Efficient Hybrid Continuous-Time/Discrete-Time ∑ Δ Modulators for Broadband Wireless Telecom Systems

This work analyzes the use of hybrid continous-time/discrete-time SD modulators for the implementation of analog-to-digital converters intended for wideband mobile applications. Two alternative multirate cascade SD architectures are discussed and analyzed, taking into account the impact of main circuit-level error mechanisms, namely: mismatch, finite dc gain and gain-bandwidth product. Both multirate cascade SD modulators in terms of their sensitivity to non-ideal effects, considering different target specifications. Theoretical predictions match simulation results, showing that the lowest performance degradation is obtained by a new king of multi-rate hybrid SD modulators, in which the continuous-time circuits operate at a higher rate than the discrete-time parts of the modulators.This work has been supported in part by the Spanish ministry of Science and Innovation (with support from the European Regional Development Fund) under contract TEC2010-14825/MIC, and in part by the regional Council of Innovation, Science and Enterprise under contract TIC-2532.Peer Reviewe

The potential of lasmiditan in migraine

Lasmiditan, a highly selective 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 1F (5-HT1F) agonist, is the first drug in its class and is lacking triptan-like vasoactive properties. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved lasmiditan for the acute treatment of migraine in adults based on positive results of two pivotal phase III trials, which showed a significant difference to placebo in the proportion of patients achieving total migraine freedom within 2h. More patients with lasmiditan achieved headache freedom and, in addition, freedom from the most bothersome symptom, that is, photophobia, than with placebo. Treatmentrelated side effects seem to be related to the rapid penetration of the drug into the brain and include dizziness, paresthesia and drowsiness, mostly of mild to moderate intensity. Interim results from an ongoing long-term phase III trial suggest a decrease in the frequency of adverse events after multiple lasmiditan use. Lasmiditan is a promising acute anti-migraine therapy, in particular for patients with cardiovascular risk factors, contraindications, or unwanted side effects to triptans

Biodegradation of lignocellulosics: microbial, chemical, and enzymatic aspects of the fungal attack of lignin

Wood is the main renewable material on Earth and is largely used as building material and in paper-pulp manufacturing. This review describes the composition of lignocellulosic materials, the different processes by which fungi are able to alter wood, including decay patterns caused by white, brown, and soft-rot fungi, and fungal staining of wood. The chemical, enzymatic, and molecular aspects of the fungal attack of lignin, which represents the key step in wood decay, are also discussed. Modern analytical techniques to investigate fungal degradation and modification of the lignin polymer are reviewed, as are the different oxidative enzymes (oxidoreductases) involved in lignin degradation. These include laccases, high redox potential ligninolytic peroxidases (lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, and versatile peroxidase), and oxidases. Special emphasis is given to the reactions catalyzed, their synergistic action on lignin, and the structural bases for their unique catalytic properties. Broadening our knowledge of lignocellulose biodegradation processes should contribute to better control of wood-decaying fungi, as well as to the development of new biocatalysts of industrial interest based on these organisms and their enzymes. [Int Microbiol 2005; 8(3):195-204

Investigación cualitativa en mujeres víctimas de violencia de género

ObjetivoAnalizar la experiencia de mujeres víctimas de la violencia de género atendidas en centros de atención primaria desde el punto de vista de las mujeres.DiseñoInvestigación cualitativa interpretativa. Perspectiva fenomenológica.EmplazamientoEstudio multicéntrico en centros de salud urbanos.ParticipantesMujeres víctimas de la violencia de género (física, psíquica, sexual)atendidas en los centros de salud. Muestreo intencional y teórico hasta el punto de saturación. Criterios de segmentación: edad (jóvenes-edad media-ancianas); maltrato actual o pasado; detección en urgencies-consultas.Mediciones principalesRelatos biográficos y análisis de contenido de la transcripción literal de las grabaciones. Codificación mediante programa NUD-IST. Utilización para la interpretación de la Teoría Fundamentada.LimitacionesComplejidad del fenómeno de estudio. Proyección de la perspectiva del investigador. Volumen ingente de datos. Se proponen estrategias para mejorar la credibilidad, la conformabilidad y la transferibilidad.Aplicabilidad prácticaMejorar el conocimiento de la situación de las mujeres víctimas de la violencia doméstica desde una perspectiva no directiva, lo que permitirá mejorar la calidad de las intervenciones.ObjectiveTo analyse, from the point of view of the women, the experience of women who are victims of male violence and attended at primary care centres.DesignInterpretative, qualitative research. Phenomenological perspective.SettingMulti-centre study in urban health centres.ParticipantsWomen victims of male violence (physical, psychological, or sexual) seen at health centres. Intention andtheoretical sampling to saturation point.Segmentation criteria: age (young/middle-aged/elderly); current or past ill-treatment; detection in casualty/consultations.Main measurementsBiographical accounts and content analysis of recordings’ literal transcription. Coding through the NUDIST programme. Use for interpreting Well-Founded Theory.LimitationsComplexity of the phenomenon under study. Projection of researcher’s perspective. Huge amount of data. Strategies are proposed for increasing credibility, conformity and transferability.Practical useTo improve understanding of the situation of women who are victims of domestic violence, from a non-directive perspective that enables the quality of interventions to be improved

Growth response to thinning in a mixed pine-oak stand of Pinus pinaster and Quercus pyrenaica.

During the last decades the interest on mixed stands has increased in forestry due to their potential benefits, especially conifer-broadleaves mixtures. However, more knowledge is need about their dynamic and their response to silvicultural treatments. On the other hand, climate change can affect different species in different ways, so it is important to study the effect of climate in mixed stands with different silvicultures. In this work we present preliminary results of a thinning trial in a mixed stands of Pinus pinaster Ait. and Quercus pyrenaica Willd located in ?Montes de Toledo? (Central Spain). The main objectives of the experiment are to study the growth response of each species to thinning and to analyse if there are different climate-growth relationships between species and thinning treatments. The stand is a stratified mixture with a planted pine overstory and a natural regenerated oak lower stratum (understory). The experiment design is a Latin square of order three with the following treatments: heavy thinning from below (40% of basal area is removed), moderate thinning from below (25% of basal area is removed) and control or unthinned. The thinning was applied during the winter 2009-10. The position of all trees larger than 7.5 cm of diameter per plot was recorded. Diameter of all trees and heights of a sample were measured before the thinning. In each plot dendrometer bands were installed in 10 trees per species in order to study the effect of treatments on individual tree growth. Dedrometer bands were read every month to detect possible differences in growth pattern between treatments. These data were complemented with continued records registered with electronic dendrometer installed in one tree per species and treatment. Climatic variables and soil temperature and humidity were recorded with a weather station and soil sensors set up in the study site. Data from the first growing season after the thinning treatment (spring of 2010) will be presented in this work. The possible differences in total growth and in growth pattern between species and treatments will be analysed and discussed

A multilayer service data acquisition and operation system for oceanographic ships and instrumentation networks

A new Data Acquisition and Operation System for Oceanographic ships and Instrumentation Networks has been developed by the Marine Technology Unit of the Spanish Research Vessels for their networked remote acquisition platforms. The new system built over LABVIR project background follows a Service Oriented Architecture to allow expandable access to acquired data in real time and to archived data. Several Data layers are implemented to allow data access from the more common tools and formats used in marine sciences.Peer Reviewe

Emotional interference-based forgetting in short-term memory. Cognitive inhibition of pleasant but not unpleasant biologically relevant distractors

Emotional stimuli automatically recruit attentional resources. Although this usually brings more adaptive responses, it may suppose a disadvantage when emotional information is task-irrelevant and should be ignored. Previous studies have shown how emotional stimuli with a negative content exert a greater interference than neutral stimuli during a concurrent working memory (WM) task. However, the impact of positively valenced stimuli as interference has not been addressed to date. In three experiments and one re-analysis we explore the impact of pleasant and unpleasant emotional distractors during WM maintenance. The results suggest that our cognitive control can cope with the interference posed by pleasant distractors as well as with the interference posed by neutral stimuli. However, unpleasant distractors are harder to control in the context of WM maintenance. As unpleasant stimuli usually convey relevant information that we should not to ignore, our executive control seems to be less able to reallocate cognitive resources after unpleasant distraction

Experimental and Theoretical Study of Bi2O2Se Under Compression

We report a joint experimental and theoretical study of the structural, vibrational, elastic, optical, and electronic properties of the layered high-mobility semiconductor Bi2O2Se at high pressure. A good agreement between experiments and ab initio calculations is observed for the equation of state, the pressure coefficients of the Raman-active modes and the bandgap of the material. In particular, a detailed description of the vibrational properties is provided. Unlike other Sillén-type compounds which undergo a tetragonal to collapsed tetragonal pressure-induced phase transition at relatively low pressures, Bi2O2Se shows a remarkable structural stability up to 30 GPa; however, our results indicate that this compound exhibits considerable electronic changes around 4 GPa, likely related to the progressive shortening and hardening of the long and weak Bi–Se bonds linking the Bi2O2 and Se atomic layers. Variations of the structural, vibrational, and electronic properties induced by these electronic changes are discussed

Novel Pixelwise Co-Registered Hematoxylin-Eosin and Multiphoton Microscopy Image Dataset for Human Colon Lesion Diagnosis

Colorectal cancer presents one of the most elevated incidences of cancer worldwide. Colonoscopy relies on histopathology analysis of hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) images of the removed tissue. Novel techniques such as multi-photon microscopy (MPM) show promising results for performing real-time optical biopsies. However, clinicians are not used to this imaging modality and correlation between MPM and H&E information is not clear. The objective of this paper is to describe and make publicly available an extensive dataset of fully co-registered H&E and MPM images that allows the research community to analyze the relationship between MPM and H&E histopathological images and the effect of the semantic gap that prevents clinicians from correctly diagnosing MPM images. The dataset provides a fully scanned tissue images at 10x optical resolution (0.5 m/px) from 50 samples of lesions obtained by colonoscopies and colectomies. Diagnostics capabilities of TPF and H&E images were compared. Additionally, TPF tiles were virtually stained into H&E images by means of a deep-learning model. A panel of 5 expert pathologists evaluated the different modalities into three classes (healthy, adenoma/hyperplastic, and adenocarcinoma). Results showed that the performance of the pathologists over MPM images was 65% of the H&E performance while the virtual staining method achieved 90%. MPM imaging can provide appropriate information for diagnosing colorectal cancer without the need for H&E staining. However, the existing semantic gap among modalities needs to be corrected.This work was supported by the PICCOLO project. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 732111. The sole re- sponsibility of this publication lies with the authors. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therei