomatic target organ damage predictor in hypertensives. Our aim was to evaluate determinants of home-based morning-evening difference (MEdiff) in Argentine patients. Methods. Treated hypertensive patients aged ≥18 years participated in a cross-sectional study, after performing home morning and evening BP measurement. MEdiff was morning minus evening home average results. Variables identified as relevant predictors were entered into a multivariable linear regression analysis model. Results. Three hundred sixty-seven medicated hypertensives were included. Mean age was 66.2 (14.5), BMI 28.1 (4.5), total cholesterol 4.89 (1.0) mmol/L, 65.9% women, 11.7% smokers, and 10.6% diabetics. Mean MEdiff was 1.1 (12.5) mmHg systolic and 2.3 (6.1) mmHg diastolic, respectively. Mean self-recorded BP was 131.5 (14.1) mmHg systolic and 73.8 (7.6) mmHg diastolic, respectively. Mean morning and evening home BPs were 133.1 (16.5) versus 132 (15.7) systolic and 75.8 (8.4) versus 73.5 (8.2) diastolic, respectively. Significant beta-coefficient values were found in systolic MEdiff for age and smoking and in diastolic MEdiff for age, smoking, total cholesterol, and calcium-channel blockers. Conclusions. In a cohort of Argentine medicated patients, older age, smoking, total cholesterol, and use of calcium channel blockers were independent determinants of home-based MEdiff