Massive MIMO transmission techniques

Next generation of mobile communication systems must support astounding data traffic increases, higher data rates and lower latency, among other requirements. These requirements should be met while assuring energy efficiency for mobile devices and base stations. Several technologies are being proposed for 5G, but a consensus begins to emerge. Most likely, the future core 5G technologies will include massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) and beamforming schemes operating in the millimeter wave spectrum. As soon as the millimeter wave propagation difficulties are overcome, the full potential of massive MIMO structures can be tapped. The present work proposes a new transmission system with bi-dimensional antenna arrays working at millimeter wave frequencies, where the multiple antenna configurations can be used to obtain very high gain and directive transmission in point to point communications. A combination of beamforming with a constellation shaping scheme is proposed, that enables good user isolation and protection against eavesdropping, while simultaneously assuring power efficient amplification of multi-level constellations

Mesenteric Panniculitis in Sjögren’s Syndrome: A New Systemic Manifestation to Consider?

The association between mesenteric panniculitis and Sjögren's syndrome, although rare, is starting to be recognized. Usually, mesenteric panniculitis is symptomatic, presenting with either general or gastrointestinal symptoms. Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that typically affects secretory glands, but may have serious systemic involvement. We report the case of a 77-year-old patient in whom accidental discovery of asymptomatic mesenteric panniculitis on computed tomography led to the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome with several systemic manifestations

Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Tumor: A Case Report of a Rare Entity

Perivascular epithelioid cell tumor is a rare mesenchymal tumor with myomelanocytic differentiation. It mainly occurs in middle-aged females and can be found at any location. The differential diagnosis is broad but the immunohistochemical biomarkers establish the diagnosis. A 4-year-old girl was referred to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic due to recurrent umbilical pain and the workup revealed biliary lithiasis. She remained in follow-up, asymptomatic, no physical findings, and stable ultrasound. Six years later, a supra-umbilical mass was detected by ultrasound, and the magnetic resonance imaging revealed a highly vascularized intraperitoneal tumor with well-defined limits. Surgical mass resection was performed, and the histology revealed morphological and immunohistochemical aspects of a perivascular epithelioid cell tumor of the abdominal wall. Given the size of the lesion (> 5 cm) and admitting uncertain malignant potential, she was submitted to margin enlargement. Four years later, she remains asymptomatic without clinical or imagiological evidence of relapse.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anti-Signal Recognition Particle Myopathy in a Geriatric Patient

Anti-signal recognition particle (SRP) myopathy is a rare idiopathic inflammatory myositis that usually affects middle-age women, and is characterized by rapidly progressive proximal and symmetrical muscle weakness, elevated creatine kinase levels, severe necrotizing immune-mediated myopathy, presence of anti-SRP autoantibodies and poor response to steroid therapy. We report a geriatric case of a previously independent patient, presenting with slow onset of proximal paraparesis, myalgia and severe gait impairment. The patient was treated with steroid and azathioprine, with laboratory and pain response but modest muscle strength improvement. The clinical presentation of this unusual patient was atypical, which hampered the correct diagnosis

A Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Praziquantel-Susceptible and Praziquantel-Resistant Schistosoma mansoni Reveals Distinct Response Between Male and Female Animals

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Skeletal muscle–adipose tissue–tumor axis : molecular mechanisms linking exercise training in prostate cancer

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Increased visceral adiposity may influence the development of prostate cancer (PCa) aggressive tumors and cancer mortality. White adipose tissue (WAT), usually referred to as periprostatic adipose tissue (PPAT), surrounds the prostatic gland and has emerged as a potential mediator of the tumor microenvironment. Exercise training (ET) induces several adaptations in both skeletal muscle and WAT. Some of these effects are mediated by ET-induced synthesis and secretion of several proteins, known as myo- and adipokines. Together, myokines and adipokines may act in an endocrine-like manner to favor communication between skeletal muscle and WAT, as they may work together to improve whole-body metabolic health. This crosstalk may constitute a potential mechanism by which ET exerts its beneficial role in the prevention and treatment of PCa-related disorders; however, this has not yet been explored. Therefore, we reviewed the current evidence on the effects of skeletal muscle–WAT–tumor crosstalk in PCa, and the potential mediators of this process to provide a better understanding of underlying ET-related mechanisms in cancer.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The impact of School Education, Family, Cultural Background and Political Attitudes and Experiences in Civic Knowledge

The IEA Civic Education Study in Portugal involved the observation of national representative samples of students from grades 8, 9 and 11. Grades 8 and 9 are the terminal years of basic (compulsory) education, and grade 11 is the mid-year of secondary education. Results on civic knowledge reveal a particular scenario that will be explored in this paper: 8 grade students score clearly below the international mean, but both 9 and 11 grade students score above the international mean. The impact of four relevant variables in the literature on political development - education, family cultural background, political interest and experiences, and interpersonal trust - will be analyzed and discussed

Large diatom bloom off the Antarctic Peninsula during cool conditions associated with the 2015/2016 El Niño

Diatoms play crucial functions in trophic structure and biogeochemical cycles. Due to poleward warming, there has been a substantial decrease in diatom biomass, especially in Antarctic regions that experience strong physical changes. Here we analyze the phytoplankton contents of water samples collected in the spring/summer of 2015/2016 off the North Antarctic Peninsula during the extreme El Niño event and compare them with corresponding satellite chlorophyll-a data. The results suggest a close link between large diatom blooms, upper ocean physical structures and sea ice cover, as a consequence of the El Niño effects. We observed massive concentrations (up to 40 mg m–3 of in situ chlorophyll-a) of diatoms coupled with substantially colder atmospheric and oceanic temperatures and high mean salinity values associated with a lower input of meltwater. We hypothesize that increased meltwater concentration due to continued atmospheric and oceanic warming trends will lead to diatom blooms becoming more episodic and spatially/temporally restricted