MIDAS: Automated Approach to Design Microwave Integrated Inductors and Transformers on Silicon

The design of modern radiofrequency integrated circuits on silicon operating at microwave and millimeter-waves requires the integration of several spiral inductors and transformers that are not commonly available in the process design-kits of the technologies. In this work we present an auxiliary CAD tool for Microwave Inductor (and transformer) Design Automation on Silicon (MIDAS) that exploits commercial simulators and allows the implementation of an automatic design flow, including three-dimensional layout editing and electromagnetic simulations. In detail, MIDAS allows the designer to derive a preliminary sizing of the inductor (transformer) on the bases of the design entries (specifications). It draws the inductor (transformer) layers for the specific process design kit, including vias and underpasses, with or without patterned ground shield, and launches the electromagnetic simulations, achieving effective design automation with respect to the traditional design flow for RFICs. With the present software suite the complete design time is reduced significantly (typically 1 hour on a PC based on Intel® Pentium® Dual 1.80GHz CPU with 2-GB RAM). Afterwards both the device equivalent circuit and the layout are ready to be imported in the Cadence environment

Characterization of CMOS Spiral Inductors

In this work "full-wave" simulations of integrated inductors are presented and compared with measurements of fabricated CMOS chips. The good agreement between measurements and simulations demonstrates the accuracy of the tool, which is, hence, a cheaper alternative to experimental characterization. Furthermore, the proposed approach may give precious hints for performance improvements, by making internal device fields and currents available for the VLSI designer and providing compact, most effective, equivalent models

Superconductor Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors: System Model of the Readout Electronics

This paper deals with the readout electronics needed by superconductor Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs). MKIDs are typically implemented in the form of cryogenic-cooled high quality factor microwave resonator. The natural frequency of these resonators changes as a millimeter or sub-millimeter wave radiation impinges on the resonator itself. A quantitative system model of the readout electronics (very similar to that of a vector network analyzer) has been implemented under ADS environment and tested by several simulation experiments. The developed model is a tool to further optimize the readout electronic and to design the frequency allocation of parallel-connected MKIDs resonators. The applications of MKIDs will be in microwave and millimeter-wave radiometric imaging as well as in radio-astronomy focal plane arrays

Mating-system evolution in Euplotes, from the Mendelian to a molecular approach.

Euplotes evolved multiple mating systems which have for long been assumed to be determined by "open" series of alleles at a single mat locus. Families of mating type-specific pheromones and of their mat coding genes have been extensively characterized from Euplotes species lying in different positions of Euplotes phylogenetic tree, and this characterization permitted the study of Euplotes mating systems to evolve from a Mendelian to a molecular approach. While early branching species (e.g. E. raikovi) show a mating-type determination at a single mat locus in accord with Mendelian genetics, late branching species (e.g. E. crassus) revealed, in disagreement with Mendelian genetics, a mating-type determination at two distinct mat loci implying an event of mat-gene locus duplication. One locus (orthologous) appears to be multi-allelic and deputed to synthesize pheromones distinctive of different mating types, and the second one (paralogous) deputed to synthesize pheromones that are structurally identical among different mating types

Evolution of mating systems in Euplotes

Ciliates control their sexual phenomenon of conjugation (or mating) through a genetic mechanism of mating types, which may either be only two within a species (recalling the duality of sexes in animals), or multiple (recalling self/non-self compatibility systems in plants and fungi). The nearly one hundred species of the most ubiquitously distributed ciliate, Euplotes, all evolved multiple mating types. Based on analyses of Mendelian genetics, these mating types have for long been assumed to be determined by multi-allelic series of genes inherited at a single genetic locus (i.e., the mating-type or mat locus) and responsible for the synthesis of mating type-pecific signaling proteins. The chemical characterization of these signaling proteins (known as pheromones) from an array of Euplotes species has now permitted us to evolve in the study of Euplotes mating types from an approach of Mendelian genetics to an approach of molecular genetics. In this new experimental context, we have cloned and characterized structurally the pheromone (mating-type) gene families of Euplotes species that take different positions in the phylogenetic tree of the genus Euplotes. It appeared that, in accord with the prediction of the Mendelian genetics, early branching species (e.g., E. polaris, E. raikovi and E. nobilii) inherit their mating types at a single multi-allelic locus. However, in disagreement with the prediction of the Mendelian genetics, late branching species (e.g., E. crassus and E. focardii) inherit their mating types at two distinct loci that are likely the result of an event of gene duplication in the germinal (micronuclear) genome. One locus appears to be structurally and functionally homologous with the multi-allelic locus of the early branching species, while the second locus appears to be structurally homologous but functionally divergent

EH Performance of an Hybrid Energy Harvester for Autonomous Nodes

This paper reports the Energy Harvesting (EH) performance of a hybrid energy harvester able to collect energy form different energy sources: thermal, solar and electromagnetic. The main block of the system is the quarter-wavelength patch antenna, operating in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) frequency band 2.4-2.5 GHz. The antenna has been designed and optimized to support a Thermo-Electric Generator (TEG) and a Solar Cell on its top. Moreover, a rectifier has been designed to work with the antenna and a DC-DC converter has been used to manage the TEG output voltage

Antarctic and Arctic populations of the ciliate Euplotes nobilii show common pheromone-mediated cell-cell signaling and cross-mating.

Wild-type strains of the protozoan ciliate Euplotes collected from different locations on the coasts of Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego and the Arctic were taxonomically identified as the morpho-species Euplotes nobilii, based on morphometric and phylogenetic analyses. Subsequent studies of their sexual interactions revealed that mating combinations of Antarctic and Arctic strains form stable pairs of conjugant cells. These conjugant pairs were isolated and shown to complete mutual gene exchange and cross-fertilization. The biological significance of this finding was further substantiated by demonstrating that close homology exists among the threedimensional structures determined by NMR of the water-borne signaling pheromones that are constitutively secreted into the extracellular space by these interbreeding strains, in which these molecules trigger the switch between the growth stage and the sexual stage of the life cycle. The fact that Antarctic and Arctic E. nobilii populations share the same gene pool and belong to the same biological species provides new support to the biogeographic model of global distribution of eukaryotic microorganisms, which had so far been based exclusively on studies of morphological and phylogenetic taxonomy

Evidence for Gene Duplication and Allelic Codominance (not Hierarchical Dominance) at the Mating-Type Locus of the Ciliate, Euplotes crassus.

The high-multiple mating system of Euplotes crassus is known to be controlled by multiple alleles segregating at a single locus and manifesting relationships of hierarchical dominance, so that heterozygous cells would produce a single mating-type substance (pheromone). In strain L-2D, now known to be homozygous at the mating-type locus, we previously identified two pheromones (Ec-α and Ec-1) characterized by significant variations in their amino acid sequences and structure of their macronuclear coding genes. In this study, pheromones and macronuclear coding genes have been analyzed in strain POR-73 characterized by a heterozygous genotype and strong mating compatibility with L-2D strain. It was found that POR-73 cells contain three distinct pheromone coding genes and, accordingly, secrete three distinct pheromones. One pheromone revealed structural identity in amino acid sequence and macronuclear coding gene to the Ec-α pheromone of L-2D cells. The other two pheromones were shown to be new and were designated Ec-2 and Ec-3 to denote their structural homology with the Ec-1 pheromone of L-2D cells. We interpreted these results as evidence of a phenomenon of gene duplication at the E. crassus mating-type locus, and lack of hierarchical dominance in the expression of the macronuclear pheromone genes in cells with heterozygous genotypes

Characterization and Biological Activities of In Vitro Digested Olive Pomace Polyphenols Evaluated on Ex Vivo Human Immune Blood Cells

Olive pomace (OP) represents one of the main by-products of olive oil production, which still contains high quantities of health-promoting bioactive compounds. In the present study, three batches of sun-dried OP were characterized for their profile in phenolic compounds (by HPLC-DAD) and in vitro antioxidant properties (ABTS, FRAP and DPPH assays) before (methanolic extracts) and after (aqueous extracts) their simulated in vitro digestion and dialysis. Phenolic profiles, and, accordingly, the antioxidant activities, showed significant differences among the three OP batches, and most compounds showed good bioaccessibility after simulated digestion. Based on these preliminary screenings, the best OP aqueous extract (OP-W) was further characterized for its peptide composition and subdivided into seven fractions (OP-F). The most promising OP-F (characterized for its metabolome) and OP-W samples were then assessed for their potential anti-inflammatory properties in ex vivo human peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) triggered or not with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The levels of 16 pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines were measured in PBMC culture media by multiplex ELISA assay, whereas the gene expressions of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10 and TNF-alpha were measured by real time RT-qPCR. Interestingly, OP-W and PO-F samples had a similar effect in reducing the expressions of IL-6 and TNF-alpha, but only OP-W was able to reduce the release of these inflammatory mediators, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory activity of OP-W is different from that of OP-F