ASIC implementation challenges for next generation access networks

We consider challenges associated with increasing bitrates >10Gb/s for next-generation access networks. We explain how burst-mode electronic dispersion compensation (BM-EDC) is attractive for the upstream, and show examples of the required linear burst-mode receiver

Human shoulder development is adapted to obstetrical constraints

ヒトは小さく生まれて大きく育つ --その秘密は鎖骨にあり--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-04-13.In humans, obstetrical difficulties arise from the large head and broad shoulders of the neonate relative to the maternal birth canal. Various characteristics of human cranial development, such as the relatively small head of neonates compared with adults and the delayed fusion of the metopic suture, have been suggested to reflect developmental adaptations to obstetrical constraints. On the other hand, it remains unknown whether the shoulders of humans also exhibit developmental features reflecting obstetrical adaptation. Here we address this question by tracking the development of shoulder width from fetal to adult stages in humans, chimpanzees, and Japanese macaques. Compared with nonhuman primates, shoulder development in humans follows a different trajectory, exhibiting reduced growth relative to trunk length before birth and enhanced growth after birth. This indicates that the perinatal developmental characteristics of the shoulders likely evolved to ease obstetrical difficulties such as shoulder dystocia in humans

Hypoxia and hypoxia inducible factor-1α are required for normal endometrial repair during menstruation

About a quarter of pre-menopausal women will suffer from heavy menstrual bleeding in their lives. Here, Maybin and colleagues show hypoxia and subsequent activation of HIF-1α during menses are required for normal endometrial repair, and identify pharmacological stabilisation of HIF-1α as a potential therapeutic strategy for this debilitating condition

Hypoxyprobe™ reveals dynamic spatial and temporal changes in hypoxia in a mouse model of endometrial breakdown and repair

BACKGROUND: Menstruation is the culmination of a cascade of events, triggered by the withdrawal of progesterone at the end of the menstrual cycle. Initiation of tissue destruction and endometrial shedding causes spiral arteriole constriction in the functional layer of the endometrium. Upregulation of genes involved in angiogenesis and immune cell recruitment, two processes that are essential to successful repair and remodelling of the endometrium, both thought to be induced by reduced oxygen has been reported. Evidence for stabilisation/increased expression of the transcriptional regulator hypoxia inducible factor in the human endometrium at menses has been published. The current literature debates whether hypoxia plays an essential role during menstrual repair, therefore this study aims to delineate a role for hypoxia using a sensitive detection method (the Hypoxyprobe™) in combination with an established mouse model of endometrial breakdown and repair. RESULTS: Using our mouse model of menses, during which documented breakdown and synchronous repair occurs in a 24 h timeframe, in combination with the Hypoxyprobe™ detection system, oxygen tensions within the uterus were measured. Immunostaining revealed striking spatial and temporal fluctuations in hypoxia during breakdown and showed that the epithelium is also exposed to hypoxic conditions during the repair phase. Furthermore, time-dependent changes in tissue hypoxia correlated with the regulation of mRNAs encoding for the angiogenic genes vascular endothelial growth factor and stromal derived factor (Cxcl12). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with a role for focal hypoxia during endometrial breakdown in regulating gene expression during menses. These data have implications for treatment of endometrial pathologies such as heavy menstrual bleeding

Developmental evidence for obstetric adaptation of the human female pelvis

The bony pelvis of adult humans exhibits marked sexual dimorphism, which is traditionally interpreted in the framework of the "obstetrical dilemma" hypothesis: Giving birth to large-brained/large-bodied babies requires a wide pelvis, whereas efficient bipedal locomotion requires a narrow pelvis. This hypothesis has been challenged recently on biomechanical, metabolic, and biocultural grounds, so that it remains unclear which factors are responsible for sex-specific differences in adult pelvic morphology. Here we address this issue from a developmental perspective. We use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to analyze changes in pelvic morphology from late fetal stages to adulthood in a known-age/known-sex forensic/clinical sample. Results show that, until puberty, female and male pelves exhibit only moderate sexual dimorphism and follow largely similar developmental trajectories. With the onset of puberty, however, the female trajectory diverges substantially from the common course, resulting in rapid expansion of obstetrically relevant pelvic dimensions up to the age of 25-30 y. From 40 y onward females resume a mode of pelvic development similar to males, resulting in significant reduction of obstetric dimensions. This complex developmental trajectory is likely linked to the pubertal rise and premenopausal fall of estradiol levels and results in the obstetrically most adequate pelvic morphology during the time of maximum female fertility. The evidence that hormones mediate female pelvic development and morphology supports the view that solutions of the obstetrical dilemma depend not only on selection and adaptation but also on developmental plasticity as a response to ecological/nutritional factors during a female's lifetime

Impact of Early Parenteral Nutrition on Muscle and Adipose Tissue Compartments During Critical Illness

OBJECTIVE: The goal of enhanced nutrition in critically ill patients is to improve outcome by reducing lean tissue wasting. However, such effect has not been proven. This study aimed to assess the effect of early administration of parenteral nutrition on muscle volume and composition by repeated quantitative CT. DESIGN: A preplanned substudy of a randomized controlled trial (Early Parenteral Nutrition Completing Enteral Nutrition in Adult Critically Ill Patients [EPaNIC]), which compared early initiation of parenteral nutrition when enteral nutrition was insufficient (early parenteral nutrition) with tolerating a pronounced nutritional deficit for 1 week in ICU (late parenteral nutrition). Late parenteral nutrition prevented infections and accelerated recovery. SETTING: University hospital. PATIENTS: Fifteen EPaNIC study neurosurgical patients requiring prescheduled repeated follow-up CT scans and six healthy volunteers matched for age, gender, and body mass index. INTERVENTION: Repeated abdominal and femoral quantitative CT images were obtained in a standardized manner on median ICU day 2 (interquartile range, 2-3) and day 9 (interquartile range, 8-10). Intramuscular, subcutaneous, and visceral fat compartments were delineated manually. Muscle and adipose tissue volume and composition were quantified using standard Hounsfield Unit ranges. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Critical illness evoked substantial loss of femoral muscle volume in 1 week's time, irrespective of the nutritional regimen. Early parenteral nutrition reduced the quality of the muscle tissue, as reflected by the attenuation, revealing increased intramuscular water/lipid content. Early parenteral nutrition also increased the volume of adipose tissue islets within the femoral muscle compartment. These changes in skeletal muscle quality correlated with caloric intake. In the abdominal muscle compartments, changes were similar, albeit smaller. Femoral and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue compartments were unaffected by disease and nutritional strategy. CONCLUSIONS: Early parenteral nutrition did not prevent the pronounced wasting of skeletal muscle observed over the first week of critical illness. Furthermore, early parenteral nutrition increased the amount of adipose tissue within the muscle compartments.status: publishe

Investigation of real-time 25 Gbps burst mode transmission over 20 km fiber with directly modulated laser, Ge/Si APD receiver and BM-TIA targeting 50G-PON

International audienceWe realize a Burst Mode (BM) transmission at 25 Gbps in a Passive Optical Network (PON), using a BM-TIA prototype. The sensitivity of -24.8 dBm B2B and -21.9dBm after 20km SMF is experimentally demonstrated in real-time in burst mode with a Directly Modulated Laser (DML)