Design of Delta Sigma Modulators for Integrated Sensor Applications

The paper presents and explores the implementation of Delta Sigma Modulators for Integrated sensor applications. Elaborate design procedures and trade-offs faced have been presented. Starting at the block and topology level, comparisons of various feasible choices have been presented, along with the suited applications. Circuit level comparisons and trade-offs such as OTA and comparator design have also been presented. Finally, simulations have been shown for a modulator designed as per above criteria for integrated accelerometer applications. Keywords: MEMS, Delta Sigma Modulators, Dynamic Range, Integrated sensor

Sex steroid hormones and risk of breast cancer:a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) has the highest cancer incidence and mortality in women worldwide. Observational epidemiological studies suggest a positive association between testosterone, estradiol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) and other sex steroid hormones with postmenopausal BC. We used a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to investigate this association. METHODS: Genetic instruments for nine sex steroid hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were obtained from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of UK Biobank (total testosterone (TT) N: 230,454, bioavailable testosterone (BT) N: 188,507 and SHBG N: 189,473), The United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study (DHEAS N: 9722), the LIFE-Adult and LIFE-Heart cohorts (estradiol N: 2607, androstenedione N: 711, aldosterone N: 685, progesterone N: 1259 and 17-hydroxyprogesterone N: 711) and the CORtisol NETwork (CORNET) consortium (cortisol N: 25,314). Outcome GWAS summary statistics were obtained from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) for overall BC risk (N: 122,977 cases and 105,974 controls) and subtype-specific analyses. RESULTS: We found that a standard deviation (SD) increase in TT, BT and estradiol increased the risk of overall BC (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.09–1.21, OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.07–1.33 and OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.06, respectively) and ER + BC (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.12–1.27, OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.11–1.40 and OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03–1.09, respectively). An SD increase in DHEAS also increased ER + BC risk (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03–1.16). Subtype-specific analyses showed similar associations with ER+ expressing subtypes: luminal A-like BC, luminal B-like BC and luminal B/HER2-negative-like BC. CONCLUSIONS: TT, BT, DHEAS and estradiol increase the risk of ER+ type BCs similar to observational studies. Understanding the role of sex steroid hormones in BC risk, particularly subtype-specific risks, highlights the potential importance of attempts to modify and/or monitor hormone levels in order to prevent BC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13058-022-01553-9