Miniature Sensor Node with Conformal Phased Array

This paper reports on the design and fabrication of a fully integrated antenna beam steering concept for wireless sensor nodes. The conformal array circumcises four cube faces with a silicon core mounted on each face. Every silicon core represents a 2 by 1 antenna array with an antenna element consisting of a dipole antenna, a balun, and a distributed MEMS phase shifter. All these components are based on a single wafer process and designed to work at 17.2 GHz. Simulations of the entire system and first results of individual devices are reported

A hybrid of 1-deoxynojirimycin and benzotriazole induces preferential inhibition of butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) over acetylcholinesterase (AChE)

The synthesis of four heterodimers in which the copper(I)-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition was employed to connect a 1-deoxynojirimycin moiety with a benzotriazole scaffold is reported. The heterodimers were investigated as inhibitors against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). The heterodimers displayed preferential inhibition (> 9) of BuChE over AChE in the micromolar concentration range (IC50 = 7–50 µM). For the most potent inhibitor of BuChE, Cornish-Bowden plots were used, which demonstrated that it behaves as a mixed inhibitor. Modelling studies of the same inhibitor demonstrated that the benzotriazole and 1-deoxynojirimycin moiety is accommodated in the peripheral anionic site and catalytic anionic site, respectively, of AChE. The binding mode to BuChE was different as the benzotriazole moiety is accommodated in the catalytic anionic site.publishedVersio

Vanadium Oxide Bandstop Tunable Filter for Ka Frequency Bands Based on a Novel Reconfigurable Spiral Shape Defected Ground Plane CPW

This paper proposes and validates a new principle in coplanar waveguide (CPW) bandstop filter tuning by shortcutting defected ground plane (DGS) inductor shaped spirals to modify the resonant frequency. The tunable filter is fabricated on a high-resistivity silicon substrate based on a CMOS compatible technology using a 1 μm x 10 μm long and 300 nm thick vanadium oxide (VO2) switch by exploiting its insulator to metal transition. The filter is designed to work in Ka band with tunable central frequencies ranging from 28.2 GHz to 35 GHz. The measured results show a tuning range of more than 19 %, a low insertion loss in the neighboring frequency bands (below 2 dB at 20 GHz and 40 GHz in on/off-states) while a maximum rejection level close to 18 dB in off-state, limited by the no RF-ideal CMOS compatible substrate. The filter has a footprint of only 0.084 · λ0 x 0.037 · λ0 (where λ0 represents the free space wavelength at the highest resonance frequency) thus making it the most compact configuration using CPW DGS structures for the Ka frequency band. In addition, a more compact filter concept based on the Peano space filling curve is introduced to increase the tuning range while minimizing the DGS area

The Right to Code and Share Arms

Glycerol is, to date, the most widely used cryoprotectant to freeze stallion spermatozoa at concentrations between 2% and 5%. Cryoprotectant toxicity has been claimed to be the single most limiting factor for the success of cryopreservation. In order to evaluate the toxic effects of the concentrations of glycerol used in practice, stallion spermatozoa were incubated in Biggers Whitten and Whittingham (BWW) media supplemented with 0%, 0.5%, 1.5%, 2.5%, 3.5%, and 5% glycerol. In two additional experiments, a hyposmotic (75 mOsm/kg) and a hyperosmotic (900 mOsm/kg) control media were included. Sperm parameters evaluated included cell volume, membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation, caspase 3, 7, and 8 activation, mitochondrial membrane potential, and integrity of the cytoskeleton. Glycerol exerted toxicity at concentrations 3.5% and the maximal toxicity was observed at 5%. The actin cytoskeleton was especially sensitive to glycerol presence, inducing rapid F actin depolymerization at concentrations over 1.5%. The sperm membrane and the mitochondria were other structures affected. The toxicity of glycerol is apparently related to osmotic and nonosmotic effects. In view of our results the concentration of glycerol in the freezing media for stallion spermatozoa should not surpass 2.5%.Funding Agencies|Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion-FEDER Madrid, Spain|AGL 2010 20758 (GAN)|Inia|RZ2008-00018-00-00|Junta de Extremadura FEDER GR|10010

Synthesis of some nucleosides derivatives from L- rhamnose with expected biological activity

Practical procedures for production of variously blocked compounds from L-rhamnose have been developed. These compounds are highly useful as indirect β-L-rhamnosyl donors. This approach represents a new method for the synthesis of aromatic nucleoside analogues and the synthesis of (3S, 4S, 5S, 6R) 3, 4, 5-triacetoxy-2-methyl-7,9-diaza-1-oxa-spiro [4,5]decane-10-one-8-thione (7)

Tunable RF phase shifters based on Vanadium Dioxide metal insulator transition

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and electrical characterization of a reconfigurable RF capacitive shunt switch that exploits the electro-thermally triggered vanadium dioxide (VO2) insulator to metal phase transition. The RF switch is further exploited to build wide-band RF true-time delay tunable phase shifters. By triggering the VO2 switch insulator to metal transition (IMT), the total capacitance can be reconfigured from the series of two metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors to a single MIM capacitor. The effect of bias voltage on losses and phase shift is investigated, explained, and compared to the state of the art in the field. We report thermal actuation of the devices by heating the devices above VO2 IMT temperature. By cascading multiple stages a maximum of 40° per dB loss close to 7 GHz were obtained

Persistence on therapy and propensity matched outcome comparison of two subcutaneous interferon beta 1a dosages for multiple sclerosis

To compare treatment persistence between two dosages of interferon β-1a in a large observational multiple sclerosis registry and assess disease outcomes of first line MS treatment at these dosages using propensity scoring to adjust for baseline imbalance in disease characteristics. Treatment discontinuations were evaluated in all patients within the MSBase registry who commenced interferon β-1a SC thrice weekly (n = 4678). Furthermore, we assessed 2-year clinical outcomes in 1220 patients treated with interferon β-1a in either dosage (22 µg or 44 µg) as their first disease modifying agent, matched on propensity score calculated from pre-treatment demographic and clinical variables. A subgroup analysis was performed on 456 matched patients who also had baseline MRI variables recorded. Overall, 4054 treatment discontinuations were recorded in 3059 patients. The patients receiving the lower interferon dosage were more likely to discontinue treatment than those with the higher dosage (25% vs. 20% annual probability of discontinuation, respectively). This was seen in discontinuations with reasons recorded as “lack of efficacy” (3.3% vs. 1.7%), “scheduled stop” (2.2% vs. 1.3%) or without the reason recorded (16.7% vs. 13.3% annual discontinuation rate, 22 µg vs. 44 µg dosage, respectively). Propensity score was determined by treating centre and disability (score without MRI parameters) or centre, sex and number of contrast-enhancing lesions (score including MRI parameters). No differences in clinical outcomes at two years (relapse rate, time relapse-free and disability) were observed between the matched patients treated with either of the interferon dosages. Treatment discontinuations were more common in interferon β-1a 22 µg SC thrice weekly. However, 2-year clinical outcomes did not differ between patients receiving the different dosages, thus replicating in a registry dataset derived from “real-world” database the results of the pivotal randomised trial. Propensity score matching effectively minimised baseline covariate imbalance between two directly compared sub-populations from a large observational registry