A high performance cost-effective digital complex correlator for an X-band polarimetry survey

The detailed knowledge of the Milky Way radio emission is important to characterize galactic foregrounds masking extragalactic and cosmological signals. The update of the global sky models describing radio emissions over a very large spectral band requires high sensitivity experiments capable of observing large sky areas with long integration times. Here, we present the design of a new 10 GHz (X-band) polarimeter digital back-end to map the polarization components of the galactic synchrotron radiation field of the Northern Hemisphere sky. The design follows the digital processing trends in radio astronomy and implements a large bandwidth (1 GHz) digital complex cross-correlator to extract the Stokes parameters of the incoming synchrotron radiation field. The hardware constraints cover the implemented VLSI hardware description language code and the preliminary results. The implementation is based on the simultaneous digitized acquisition of the Cartesian components of the two linear receiver polarization channels. The design strategy involves a double data rate acquisition of the ADC interleaved parallel bus, and field programmable gate array device programming at the register transfer mode. The digital core of the back-end is capable of processing 32 Gbps and is built around an Altera field programmable gate array clocked at 250 MHz, 1 GSps analog to digital converters and a clock generator. The control of the field programmable gate array internal signal delays and a convenient use of its phase locked loops provide the timing requirements to achieve the target bandwidths and sensitivity. This solution is convenient for radio astronomy experiments requiring large bandwidth, high functionality, high volume availability and low cost. Of particular interest, this correlator was developed for the Galactic Emission Mapping project and is suitable for large sky area polarization continuum surveys. The solutions may also be adapted to be used at signal processing subsystem levels for large projects like the square kilometer array testbeds

Ex Situ Reconstitution of the Plant Biopolyester Suberin as a Film

Biopolymers often have unique properties of considerable interest as a basis for new materials. It is however not evident how to ext. them from plants without destroying their chem. skeleton and inherent properties. Here the authors report the ex situ reconstitution of the biopolyester suberin as a new waterproof and antimicrobial material. In plant cell walls, suberin, a crosslinked network of arom. and aliph. monomers, builds up a hydrophobic protective and antimicrobial barrier. Recently the authors succeeded in extg. suberin from the plant cell wall using the ionic liq. cholinium hexanoate. During extn. the native three-dimensional structure of suberin was partially preserved. This preservation is the key for its ex situ reconstitution. Without any chem. additives or purifn., the suberin composing macromols. undergo self-assocn. on the casting surface forming a film. Suberin films obtained show barrier properties similar to those of the suberin barrier in plants, including a potentially broad bactericidal effect

The role of human umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (UCX®) in the treatment of inflammatory arthritis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>ECBio has developed proprietary technology to consistently isolate, expand and cryopreserve a well-characterized population of stromal cells from human umbilical cord tissue (UCX® cells). The technology has recently been optimized in order to become compliant with Advanced Medicine Therapeutic Products. In this work we report the immunosuppressive capacity of UCX® cells for treating induced autoimmune inflammatory arthritis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>UCX® cells were isolated using a proprietary method (PCT/IB2008/054067) that yields a well-defined number of cells using a precise proportion between tissue digestion enzyme activity units, tissue mass, digestion solution volume and void volume. The procedure includes three recovery steps to avoid non-conformities related to cell recovery. UCX® surface markers were characterized by flow cytometry and UCX® capacity to expand <it>in vitro</it> and to differentiate into adipocyte, chondrocyte and osteoblast-like cells was evaluated. Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction (MLR) assays were performed to evaluate the effect of UCX® cells on T-cell activation and Treg conversion assays were also performed <it>in vitro.</it> Furthermore, UCX® cells were administered <it>in vivo</it> in both a rat acute carrageenan-induced arthritis model and rat chronic adjuvant induced arthritis model for arthritic inflammation. UCX® anti-inflammatory activity was then monitored over time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>UCX® cells stained positive for CD44, CD73, CD90 and CD105; and negative for CD14, CD19 CD31, CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR; and were capable to differentiate into adipocyte, chondrocyte and osteoblast-like cells. UCX® cells were shown to repress T-cell activation and promote the expansion of Tregs better than bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). Accordingly, xenogeneic UCX® administration in an acute carrageenan-induced arthritis model showed that human UCX® cells can reduce paw edema in vivo more efficiently than BM-MSCs. Finally, in a chronic adjuvant induced arthritis model, animals treated with intra-articular (i.a.) and intra-peritoneal (i.p.) infusions of UCX® cells showed faster remission of local and systemic arthritic manifestations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results suggest that UCX® cells may be an effective and promising new approach for treating both local and systemic manifestations of inflammatory arthritis.</p