Fabrication of a MEMS micromirror based on bulk silicon micromachining combined with grayscale lithography

A 1D MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) mirror for LiDAR applications, based on vertically asymmetric comb-drive electrostatic actuators, is presented in this work employing a novel fabrication process. This novel micromachining process combines typical SOI-based bulk micromachining and grayscale lithography, enabling the fabrication of combs actuators with asymmetric heights using a single lithography step in the active layer. With this technique, the fabrication process is simplified, and the overall costs are reduced since the number of required lithography steps decrease. The fabricated mirrors present self-aligned electrodes with a 2.8 mu m gap and asymmetric heights of the movable and the fixed electrodes of 20 mu m and 50 mu m, respectively. These asymmetric actuators are an essential feature for the operation mode of this device, enabling both in resonant and static mode operation. A mirror field of view (FOV) of 54 degrees at 838 Hz was achieved under low-pressure, when resonantly operated, and a FOV of 0.8 degrees in the static mode.This work was supported by the European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER Component through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) under Project 037902 (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-037902). The work of Carlos Ferreira was supported by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) under Grant PD/BDE/135102/2017. Subject Editor M. Rais-Zadeh

Epidemiological, parasitological and molecular aspects of Giardia duodenalis infection in children attending public daycare centers in southeastern Brazil

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, associated risk factors and genotype of Giardia duodenalis infection in children attending public daycare centers in the city of Araguari, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Fecal samples were collected from 245 children aged 0-5 years, and questionnaires were asked about sociodemographic and hygiene-related characteristics. At the daycare centers where children tested positive, fecal samples were collected from the staff handling food, and from family members and domestic animals. Positive samples were analyzed at the dehydrogenase glutamate (gdh) locus to determine the genotype. The prevalence of G. duodenalis was 51.8%, and drinking unfiltered and unboiled water (OR 2.12, CI 1.26-3.69, p<0.001) and washing hands only with water (OR 2.14, Cl 1.19-4.04, p<0.001) were related risk factors. No association was found between test-positive children anti their family members, domestic animals and food handlers. An analysis of the sequences of 30 samples revealed that they all belonged to genotype B. (C) 2012 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES), Brazi

Distribution of alien tetrapods in the Iberian Peninsula

We present a dataset that assembles occurrence records of alien tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) in the Iberian Peninsula, a coherent biogeographically unit where introductions of alien species have occurred for millennia. These data have important potential applications for ecological research and management, including the assessment of invasion risks, formulation of preventive and management plans, and research at the biological community level on alien species. This dataset summarizes inventories and data sources on the taxonomy and distribution of alien tetrapods in the Iberia Peninsula, comprising known locations from published literature, expert knowledge and citizen science platforms. An expert-based assessment process allowed the identification of unreliable records (misclassification or natural dispersion from native range), and the classification of species according to their status of reproduction in the wild. Distributional data was harmonized into a common area unit, the 10 × 10 km Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system (n = 6,152 cells). The year of observation and/or year of publication were also assigned to the records. In total, we assembled 35,940 unique distribution records (UTM × species × Year) for 253 species (6 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 218 birds and 13 mammals), spanning between 1912 and 2020. The species with highest number of distribution records were the Mediterranean painted frog Discoglossus pictus (n = 59 UTM), the pond slider Trachemys scripta (n = 471), the common waxbill Estrilda astrild (n = 1,275) and the house mouse Mus musculus (n = 4,043), for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, respectively. Most alien species recorded are native to Africa (33%), followed by South America (21%), Asia (19%), North America (12%) and Oceania (10%). Thirty-six species are classified by IUCN as threatened in their native range, namely 2 Critically Endangered (CR), 6 Endangered (EN), 8 Vulnerable (VU), and 20 species Near Threatened (NT). Species maps are provided in DataSet1, as well R code and GIS layers to update them as new records are obtained.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Brazilian Developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (BRAMS 5.2): An Integrated Environmental Model Tuned for Tropical Areas

We present a new version of the Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System where different previous versions for weather, chemistry and carbon cycle were unified in a single integrated software system. The new version also has a new set of state-of-the-art physical parameterizations and greater computational parallel and memory usage efficiency. Together with the description of the main features are examples of the quality of the transport scheme for scalars, radiative fluxes on surface and model simulation of rainfall systems over South America in different spatial resolutions using a scale-aware convective parameterization. Besides, the simulation of the diurnal cycle of the convection and carbon dioxide concentration over the Amazon Basin, as well as carbon dioxide fluxes from biogenic processes over a large portion of South America are shown. Atmospheric chemistry examples present model performance in simulating near-surface carbon monoxide and ozone in Amazon Basin and Rio de Janeiro megacity. For tracer transport and dispersion, it is demonstrated the model capabilities to simulate the volcanic ash 3-d redistribution associated with the eruption of a Chilean volcano. Then, the gain of computational efficiency is described with some details. BRAMS has been applied for research and operational forecasting mainly in South America. Model results from the operational weather forecast of BRAMS on 5 km grid spacing in the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies, INPE/Brazil, since 2013 are used to quantify the model skill of near surface variables and rainfall. The scores show the reliability of BRAMS for the tropical and subtropical areas of South America. Requirements for keeping this modeling system competitive regarding on its functionalities and skills are discussed. At last, we highlight the relevant contribution of this work on the building up of a South American community of model developers

Purification and Crystal Growth of the Bismuth (III) Iodide-influence of Trace Impurities on the Crystal Quality

This work describes the experimental procedure of purification and preparation of BiI3 crystals by Repeated Vertical Bridgman technique, aiming a future application of this semiconductor crystal as a room temperature radiation detector. The BiI3 powder used as raw material was purified three times and, at each purification, the crystal was evaluated by systematic measurements of the reduction of the impurities, crystalline structure, stoichiometry and surface morphology. The reduction of the trace metal impurities in the BiI3, at each purification, was analyzed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), in order to evaluate the efficiency of the purification technique established in this work. It was demonstrated that the Repeated Bridgman technique is effective to reduce the concentration of many impurities in BiI3, such as Ag, As, Br, Cr, K, Mo, Na and Sb. The crystalline structure of the BiI3 crystal purified twice and three times was similar to BiI3 pattern. However, for BiI3 powder and purified once, an intensity contribution of the BiOI was observed in the diffractograms. Improvement in the stoichiometric ratio was observed at each purification step, as well as the crystal surface morphology

Quantum numbers of the X(3872)X(3872) state and orbital angular momentum in its ρ0Jψ\rho^0 J\psi decay

Angular correlations in $B^+\to X(3872) K^+$ decays, with $X(3872)\to \rho^0 J/\psi$, $\rho^0\to\pi^+\pi^-$ and $J/\psi \to\mu^+\mu^-$, are used to measure orbital angular momentum contributions and to determine the $J^{PC}$ value of the $X(3872)$ meson. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector. This determination, for the first time performed without assuming a value for the orbital angular momentum, confirms the quantum numbers to be $J^{PC}=1^{++}$. The $X(3872)$ is found to decay predominantly through S wave and an upper limit of $4\%$ at $95\%$ C.L. is set on the fraction of D wave.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Phenolic, polysaccharidic and lipidic fractions of mushrooms from northeast Portugal: chemical compounds with antioxidant properties

Mushrooms do not constitute a significant portion of the human diet, but their consumption continues to increase due to their functional benefits and presence of bioactive compounds. Some of those compounds can be found in the phenolic, polysaccharidic and lipidic fractions of edible and inedible species. Herein, those fractions of five wild mushrooms (Coprinopsis atramentaria, Lactarius bertillonii, Lactarius vellereus, Rhodotus palmatus and Xerocomus chrysenteron) from Northeast Portugal were studied for their chemical composition and antioxidant properties. Protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic, p-coumaric and cinnamic acids were found in the phenolic fraction, ramnose, xylose, fucose, arabinose, fructose, glucose, manose, mannitol, sucrose, maltose and trehalose were quantified in polysaccharidic fraction, linoleic and stearic (only in Lactarius sp.) acids, and β- and γ-tocopherols were the main compounds in the lipidic fraction. C. atramentaria and X. chrysenteron phenolic fractions gave the highest free radical scavenging activity, reducing properties and lipid peroxidation inhibition in brain homogenates, which is in agreement with its highest content in total phenolics. Furthermore, among the polysaccharidic fractions C. atramentaria also gave the highest antioxidant activity, which is accordingly with its highest total polysaccharides content and sugars obtained after hydrolysis.The authors are grateful to Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and COMPETE/QREN/EU (research project PTDC/AGR-ALI/110062/2009) for financial support. L. Barros (BPD/4609/2008) and S.A. Heleno (BD/70304/2010) also thank FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE. The GIP-USAL is financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Programme (FUN-C-FOOD, CSD2007-00063), and Junta de Castilla y León (Grupo de Investigación de Excelencia, GR133)