Equivalent-voltage approach for modeling low-frequency dispersive effects in microwave FETs

In this paper, a simple and efficient approach for the modeling of low-frequency dispersive phenomena in FETs is proposed. The method is based on the definition of a virtual, nondispersive associated device controlled by equivalent port voltages and it is justified on the basis of a physically-consistent, charge-controlled description of the device. Dispersive effects in FETs are accounted for by means of an intuitive circuit solution in the framework of any existing nonlinear dynamic model. The new equivalent-voltage model is identified on the basis of conventional measurements carried out under static and small signal dynamic operating conditions. Nonlinear experimental tests confirm the validity of the proposed approach

Impact Craters on Titan? Cassini RADAR View

Titan is a planet-size (diameter of 5,150 km) satellite of Saturn that is currently being investigated by the Cassini spacecraft. Thus far only one flyby (Oct. 26, 2004; Ta) has occurred when radar images were obtained. In February, 2005, and approximately 20 more times in the next four years, additional radar swaths will be acquired. Each full swath images about 1% of Titan s surface at 13.78 GHz (Ku-band) with a maximum resolution of 400 m. The Ta radar pass [1] demonstrated that Titan has a solid surface with multiple types of landforms. However, there is no compelling detection of impact craters in this first radar swath. Dione, Tethys and other satellites of Saturn are intensely cratered, there is no way that Titan could have escaped a similar impact cratering past; thus there must be ongoing dynamic surface processes that erase impact craters (and other landforms) on Titan. The surface of Titan must be very young and the resurfacing rate must be significantly higher than the impact cratering rate

Spin effects in Bose-Glass phases

We study the mechanism of formation of Bose glass (BG) phases in the spin-1 Bose Hubbard model when diagonal disorder is introduced. To this aim, we analyze first the phase diagram in the zero-hopping limit, there disorder induces superposition between Mott insulator (MI) phases with different filling numbers. Then BG appears as a compressible but still insulating phase. The phase diagram for finite hopping is also calculated with the Gutzwiller approximation. The bosons' spin degree of freedom introduces another scattering channel in the two-body interaction modifying the stability of MI regions with respect to the action of disorder. This leads to some peculiar phenomena such as the creation of BG of singlets, for very strong spin correlation, or the disappearance of BG phase in some particular cases where fluctuations are not able to mix different MI regions

Interim analysis of the REASSURE (Radium-223 alpha Emitter Agent in non-intervention Safety Study in mCRPC popUlation for long-teRm Evaluation) study: patient characteristics and safety according to prior use of chemotherapy in routine clinical practice

Purpose: REASSURE is a global, prospective, non-interventional study to assess long-term safety of radium-223 in patients with bone metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Here we report an interim analysis of patients according to previous use of chemotherapy. Methods: Radium-223 was administered in routine clinical practice. Interim safety analysis was planned after enrolment of the first 600 patients. Patient characteristics and safety data by previous administration of chemotherapy (docetaxel and/or cabazitaxel) were investigated. Results: This interim analysis included 583 patients. Median duration of observation was 7 months (range, 0–20). Nineteen patients treated with concomitant chemotherapy were excluded, 564 (97%) were eligible for exploratory analysis according to prior use of chemotherapy; 190 (34%) had previously received and completed chemotherapy, and 374 (66%) had not. In the prior versus no prior chemotherapy group, a higher proportion of patients had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of ≥2 (22% vs 11%) and > 20 metastatic lesions (26% vs 15%), median alkaline phosphatase (162.0 vs 115.0 U/L) and prostate-specific antigen (132.0 vs 40.2 ng/mL) levels were higher, and a lower proportion completed 6 radium-223 injections (45% vs 63%). Drug-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) occurred in 63 and 48%, and haematological drug-related TEAEs in 21 and 9% of patients who had or had not previously received chemotherapy. Four drug-related deaths were reported, all in the prior chemotherapy group. Conclusions: The short-term safety profile of radium-223 in routine clinical practice was comparable to other clinical studies, irrespective of prior chemotherapy use. Haematological TEAEs occurred more frequently in the prior chemotherapy group, presumably due to decreased bone marrow function as a consequence of more advanced disease and prior exposure to cytotoxic therapy. Patients who had not previously received chemotherapy appeared to have a lower burden of disease at baseline, and a lower proportion discontinued radium-223 treatment.Purpose: REASSURE is a global, prospective, non-interventional study to assess long-term safety of radium-223 in patients with bone metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Here we report an interim analysis of patients according to previous use of chemotherapy. Methods: Radium-223 was administered in routine clinical practice. Interim safety analysis was planned after enrolment of the first 600 patients. Patient characteristics and safety data by previous administration of chemotherapy (docetaxel and/or cabazitaxel) were investigated. Results: This interim analysis included 583 patients. Median duration of observation was 7 months (range, 0–20). Nineteen patients treated with concomitant chemotherapy were excluded, 564 (97%) were eligible for exploratory analysis according to prior use of chemotherapy; 190 (34%) had previously received and completed chemotherapy, and 374 (66%) had not. In the prior versus no prior chemotherapy group, a higher proportion of patients had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of ≥2 (22% vs 11%) and > 20 metastatic lesions (26% vs 15%), median alkaline phosphatase (162.0 vs 115.0 U/L) and prostate-specific antigen (132.0 vs 40.2 ng/mL) levels were higher, and a lower proportion completed 6 radium-223 injections (45% vs 63%). Drug-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) occurred in 63 and 48%, and haematological drug-related TEAEs in 21 and 9% of patients who had or had not previously received chemotherapy. Four drug-related deaths were reported, all in the prior chemotherapy group. Conclusions: The short-term safety profile of radium-223 in routine clinical practice was comparable to other clinical studies, irrespective of prior chemotherapy use. Haematological TEAEs occurred more frequently in the prior chemotherapy group, presumably due to decreased bone marrow function as a consequence of more advanced disease and prior exposure to cytotoxic therapy. Patients who had not previously received chemotherapy appeared to have a lower burden of disease at baseline, and a lower proportion discontinued radium-223 treatment

Allergic diseases in the elderly: biological characteristics and main immunological and non-immunological mechanisms

Life expectancy and the number of elderly people are progressively increasing around the world. Together with other pathologies, allergic diseases also show an increasing incidence in geriatric age. This is partly due to the growing emphasis on a more accurate and careful diagnosis of the molecular mechanisms that do not allow to ignore the real pathogenesis of many symptoms until now unknown, and partly to the fact that the allergic people from 20 years ago represent the elderly population now. Moreover, environmental pollution predisposes to the onset of allergic asthma and dermatitis which are the result of internal pathologies more than the expression of allergic manifestations. At the same time the food contamination permits the onset of allergic diseases related to food allergy. In this review we provide the state of the art on the physiological changes in the elderly responsible for allergic diseases, their biological characteristics and the major immunological and extra immunological mechanisms. Much emphasis is given to the management of several diseases in the elderly, including anaphylactic reactions. Moreover, some new features are discussed, such as management of asthma with the support of physical activity and the use of the AIT as prevention of respiratory diseases and for the purpose of a real and long lasting benefit. The mechanisms of adverse reactions to drugs are also discussed, due to their frequency in this age, especially in polytherapy regimens. Study of the modifications of the immune system is also of great importance, as regards to the distribution of the lymphocytes and also the presence of a chronic inflammatory disease related to the production of cytokines, especially in prevision of all the possible therapies to be adopted to allow an active and healthy agin

Ambient-aware continuous care through semantic context dissemination

Background: The ultimate ambient-intelligent care room contains numerous sensors and devices to monitor the patient, sense and adjust the environment and support the staff. This sensor-based approach results in a large amount of data, which can be processed by current and future applications, e. g., task management and alerting systems. Today, nurses are responsible for coordinating all these applications and supplied information, which reduces the added value and slows down the adoption rate. The aim of the presented research is the design of a pervasive and scalable framework that is able to optimize continuous care processes by intelligently reasoning on the large amount of heterogeneous care data. Methods: The developed Ontology-based Care Platform (OCarePlatform) consists of modular components that perform a specific reasoning task. Consequently, they can easily be replicated and distributed. Complex reasoning is achieved by combining the results of different components. To ensure that the components only receive information, which is of interest to them at that time, they are able to dynamically generate and register filter rules with a Semantic Communication Bus (SCB). This SCB semantically filters all the heterogeneous care data according to the registered rules by using a continuous care ontology. The SCB can be distributed and a cache can be employed to ensure scalability. Results: A prototype implementation is presented consisting of a new-generation nurse call system supported by a localization and a home automation component. The amount of data that is filtered and the performance of the SCB are evaluated by testing the prototype in a living lab. The delay introduced by processing the filter rules is negligible when 10 or fewer rules are registered. Conclusions: The OCarePlatform allows disseminating relevant care data for the different applications and additionally supports composing complex applications from a set of smaller independent components. This way, the platform significantly reduces the amount of information that needs to be processed by the nurses. The delay resulting from processing the filter rules is linear in the amount of rules. Distributed deployment of the SCB and using a cache allows further improvement of these performance results

Do Not Take Peace for Granted: Adam Smith\u27s Warning on the Relation Between Commerce and War

Is trade a promoter of peace? Adam Smith, one of the earliest defenders of trade, worries that commerce may instigate some perverse incentives, encouraging wars. The wealth that commerce generates decreases the relative cost of wars, increases the ability to finance wars through debts, which decreases their perceived cost, and increases the willingness of commercial interests to use wars to extend their markets, increasing the number and prolonging the length of wars. Smith, therefore, cannot assume that trade would yield a peaceful world. While defending and promoting trade, Smith warns us not to take peace for granted

Nutrition, diet and immunosenescence

Ageing is characterized by immunosenescence and the progressive decline in immunity in association with an increased frequency of infections and chronic disease. This complex process affects both the innate and adaptive immune systems with a progressive decline in most immune cell populations and defects in activation resulting in loss of function. Although host genetics and environmental factors, such as stress, exercise and diet can impact on the onset or course of immunosenescence, the mechanisms involved are largely unknown. This review focusses on identifying the most significant aspects of immunosenescence and on the evidence that nutritional intervention might delay this process, and consequently improve the quality of life of the elderly

Titan's diverse landscapes as evidenced by Cassini RADAR's third and fourth looks at Titan

International audienceCassini's third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with embayments and deposits suggestive of the past or even current presence of hydrocarbon liquids. The T8 swath is dominated by dunes likely made of organic solids, but also contain somewhat enigmatic, probably tectonic, features that may be partly buried or degraded by erosion or relaxation in a thin crust. The dark areas in T7 show no dune morphology, unlike the dark areas in T8, but are radiometrically warm like the dunes. The Huygens landing site lies on the edge of the T8 swath; correlation of the radar and Huygens DISR images allows accurate determination of its coordinates, and indicates that to the north of the landing site sit two large longitudinal dunes. Indeed, had the Huygens probe trajectory been just 10 km north of where it actually was, images of large sand dunes would have been returned in place of the fluvially dissected terrain actually seen?illustrating the strong diversity of Titan's landscapes even at local scales

Laboratorial approach in the diagnosis of food allergy

OBJCTIVE: Review the available laboratory tests used to assist in the diagnosis of IgE-mediated and non-IgE-mediated food allergy. DATA SOURCES: Papers in English and Portuguese published in PubMed and Embase, in the last ten years. Terms searched were food allergy, diagnose and laboratory, isolated and/or associated. DATA SYNTHESIS: The diagnostic approach to food allergy reactions includes a good medical history, laboratory studies, elimination diets and blinded food challenges. More recently, the use of a quantitative measurement of food-specific IgE antibodies has been shown to be more predictive of symptomatic IgE-mediated food allergy. Food-specific IgE serum levels exceeding the diagnostic values indicate that the patient is greater than 95% likely to experience an allergic reaction if he/she ingests the specific food. Such decision point values have been defined just for some foods and inconsistent results were obtained when allergy to the same food was studied in different centers. Food challenges, in particular the double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC), represent the most reliable way to establish or rule out food hypersensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: A number of recent developments are improving the predictive value of some laboratory tests for the diagnosis of food allergies. However, to date, no in-vitro or in-vivo test shows full correlation with clinical food allergy and the DBPCFC remains the gold standard for the definitive diagnosis of specific food allergies. There is an urgent need for new and fundamentally improved diagnostic approaches, which must be validated in patients with food allergy confirmed by a positive DBPCFC.OBJETIVO: Revisar os exames laboratoriais disponíveis utilizados no diagnóstico da alergia alimentar mediada ou não por IgE. FONTES DE DADOS: Artigos publicados em base de dados PubMed e Embase (língua inglesa e portuguesa) nos últimos dez anos. As palavras-chave utilizadas como fonte de busca foram alergia alimentar, diagnóstico e laboratório, isolados e/ou associados. SÍNTESE DOS DADOS: A abordagem diagnóstica das reações alérgicas a alimentos inclui história clínica completa, estudos laboratoriais, dietas de eliminação e desencadeamentos cegos com alimentos. Recentemente, a medida quantitativa de anticorpos IgE específicos a alimentos tem mostrado ser mais preditiva de alergia alimentar sintomática mediada por IgE. Níveis séricos de IgE específica a alimento que excedam os valores diagnósticos indicam que o paciente tem chance maior que 95% de apresentar uma reação alérgica se ingerir o alimento em questão. Estes valores de decisão foram definidos para alguns alimentos e resultados inconsistentes são obtidos ao se estudar diferentes populações. Os desencadeamentos com alimento, especialmente o duplo-cego controlado por placebo (DADCCP), representa a maneira mais confiável de estabelecer ou descartar o diagnóstico de hipersensibilidade alimentar. CONCLUSÕES: Número crescente de aquisições tem melhorado o valor preditivo de alguns testes laboratoriais empregados no diagnóstico de alergias alimentares. Entretanto, até hoje, não há teste in vitro ou in vivo que mostre correlação completa com a clínica da alergia alimentar. O DADCCP continua sendo o padrão-ouro no diagnóstico definitivo de alergia alimentar específica. São necessárias, urgentemente, novas abordagens diagnósticas válidadas em pacientes com alergia alimentar confirmada por DADCCP positivo.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de PediatriaUNIFESP-EPM Departamento de PediatriaUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de Medicina Departamento de PediatriaUniversidade Federal da Bahia Departamento de PediatriaUNIFESP-EPMUniversidade Federal do Paraná Departamento de PediatriaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de PediatriaUNIFESP, EPM Depto. de PediatriaUNIFESP, EPMSciEL