Behavioral Changes Without Respiratory Symptoms as a Presenting Sign of COVID-19 Encephalitis.

The clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) encephalitis are still being characterized. Few case reports describing COVID-19 encephalitis are available in the literature. We present a case of COVID-19 encephalitis who presented with behavioral disturbances without respiratory symptoms

RF-MEMS switch actuation pulse optimization using Taguchi's method

Copyright @ 2011 Springer-VerlagReliability and longevity comprise two of the most important concerns when designing micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) switches. Forcing the switch to perform close to its operating limits underlies a trade-off between response bandwidth and fatigue life due to the impact force of the cantilever touching its corresponding contact point. This paper presents for first time an actuation pulse optimization technique based on Taguchi’s optimization method to optimize the shape of the actuation pulse of an ohmic RF-MEMS switch in order to achieve better control and switching conditions. Simulation results show significant reduction in impact velocity (which results in less than 5 times impact force than nominal step pulse conditions) and settling time maintaining good switching speed for the pull down phase and almost elimination of the high bouncing phenomena during the release phase of the switch

Lagrange formalism of memory circuit elements: classical and quantum formulations

The general Lagrange-Euler formalism for the three memory circuit elements, namely, memristive, memcapacitive, and meminductive systems, is introduced. In addition, {\it mutual meminductance}, i.e. mutual inductance with a state depending on the past evolution of the system, is defined. The Lagrange-Euler formalism for a general circuit network, the related work-energy theorem, and the generalized Joule's first law are also obtained. Examples of this formalism applied to specific circuits are provided, and the corresponding Hamiltonian and its quantization for the case of non-dissipative elements are discussed. The notion of {\it memory quanta}, the quantum excitations of the memory degrees of freedom, is presented. Specific examples are used to show that the coupling between these quanta and the well-known charge quanta can lead to a splitting of degenerate levels and to other experimentally observable quantum effects

The Use of Case Study Competitions to Prepare Students for the World of Work

As we continue into the new millennium, it is imperative that educational institutions equip graduates with the knowledge and skills that are increasingly needed and valued by business and industry. In this article, the authors argue that the case study approach and, specifically, case study competitions constitute an ideal pedagogical strategy for achieving this objective in an effective and efficient manner, with resulting benefits for both students and employers

Development and characterization of the readout system for POLARBEAR-2

POLARBEAR-2 is a next-generation receiver for precision measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)). Scheduled to deploy in early 2015, it will observe alongside the existing POLARBEAR-1 receiver, on a new telescope in the Simons Array on Cerro Toco in the Atacama desert of Chile. For increased sensitivity, it will feature a larger area focal plane, with a total of 7,588 polarization sensitive antenna-coupled Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers, with a design sensitivity of 4.1 uKrt(s). The focal plane will be cooled to 250 milliKelvin, and the bolometers will be read-out with 40x frequency domain multiplexing, with 36 optical bolometers on a single SQUID amplifier, along with 2 dark bolometers and 2 calibration resistors. To increase the multiplexing factor from 8x for POLARBEAR-1 to 40x for POLARBEAR-2 requires additional bandwidth for SQUID readout and well-defined frequency channel spacing. Extending to these higher frequencies requires new components and design for the LC filters which define channel spacing. The LC filters are cold resonant circuits with an inductor and capacitor in series with each bolometer, and stray inductance in the wiring and equivalent series resistance from the capacitors can affect bolometer operation. We present results from characterizing these new readout components. Integration of the readout system is being done first on a small scale, to ensure that the readout system does not affect bolometer sensitivity or stability, and to validate the overall system before expansion into the full receiver. We present the status of readout integration, and the initial results and status of components for the full array.Comment: Presented at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy VII. Published in Proceedings of SPIE Volume 915

Ultra High Energy Cosmology with POLARBEAR

Observations of the temperature anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) lend support to an inflationary origin of the universe, yet no direct evidence verifying inflation exists. Many current experiments are focussing on the CMB's polarization anisotropy, specifically its curl component (called "B-mode" polarization), which remains undetected. The inflationary paradigm predicts the existence of a primordial gravitational wave background that imprints a unique B-mode signature on the CMB's polarization at large angular scales. The CMB B-mode signal also encodes gravitational lensing information at smaller angular scales, bearing the imprint of cosmological large scale structures (LSS) which in turn may elucidate the properties of cosmological neutrinos. The quest for detection of these signals; each of which is orders of magnitude smaller than the CMB temperature anisotropy signal, has motivated the development of background-limited detectors with precise control of systematic effects. The POLARBEAR experiment is designed to perform a deep search for the signature of gravitational waves from inflation and to characterize lensing of the CMB by LSS. POLARBEAR is a 3.5 meter ground-based telescope with 3.8 arcminute angular resolution at 150 GHz. At the heart of the POLARBEAR receiver is an array featuring 1274 antenna-coupled superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers cooled to 0.25 Kelvin. POLARBEAR is designed to reach a tensor-to-scalar ratio of 0.025 after two years of observation -- more than an order of magnitude improvement over the current best results, which would test physics at energies near the GUT scale. POLARBEAR had an engineering run in the Inyo Mountains of Eastern California in 2010 and will begin observations in the Atacama Desert in Chile in 2011.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, DPF 2011 conference proceeding

Using intuitive awakening for business students to enhance strategic thinking skills

Intuition is essential to marketing scholarship and practice. Furthermore, under certain business conditions, it becomes invaluable as a primary mode of decision making. Reflecting this perspective, conceptual research on the topic is abundant. Empirical studies in business school settings that address marketing intuitive decision making are scarce. Without application of intuitive thinking at the marketing education class level, diffusion of this important skill in the educational sphere will not take place. In this research, while building on Andrew Cox’s (2001) conceptualization a power matrix framework between buyers and suppliers as a case theme, we test role-playing and experiential knowledge effects on graduate business students’ assessments of marketing communications, relationships, satisfaction and influence strategy dimensions involving intuitive decision making

Comparative effect of ALA derivatives on protoporphyrin IX production in human and rat skin organ cultures

Samples of human and rat skin in short-term organ culture exposed to ALA or a range of hydrophobic derivatives were examined for their effect on the accumulation of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) measured using fluorescence spectroscopy. With the exception of carbobenzoyloxy-D-phenylalanyl-5-ALA-ethyl ester the data presented indicate that, in normal tissues, ALA derivatives generate protoporphyrin IX more slowly than ALA, suggesting that they are less rapidly taken up and/or converted to free ALA. However, the resultant depot effect may lead to the enhanced accumulation of porphyrin over long exposure periods, particularly in the case of ALA-methyl ester or ALA-hexyl ester, depending on the applied concentration and the exposed tissue. Addition of the iron chelator, CP94, greatly increased PpIX accumulation in human skin exposed to ALA, ALA-methyl ester and ALA-hexyl ester. The effect in rat skin was less marked.</p

De Novo Genesis of Enhancers in Vertebrates

Whole genome duplication in teleost fish reveals that a few changes in non-regulatory genomic sequences are a source for generating new enhancers