1.5V fully programmable CMOS Membership Function Generator Circuit with proportional DC-voltage control

A Membership Function Generator Circuit (MFGC) with bias supply of 1.5 Volts and independent DC-voltage programmable functionalities is presented. The realization is based on a programmable differential current mirror and three compact voltage-to-current converters, allowing continuous and quasi-linear adjustment of the center position, height, width and slopes of the triangular/trapezoidal output waveforms. HSPICE simulation results of the proposed circuit using the parameters of a double-poly, three metal layers, 0.5 μm CMOS technology validate the functionality of the proposed architecture, which exhibits a maximum deviation of the linearity in the programmability of 7 %

Ultra Low-Power Analog Median Filters

The design and implementation of three analog median filter topologies, whose transistors operate in the deep weak-inversion region, is described. The first topology is a differential pairs array, in which drain currents are driven into two nodes in a differential fashion, while the second topology is based on a wide range OTA, which is used to maximize the dynamic range. Finally, the third topology uses three range-extended OTAs. The proposed weak-inversion filters were designed and fabricated in ON Semiconductor 0.5 micrometer technology through MOSIS. Experimental results of three-input fabricated prototypes for all three topologies are show, where power consumptions of 90nW in the first case, and 270nW in the other two cases can be noticed. A dual power supply +/-1.5 Volts were used

EnzMet™: An Enzymatic Metallography Reagent for Accurately Delineating Neuronal Boundaries for Segmenting Gap Junction-Coupled Neurons in their Three-dimensional Space

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 - August 2, 201

D-Fagomine lowers postprandial blood glucose and modulates bacterial adhesion

d-Fagomine is an iminosugar originally isolated from seeds of buckwheat (Fagopyrum sculentum Moench), present in the human diet and now available as a pure crystalline product. We tested d-fagomine for activities connected to a reduction in the risk of developing insulin resistance, becoming overweight and suffering from an excess of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The activities were: intestinal sucrase inhibition in vitro (rat mucosa and everted intestine sleeves), modulation of postprandial blood glucose in rats, bacterial agglutination and bacterial adhesion to pig intestinal mucosa. When ingested together with sucrose or starch, d-fagomine lowered blood glucose in a dose-dependent manner without stimulating insulin secretion. d-Fagomine reduced the area under the curve (0-120 min) by 20 % (P < 0•01) and shifted the time to maximum blood glucose concentration (T max) by 15 min at doses of 1-2 mg/kg body weight when administered together with 1 g sucrose/kg body weight. Moreover, d-fagomine (0•14 mm) agglutinated 60 % of Enterobacteriaceae (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium) populations (P < 0•01), while it did not show this effect on Bifidobacterium spp. or Lactobacillus spp. At the same concentration, d-fagomine significantly (P < 0•001) inhibited the adhesion of Enterobacteriaceae (95-99 % cells in the supernatant) and promoted the adhesion of Lactobacillus acidophilus (56 % cells in the supernatant) to intestinal mucosa. d-Fagomine did not show any effect on bacterial cell viability. Based on all this evidence, d-fagomine may be used as a dietary ingredient or functional food component to reduce the health risks associated with an excessive intake of fast-digestible carbohydrates, or an excess of potentially pathogenic bacteria. © 2011 The Authors

INFLUÊNCIA DA FISIOTERAPIA NA SÍNDROME DO IMOBILISMO

A síndrome da imobilidade é um conjunto de alterações que ocorrem no indivíduo acamado por um período de tempo prolongado podendo levar alterações no sistema osteomusculares, dificultando as atividades de vida diária. O tratamento fisioterápico é uma ferramenta importante para diminuir os danos causados pelo imobilismo. Foi realizado 20 sessões de fisioterapia, em duas pacientes do sexo feminino, com idade de 87 anos (paciente 1) e 74 anos (paciente 2) acamadas a mais de um mês, ambas com diagnóstico de Doença de Alzheimer, apresentavam quadro de incapacidade funcional, diminuição da amplitude de movimento e da força muscular. Foi realizada mobilizações articulares de membros superiores e inferiores, alongamentos e relaxamento. A paciente 2 além de receber o tratamento acima descrito, recebeu o tratamento com Estimulação Elétrica Funcional (FES) por 10 minutos. O FES é uma corrente de baixa frequência, indicada para fortalecimento muscular, manutenção de ADM, entre outros. A paciente 1 não apresentou melhora em seu quadro motor, a paciente 2 melhorou sua capacidade funcional, sua ADM, retração muscular e ganho de força muscular. Portanto é importante entender o grande número de comorbidades que envolvem o paciente submetido à imobilidade, pois o tornam mais suscetível as complicações, perda funcional e incapacidades

Forest disturbance and vector transmitted diseases in thelowland tropical rainforest of central Panama

objective To explore possible changes in the community attributes of haematophagous insects as afunction of forest disturbance. We compare the patterns of diversity and abundance, plus thebehavioural responses of three epidemiologically distinct vector assemblages across sites depictingvarious levels of forest cover.methods Over a 3-year period, we sampled mosquitoes, sandflies and biting-midges in forestedhabitats of central Panama. We placed CDC light traps in the forest canopy and in the understorey togather blood-seeking females.results We collected 168 405 adult haematophagous dipterans in total, including 26 genera and 86species. Pristine forest settings were always more taxonomically diverse than the disturbed forest sites,confirming that disturbance has a negative impact on species richness. Species of Phlebotominae andCulicoides were mainly classified as climax (i.e. forest specialist) or disturbance-generalist, which tendto decrease in abundance along with rising levels of disturbance. In contrast, a significant portion ofmosquito species, including primary and secondary disease vectors, was classified as colonists (i.e.disturbed-areas specialists), which tend to increase in numbers towards more disturbed forest habitats.At pristine forest, the most prevalent species of Phlebotominae and Culicoides partitioned the verticalniche by being active at the forest canopy or in the understorey; yet this pattern was less clear indisturbed habitats. Most mosquito species were not vertically stratified in their habitat preference.conclusion We posit that entomological risk and related pathogen exposure to humans is higher inpristine forest scenarios for Culicoides and Phlebotominae transmitted diseases, whereas forestdisturbance poses a higher entomological risk for mosquito-borne infections. This suggests that theDilution Effect Hypothesis (DEH) does not apply in tropical rainforests where highly abundant, yetunrecognised insect vectors and neglected zoonotic diseases occur. Comprehensive, community levelentomological surveillance is, therefore, the key for predicting potential disease spill over in scenariosof pristine forest intermixed with anthropogenic habitats. We suggest that changes in forest qualityshould also be considered when assessing arthropod-borne disease transmission risk.objective To explore possible changes in the community attributes of haematophagous insects as afunction of forest disturbance. We compare the patterns of diversity and abundance, plus thebehavioural responses of three epidemiologically distinct vector assemblages across sites depictingvarious levels of forest cover.methods Over a 3-year period, we sampled mosquitoes, sandflies and biting-midges in forestedhabitats of central Panama. We placed CDC light traps in the forest canopy and in the understorey togather blood-seeking females.results We collected 168 405 adult haematophagous dipterans in total, including 26 genera and 86species. Pristine forest settings were always more taxonomically diverse than the disturbed forest sites,confirming that disturbance has a negative impact on species richness. Species of Phlebotominae andCulicoides were mainly classified as climax (i.e. forest specialist) or disturbance-generalist, which tendto decrease in abundance along with rising levels of disturbance. In contrast, a significant portion ofmosquito species, including primary and secondary disease vectors, was classified as colonists (i.e.disturbed-areas specialists), which tend to increase in numbers towards more disturbed forest habitats.At pristine forest, the most prevalent species of Phlebotominae and Culicoides partitioned the verticalniche by being active at the forest canopy or in the understorey; yet this pattern was less clear indisturbed habitats. Most mosquito species were not vertically stratified in their habitat preference.conclusion We posit that entomological risk and related pathogen exposure to humans is higher inpristine forest scenarios for Culicoides and Phlebotominae transmitted diseases, whereas forestdisturbance poses a higher entomological risk for mosquito-borne infections. This suggests that theDilution Effect Hypothesis (DEH) does not apply in tropical rainforests where highly abundant, yetunrecognised insect vectors and neglected zoonotic diseases occur. Comprehensive, community levelentomological surveillance is, therefore, the key for predicting potential disease spill over in scenariosof pristine forest intermixed with anthropogenic habitats. We suggest that changes in forest qualityshould also be considered when assessing arthropod-borne disease transmission risk

Sistema para la Aplicación de Pruebas Psicológicas vía Web

In this work, we present a generic Web system for the application, capturing and editing ofany multiple-choice psychological test capable of storing data permanently (in order to makecomparative and longitudinal studies). Also, these data can be imported into other statisticalprograms such as Microsoft Excel, SPSS and Origin. The implementation and administrationof the tests can be done from any Internet-connected computer without installing specializedsoftware. To evaluate the potential of this system, the questionnaire Cuestionario Honey-Alonsode Estilos de Aprendizaje (C. H. A. E. A.) was captured and applied to 255 subjects. Theresults showed a significant reduction in time spent calculating the factor, in the same way,the total score for each test also prevented the occurrence of errors made by human interventionin the assessment manual (since this process was automated by the system).En este trabajo se presenta un sistema web para la aplicación, captura y edición de cual­quier prueba psicológica de opción múltiple con capacidad para almacenar datos de forma permanente (dicha información permitirá llevar a cabo estudios comparativos y longitudi­nales). De la misma forma, los datos almacenados pueden ser importados por otros pro­gramas estadísticos, como por ejemplo Microsoft Excel, SPSS y Origin. La aplicación y administración de estas pruebas puede hacerse desde cualquier computadora conectada a la Internet sin necesidad de instalar programas especializados. Para evaluar el potencial de este sistema, se capturó el Cuestionario Honey-Alonso de Estilos de Aprendizaje (C. H. A. E. A.) y se aplicó a 255 sujetos. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran una reducción considerable en el tiempo invertido en el cálculo de las subescalas (factor) y en la puntuación total de cada prueba, además, se evitó la aparición de errores cometidos por la intervención huma­na en la evaluación manual (debido a que este proceso fue automatizado por el sistema).</span