Via transition modeling and charge replenishment of the power delivery network in multilayer PCBs

In the first article of this thesis, the charge delivery in the power distribution network for printed circuit board has been analyzed in the time-domain. Performing all the simulations and analyzing the PDN physics and modeling, I contributed to a better understanding of the time-domain decoupling mechanism. The second paper studies the noise coupling sing a segmentation approach combined with a via-to-antipad capacitance model and a plane-pair cavity model. Building equivalent circuit models as well as analyzing design strategies, I contributed to a new approach for the PDN analysis in multilayer PCBs. The third article discusses how to estimate the amount of current needed for large ICs and how to evaluate the amount of noise voltage due to this current draw. After accurate discussion of the design strategies, I modeled and simulated the free evolution of a charged PCB with and without decoupling capacitors. The depletion of charges stored between the power buses in time and frequency-domain has been investigated as a function of the plane thickness, SMT decoupling closeness in the fourth paper. With my contribution, the time and frequency-domain in the PDN have been related using circuit approach. In the fifth paper, I analyzed a 26-layer printed circuit board performing milling, measurements and building circuit models. It is the first time that the segmentation approach has been used for differential geometry. In addition, Debye materials have been implemented in the cavity model --Abstract, page iv

The functional body: Does body representation reflect functional properties?

There is a growing interest in the distortions of body representation in healthy population and most studies have focused their attention on specific parts of the body, such as the hands. Only three studies have considered the representation of the body as a whole. Findings, acquired by different means of assessment methods, are partially contrasting, leading to different interpretations. The present study aims to investigate which aspects of body representation can be preserved regardless of the method adopted and whether current and previous findings can be explained by a unique theoretical model. In Experiments 1a and 1b we adopted a modified version of the Body Image Task to investigate body representations in real scale and the relationship of its parts. Participants judged the location of body landmarks by pointing on their own silhouette imagined on a wall in front of them. In Experiment 2 we investigated i) whether the pattern of distortions observed in the first experiment are maintained across different methods by asking participants to estimate the veracity and proportionality of the length of their own body parts; and ii) whether similar distortions can be generalized to stereotypical representations. Overall, we observed a consistent pattern of distortions, whereby upper body limbs are underestimated and lower parts of the body are overestimated across all experiments and conditions. These findings are then interpreted as the result of a functional relationship between body parts and daily actions, which underlie a close modulation of body schema and body image. This interpretation offers a reconciliation of seemingly contradictory findings in the literature and supports to the co-construction model (Pitron et al., 2018)

The Fluff test: Improved scoring system to account for different degrees of contralesional and ipsilesional personal neglect in brain-damaged patients

The Fluff test is a simple test to assess evidence of personal neglect (PN) in brain damaged patients. While blindfolded, patients are asked to remove targets previously attached on their body and the number of targets detached provides information about possible spatial bias. This test has been widely used for clinical and research purposes. However, the current scoring system presents some limitations, which make difficult to interpret patients’ performance in terms of both contralalesional and ipsilesional PN when they omit targets on the ipsilesional side. Moreover, it does not consider possible confounding variables, such as non-spatial cognitive deficits or lack of compliance that may affect patients’ performance and lead to incorrect diagnosis. The present paper proposes a new scoring method overcoming the limitations mentioned above and it analyses data from a large sample of 243 brain damaged patients. Findings showed that contralesional PN was significantly more severe, but not more frequent, following right (31%) than left (21%) brain damage. We also found evidence of left ipsilesional PN and cases of potential mis-diagnosis that would have passed unnoticed with the original scoring system. The new scoring method allows to identify different degrees of contralesional and ipsilesional PN and potential confounding variable

PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF PUBLIC POLICY EDUCATION LEARNED FROM ELEVEN INNOVATIVE PROJECTS

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Same action in different spatial locations induces selective modulation of body metric representation

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06135-3Recent studies have hypothesised that the stereotypical representation of the body may reflect some functional aspects of routine actions that are performed in specific peripersonal domains. For example, the lower and upper limbs tend to ‘act’ in different peripersonal spaces and perform different functions. The present study aims to directly investigate the relationship between body representation and the spatial context where actions are performed. By means of a modified version of the Body Image Task we investigated body representation before and after a sorting task training in two groups of participants who were asked to carry out the same task/actions in two different spaces: on a table or on the floor, while sitting on a chair. Findings showed that a significant recalibration of the perceived upper arms’ length occurred when participants were asked to perform a motor task on the floor. These results seem to suggest that the modulation of the body representation reflects an increase action capabilities driven by the contribution of motor training modulates and, importantly, the location in which the action occurs. Furthermore, the modulation was not limited to the body part actively involved in the action (the arms), it extended to other upper body parts (the torso) to maintain, we propose, a functionally coherent representation of the upper body.Peer reviewe

Selective effects of a brain tumor on the metric representation of the hand: a pre- versus post-surgery comparison

Body representation disorders are complex, varied, striking and very incapacitating in most cases. Deficits of body representation have been described after lesions to multimodal and sensorimotor cortical areas. A few studies have reported the effects of tumors on the representation of the body, but little is known about the changes after tumor resection. Moreover, impact of brain lesions on the hand size representation has been investigated in few clinical cases. Hands are of special importance as no other body part has the ability for movement and interaction with the environment that the hands have, and we use them for a multitude of daily activities Studies with clinical population can add further knowledge into the way hands are represented. Here, we report a single case study of a patient (AM) who was an expert bodybuilder and underwent a surgery to remove a glioblastoma in the left posterior prefrontal and precentral cortex at the level of the hand’s motor region. Pre- (20 days) and post- (4 months) surgery assessment did not show any motor or cognitive impairments. A hand localization task was used, before and after surgery (12 months), to measure possible changes of the metric representation of his right hand. Results showed a modulation on the hand representation with an overall improvement after the surgery in the accuracy of the hand representation, especially on width dimension. These findings support the direct involvement of sensorimotor areas in the implicit representation of the body size and its relevance on defining specific size representation dimensions

The signing body: Extensive sign language practice shapes the size of hands and face

The representation of the metrics of the hands is distorted but is susceptible to malleability due to expert dexterity (magicians) and long-term tool use (baseball players). However, it remains unclear whether modulation leads to a stable representation of the hand that is adopted in every circumstance, or whether the modulation is closely linked to the spatial context where the expertise occurs. To this aim, a group of 10 experienced Sign Language (SL) interpreters were recruited to study the selective influence of expertise and space localisation in the metric representation of hands. Experiment 1 explored differences in hands’ size representation between the SL interpreters and 10 age-matched controls in near-reaching (Condition 1) and far-reaching space (Condition 2), by using the localisation task. SL interpreters presented reduced hand size in near-reaching condition, with characteristic underestimation of finger lengths, and reduced overestimation of hands and wrists widths in comparison with controls. This difference was lost in far-reaching space, confirming the effect of expertise on hand representations is closely linked to the spatial context where an action is performed. As SL interpreters are also experts in the use of their face with communication purposes, the effects of expertise in the metrics of the face were also studied (Experiment 2). SL interpreters were more accurate than controls, with overall reduction of width overestimation. Overall, expertise modifies the representation of relevant body parts in a specific and context-dependent manner. Hence, different representations of the same body part can coexist simultaneously

La necesidad de las operaciones encubiertas como arma jurídica contra la corrupción (inter)nacional

La corrupción pública es una plaga que amenaza la estabilidad de los Estados que actúan en un escenario internacional globalizado como es el contemporáneo. Las convenciones ONU de Palermo y de Mérida prevén el recurso a las “técnicas especiales de investigación”, en particular a las operaciones de los agentes encubiertos, para combatir los delitos relacionados con la corrupción. El presente artículo se propone demostrar la importancia que supondría para la seguridad internacional la ejecución efectiva por parte de los Estados de aquellas técnicas especiales de investigación para luchar con más eficacia contra la corrupción. Para ello, se profundiza en la normativa española relativa al agente encubierto y se destaca cuáles son los límites que le impiden contrarrestar con mayor vigor los asuntos de corrupción. Se sugiere, en consecuencia, que los países que aún no hayan acogido en su legislación dichas técnicas, se inspiren al ejemplo británico. En el Reino Unido la escasez de casos de corrupción pública se debe también a la adopción reciente de ciertos instrumentos jurídicos que permiten las operaciones encubiertas para investigar los delitos de corrupción. Se concluye, por tanto, que sería importante un compromiso más firme de todos los Estados que ratificaron ambas convenciones para recurrir a aquellas herramientas que podrían contribuir de una forma concreta a la lucha contra la corrupción (inter)nacional