212 research outputs found
Optimization of Energy Harvesting Systems for RFID Applications
To avoid battery assisted tags with limited lifetime batteries, it is proposed here to replace them by energy harvesting systems, able to feed from local environment. This would allow total independence to RFID systems, very interesting for applications where tag removal from its location is not possible. Example is here described for luggage safety in airports, and is easily extendable to similar situation in terms of operation constraints. The idea is to fix RFID tag with energy harvesting system not only to identify luggage but also to supply an embedded microcontroller with a sensor delivering luggage weight making it impossible to add or to remove anything from the luggage during transit phases. The aim is to optimize the harvested energy for such RFID applications, and to study in which limits these applications are theoretically possible. Proposed energy harvester is based on two energy sources: piezoelectricity and electromagnetic waves, so that when the luggage is moving on ground transportation to airline counters, the piezo module supplies the tag and its microcontroller, while the RF module operates during luggage transit thanks to readers located along the way. Tag location on the luggage is analyzed to get best vibrations, as well as harvester better choice for optimizing the energy supply depending on applications and the amount of energy harvested during a period of time. Effects of system parameters (RFID UHF frequencies, limit distance between the tag and the antenna necessary to harvest energy, produced voltage and voltage threshold) are discussed and working conditions for such system are delimited
Optimization of Energy Harvesting Systems for RFID Applications
To avoid battery assisted tags with limited lifetime batteries, it is proposed here to replace them by energy harvesting systems, able to feed from local environment. This would allow total independence to RFID systems, very interesting for applications where tag removal from its location is not possible. Example is here described for luggage safety in airports, and is easily extendable to similar situation in terms of operation constraints. The idea is to fix RFID tag with energy harvesting system not only to identify luggage but also to supply an embedded microcontroller with a sensor delivering luggage weight making it impossible to add or to remove anything from the luggage during transit phases. The aim is to optimize the harvested energy for such RFID applications, and to study in which limits these applications are theoretically possible. Proposed energy harvester is based on two energy sources: piezoelectricity and electromagnetic waves, so that when the luggage is moving on ground transportation to airline counters, the piezo module supplies the tag and its microcontroller, while the RF module operates during luggage transit thanks to readers located along the way. Tag location on the luggage is analyzed to get best vibrations, as well as harvester better choice for optimizing the energy supply depending on applications and the amount of energy harvested during a period of time. Effects of system parameters (RFID UHF frequencies, limit distance between the tag and the antenna necessary to harvest energy, produced voltage and voltage threshold) are discussed and working conditions for such system are delimited
Maternal antibody response at delivery and perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in African women
HIV Self-testing and the Missing Linkage
Rochelle Walensky and Ingrid Bassett discuss new research in <I>PLoS Medicine</I> that assessed the feasibility of home-based oral HIV self-testing in Malawi, and suggest that linkage to care must be demonstrated before the success of oral self-testing can be determined
First detection of ND in the solar-mass protostar IRAS16293-2422
In the past decade, much progress has been made in characterising the
processes leading to the enhanced deuterium fractionation observed in the ISM
and in particular in the cold, dense parts of star forming regions such as
protostellar envelopes. Very high molecular D/H ratios have been found for
saturated molecules and ions. However, little is known about the deuterium
fractionation in radicals, even though simple radicals often represent an
intermediate stage in the formation of more complex, saturated molecules. The
imidogen radical NH is such an intermediate species for the ammonia synthesis
in the gas phase. Herschel/HIFI represents a unique opportunity to study the
deuteration and formation mechanisms of such species, which are not observable
from the ground. We searched here for the deuterated radical ND in order to
determine the deuterium fractionation of imidogen and constrain the deuteration
mechanism of this species. We observed the solar-mass Class 0 protostar
IRAS16293-2422 with the heterodyne instrument HIFI as part of the Herschel key
programme CHESS (Chemical HErschel Surveys of Star forming regions). The
deuterated form of the imidogen radical ND was detected and securely identified
with 2 hyperfine component groups of its fundamental transition in absorption
against the continuum background emitted from the nascent protostar. The 3
groups of hyperfine components of its hydrogenated counterpart NH were also
detected in absorption. We derive a very high deuterium fractionation with an
[ND]/[NH] ratio of between 30 and 100%. The deuterium fractionation of imidogen
is of the same order of magnitude as that in other molecules, which suggests
that an efficient deuterium fractionation mechanism is at play. We discuss two
possible formation pathways for ND, by means of either the reaction of N+ with
HD, or deuteron/proton exchange with NH.Comment: Accepted; To appear in A&A Herschel/HIFI Special Issu
HIFI observations of warm gas in DR21: Shock versus radiative heating
The molecular gas in the DR21 massive star formation region is known to be
affected by the strong UV field from the central star cluster and by a fast
outflow creating a bright shock. The relative contribution of both heating
mechanisms is the matter of a long debate. By better sampling the excitation
ladder of various tracers we provide a quantitative distinction between the
different heating mechanisms. HIFI observations of mid-J transitions of CO and
HCO+ isotopes allow us to bridge the gap in excitation energies between
observations from the ground, characterizing the cooler gas, and existing ISO
LWS spectra, constraining the properties of the hot gas. Comparing the detailed
line profiles allows to identify the physical structure of the different
components. In spite of the known shock-excitation of H2 and the clearly
visible strong outflow, we find that the emission of all lines up to > 2 THz
can be explained by purely radiative heating of the material. However, the new
Herschel/HIFI observations reveal two types of excitation conditions. We find
hot and dense clumps close to the central cluster, probably dynamically
affected by the outflow, and a more widespread distribution of cooler, but
nevertheless dense, molecular clumps.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
Height and timing of growth spurt during puberty in young people living with vertically acquired HIV in Europe and Thailand.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe growth during puberty in young people with vertically acquired HIV. DESIGN: Pooled data from 12 paediatric HIV cohorts in Europe and Thailand. METHODS: One thousand and ninety-four children initiating a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or boosted protease inhibitor based regimen aged 1-10 years were included. Super Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) models described growth from age 8 years using three parameters (average height, timing and shape of the growth spurt), dependent on age and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (WHO references) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Multivariate regression explored characteristics associated with these three parameters. RESULTS: At ART initiation, median age and HAZ was 6.4 [interquartile range (IQR): 2.8, 9.0] years and -1.2 (IQR: -2.3 to -0.2), respectively. Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 6.9, 11.4) years. In girls, older age and lower HAZ at ART initiation were independently associated with a growth spurt which occurred 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.20-0.62) years later in children starting ART age 6 to 10 years compared with 1 to 2 years and 1.50 (1.21-1.78) years later in those starting with HAZ less than -3 compared with HAZ at least -1. Later growth spurts in girls resulted in continued height growth into later adolescence. In boys starting ART with HAZ less than -1, growth spurts were later in children starting ART in the oldest age group, but for HAZ at least -1, there was no association with age. Girls and boys who initiated ART with HAZ at least -1 maintained a similar height to the WHO reference mean. CONCLUSION: Stunting at ART initiation was associated with later growth spurts in girls. Children with HAZ at least -1 at ART initiation grew in height at the level expected in HIV negative children of a comparable age
Quantifying fixed individual heterogeneity in demographic parameters: Performance of correlated random effects for Bernoulli variables
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