3D-Printed transmit-array antenna for broadband backhaul 5G links at V band

The low cost and compactness of transmit-array antennas (TAs) make them attractive for 5G backhaul links. However, the TA advantage is less obvious when considering the broadband operation requirement. Two main factors influence the bandwidth performance, namely: 1) the bandwidth of the unit cells, and 2) the number of 360° phase wrapping zones in the aperture, which are designed for a specific frequency. Herein, we overcome these limitations by using all-dielectric unit cells (inherently broadband) and by developing a general method to quantify and manage the intricate relation between antenna gain, bandwidth, and antenna height. Based on this framework we optimize, as an example, a TA design (focal distance, F=63 mm and aperture diameter D=80 mm ) to comply with typical gain specification for 5G backhaul links (>30 dBi) in the WiGiG band (from 57 to 66 GHz). The feed is a dedicated compact horn (8 ×5×22 mm3) that provides a proper illumination of the aperture. Additive manufacturing is used to simplify the manufacturing process of the antenna. A very good agreement between simulations and experimental results is obtained, achieving good aperture efficiency for this type of antenna (42%), which rivals with existing solutions based on more expensive manufacturing techniques.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Donated human milk as a determinant factor for the gut bifidobacterial ecology in premature babies

Correct establishment of the gut microbiome is compromised in premature babies, with Bifidobacterium being one of the most affected genera. Prematurity often entails the inability to successfully breastfeed, therefore requiring the implementation of other feeding modes; breast milk expression from a donor mother is the recommended option when their own mother’s milk is not available. Some studies showed different gut microbial profiles in premature infants fed with breast milk and donor human milk, however, it is not known how this affects the species composition of the genus Bifidobacterium. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of donated human milk on shaping the gut bifidobacterial populations of premature babies during the first three months of life. We analyzed the gut bifidobacterial communities of 42 premature babies fed with human donor milk or own-mother milk by the 16S rRNA-23S rRNA internal transcriber spaces (ITS) region sequencing and q-PCR. Moreover, metabolic activity was assessed by gas chromatography. We observed a specific bifidobacterial profile based on feeding type, with higher bifidobacterial diversity in the human donor milk group. Differences in specific Bifidobacterium species composition may contribute to the development of specific new strategies or treatments aimed at mimicking the impact of own-mother milk feeding in neonatal units

Three-dimensional printed ABS plastic peanut-lens with integrated ball grid array module for high-data-rate communications in F-band

A ball grid array (BGA) module integrated within a three-dimensional printed peanut-shaped lens is proposed for high-data-rate wireless communications in the F-band (116–140 GHz) between a video camera and a TV or a laptop. The module implements a 1?×?2 array antenna which radiates a wide beam in the horizontal plane (H-plane) and a narrower beam in the vertical plane (E-plane). The dielectric lens, fabricated in ABS-M30 plastic, is a shaped lens designed to achieve a fan-beam radiation pattern further narrowing the vertical plane and widening the horizontal plane of the BGA module. The realised gain of the full antenna system is required to exceed 5?dBi within a 120° angular interval in the horizontal plane and a 20° angular interval in the vertical plane. Measurements show a reflection coefficient below ?9?dB from 116 to 140?GHz and a maximum realised gain of 8.5?dBi at 130?GHz demonstrating feasibility of the cost-effective proposed design for a high-data-rate communications.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Magnetic nanostructures for emerging biomedical applications

Magnetic nanostructures have been widely studied due to their potential applicability into several research fields such as data storage, sensing and biomedical applications. Focusing on the biomedical aspect, some new approaches deserve to be mentioned: cell manipulation and separation, contrast-enhancing agents for magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetomechanically induced cell death. This work focuses on understanding three different magnetic nanostructures, disks in the vortex state, synthetic antiferromagnetic particles and nanowires, first, by explaining their interesting properties and how they behave under an applied external field, before reviewing their potential applications for each of the aforementioned techniques.The authors acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 734801. C.R. and R.M. acknowledge funding from Basque Government Grant Nos. PIBA 2018-11 and IT1162-19, and Spanish Grant No. FIS2016-76058 (AEI/FEDER, UE). D.N. acknowledges the Spanish Ministry for Science, Innovation and Universities, for funding through the “Ramon y Cajal” program RYC-2017-22820. C.T. Sousa thanks FCT for financial support through the Investigador FCT program (Contract No. IF/01159/2015). R. Magalhães is grateful to the FCT SFRH/BD/148563/2019 PhD grant. This work was also supported by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and COMPETE 2020 (FEDER) under the projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028676/PTDC/CTM-CTM/28676/2017, POCI-01-0145/FEDER-032257/PTDC/FIS-OTI/32257/2017, POCI-01-0145-FEDER031302/PTDC/FIS-MAC/31302/2017, and POCI-01-0141-FEDER032527

Effect of intrapartum antibiotics prophylaxis on the bifidobacterial establishment within the neonatal gut

Antibiotics are important disruptors of the intestinal microbiota establishment, linked to immune and metabolic alterations. The intrapartum antibiotics prophylaxis (IAP) is a common clinical practice that is present in more than 30% of labours, and is known to negatively affect the gut microbiota composition. However, little is known about how it affects to Bifidobacterium (sub)species level, which is one of the most important intestinal microbial genera early in life. This study presents qualitative and quantitative analyses of the bifidobacterial (sub)species populations in faecal sam-ples, collected at 2, 10, 30 and 90 days of life, from 43 healthy full-term babies, sixteen of them delivered after IAP use. This study uses both 16S rRNA–23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequencing and q-PCR techniques for the analyses of the relative proportions and absolute levels, respectively, of the bifidobacterial populations. Our results show that the bifidobacterial populations establishment is affected by the IAP at both quantitative and qualitative levels. This practice can promote higher bifidobacterial diversity and several changes at a compositional level. This study underlines specific targets for developing gut microbiota-based products for favouring a proper bifidobacterial microbiota development when IAP is required

Magnetic properties of permalloy antidot arrayfabricated by interference lithography

The interference laser lithography and ion-beam sputtering have been reported. Magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry indicated that the sample exhibits four-fold anisotropic behaviour, i.e. different magnetization loops were observed when the external magnetic field was applied along either x-or y-axis, or along the array diagonal. Broadband ferromagnetic resonance measurements revealed a rich variety of different magnetization configurations in the unsaturated state that can be controlled by the orientation of the external magnetic field. Micromagnetic simulations have been performed to explain the observed results. On the contrary, in the saturated regime the system demonstrated almost isotropic magnetic behaviour that improves with external field increase. The obtained results show the potential of interference lithography for the fabrication of large area antidot arrays. (C) 2019 Author(s).The Portuguese team acknowledges the Network of Extreme Conditions Laboratories-NECL and Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT) support through the projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-022096, MIT-EXPL/IRA/0012/2017, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031302, EXPL/IF/01191/2013 (D.N.), EXPL/IF/00541/2015 (S.A.B.), EXPL/IF/00981/2013 (G.N.K). D.N., G.N.K., C.R and R.M. acknowledge the support by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement EU H2020-MSCA-RISE-2016 (No 734801). The Spanish team acknowledges the support from Spanish MINECO through the grant FIS2016-76058 (AEI/FEDER, UE). A.H.-R. acknowledges the support from European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (reference H2020-MSCA-IF-2016-746958). G.N.K. and O.V.D. acknowledge the support from European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) project CA16218 "NANOCOHYBRI.

Fermented Dairy Foods: Impact on Intestinal Microbiota and Health-Linked Biomarkers

The intake of fermented foods is gaining increasing interest due to their health-promoting benefits. Among them, fermented dairy foods have been associated with obesity prevention, and reduction of the risk of metabolic disorders and immune-related pathologies. Fermented foods could lead to these health benefits by providing the consumer with both easily metabolizable nutrients and beneficial microorganisms. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between the consumption of fermented dairy products and the intestinal microbiota, serum lipid profile, and the pro-oxidant/inflammatory status. 130 healthy adults were evaluated. Dietary fermented food intake was assessed by an annual food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), including 26 fermented dairy products. Levels of the major phylogenetic types of the intestinal microbiota were determined by qPCR, and concentration of fecal short chain fatty acids were assessed by gas chromatography. Serum glucose and lipid profile, as well as serum malondialdehyde (MDA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and leptin levels were determined by standardized protocols. Among fermented dairy foods, natural yogurt, sweetened yogurt and matured/semi-matured cheese were the most consumed. While natural yogurt consumers showed increased fecal levels of Akkermansia with respect to non-consumers, sweetened yogurt intake was associated to lower levels of Bacteroides. Serum levels of CRP were also significantly reduced in yogurt consumers. Our results underline the interest in exploring the potential effects of the different yogurt types and the role the microbiota may play in such effects

Impact of prematurity and perinatal antibiotics on the developing intestinal microbiota: A functional inference study

The microbial colonization of the neonatal gut provides a critical stimulus for normal maturation and development. This process of early microbiota establishment, known to be affected by several factors, constitutes an important determinant for later health. Methods: We studied the establishment of the microbiota in preterm and full-term infants and the impact of perinatal antibiotics upon this process in premature babies. To this end, 16S rRNA gene sequence-based microbiota assessment was performed at phylum level and functional inference analyses were conducted. Moreover, the levels of the main intestinal microbial metabolites, the short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) acetate, propionate and butyrate, were measured by Gas-Chromatography Flame ionization/Mass spectrometry detection. Results: Prematurity affects microbiota composition at phylum level, leading to increases of Proteobacteria and reduction of other intestinal microorganisms. Perinatal antibiotic use further affected the microbiota of the preterm infant. These changes involved a concomitant alteration in the levels of intestinal SCFA. Moreover, functional inference analyses allowed for identifying metabolic pathways potentially affected by prematurity and perinatal antibiotics use. Conclusion: A deficiency or delay in the establishment of normal microbiota function seems to be present in preterm infants. Perinatal antibiotic use, such as intrapartum prophylaxis, affected the early life microbiota establishment in preterm newborns, which may have consequences for later healt

In vitro evaluation of different prebiotics on the modulation of gut microbiota composition and function in morbid obese and normal-weight subjects

The gut microbiota remains relatively stable during adulthood; however, certain intrinsic and environmental factors can lead to microbiota dysbiosis. Its restoration towards a healthy condition using best-suited prebiotics requires previous development of in vitro models for evaluating their functionality. Herein, we carried out fecal cultures with microbiota from healthy normal-weight and morbid obese adults. Cultures were supplemented with different inulin-type fructans (1-kestose, Actilight, P95, Synergy1 and Inulin) and a galactooligosaccharide. Their impact on the gut microbiota was assessed by monitoring gas production and evaluating changes in the microbiota composition (qPCR and 16S rRNA gene profiling) and metabolic activity (gas chromatography). Additionally, the effect on the bifidobacterial species was assessed (ITS-sequencing). Moreover, the functionality of the microbiota before and after prebiotic-modulation was determined in an in vitro model of interaction with an intestinal cell line. In general, 1-kestose was the compound showing the largest effects. The modulation with prebiotics led to significant increases in the Bacteroides group and Faecalibacterium in obese subjects, whereas in normal-weight individuals, substantial rises in Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium were appreciated. Notably, the results obtained showed differences in the responses among the tested compounds but also among the studied human populations, indicating the need for developing population-specific products