Rad-hard vertical JFET switch for the HV-MUX system of the ATLAS upgrade Inner Tracker

This work presents a new silicon vertical JFET (V-JFET) device, based on the trenched 3D-detector technology developed at IMB-CNM, to be used as switches for the High-Voltage powering scheme of the ATLAS upgrade Inner Tracker. The optimization of the device characteristics is performed by 2D and 3D TCAD simulations. Special attention has been paid to the on-resistance and the switch-off and breakdown voltages to meet the specific requirements of the system. In addition, a set of parameter values has been extracted from the simulated curves to implement a SPICE model of the proposed V-JFET transistor. As these devices are expected to operate under very high radiation conditions during the whole experiment life-time, a study of the radiation damage effects and the expected degradation on the device performance is also presented at the end of the paper.Comment: KEYWORDS: Radiation-hard electronics; Voltage distributions; Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics. 9 Pages, 7 Figure

Light Reflectance Characteristics and Remote Sensing of Waterlettuce

Waterlettuce ( Pistia stratiotes L.) is a free-floating exotic aquatic weed that often invades and clogs waterways in the southeastern United States. A study was conducted to evaluate the potential of using remote sensing technology to distinguish infestations of waterlettuce in Texas waterways. Field reflectance measurements showed that waterlettuce had higher visible green reflectance than associated plant species. Waterlettuce could be detected in both aerial color- infrared (CIR) photography and videography where it had light pink to pinkish-white image tonal responses. Computer analysis of CIR photographic and videographic images had overall accuracy assessments of 86% and 84%, respectively. (PDF contains 6 pages.

CONDOR: A Hybrid IDS to Offer Improved Intrusion Detection

Intrusion Detection Systems are an accepted and very useful option to monitor, and detect malicious activities. However, Intrusion Detection Systems have inherent limitations which lead to false positives and false negatives; we propose that combining signature and anomaly based IDSs should be examined. This paper contrasts signature and anomaly-based IDSs, and critiques some proposals about hybrid IDSs with signature and heuristic capabilities, before considering some of their contributions in order to include them as main features of a new hybrid IDS named CONDOR (COmbined Network intrusion Detection ORientate), which is designed to offer superior pattern analysis and anomaly detection by reducing false positive rates and administrator intervention

The Effect of the Number of Lending Banks on the Liquidity Constraints of Firms: Evidence From a Quasi-Experiment

We empirically explore whether firms have a target for the number of banks from which they borrow, and whether having multiple bank relationships has an impact on firms’ liquidity situation. A bank merger in Chile provides a quasi-experiment as it constitutes an exogenous reduction in the number of lenders for firms that were previously borrowing from both merging banks. We find that a significant percentage of firms whose number of bank relationships was reduced by the merger regain their original number of lenders. In particular, firms whose number of bank lending relationships was reduced from two to one as a result of the merger have a 23% higher probability of adding a new bank lending relationship in the five years following the merger than similar firms unaffected by the merger. Overall, we find that a reduction in firms’ number of bank lenders resulting from the merger reduced firms’ access to credit. In particular, a reduction from two to one bank lending relationships generated, on average, a 14.4% decrease in loan size for the affected companies compared to firms unaffected by the merger.

Fusión de suturas craneales en el delfín franciscana, Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais and D'Orbigny, 1844)

Se estudió la fusión de suturas craneales y su asimetría bilateral en el delfín franciscana, Pontoporia blainvillei. Nuestros resultados mostraron que el cierre de suturas presenta baja variabilidad asociada a la longitud corporal total, exceptuando la sutura premaxilar-maxilar, cuyo estado de fusión mostró cierta asociación con el tamaño. Las suturas no mostraron asimetría direccional en su patrón de cierre, en concordancia con los resultados encontrados para las especies de delfines estudiadas hasta ahora. Nuestros resultados apoyan la idea de que diferentes especies de delfines exhiben distintos patrones de cierre de suturas asociados con su historia evolutiva y sus demandas funcionales específicas, y que no hay un patrón común general.Cranial suture closure and its bilateral asymmetry in the franciscana dolphin, Pontoporia blainvillei, were studied. Our results showed that the closure of cranial sutures exhibit low variability associated to total body size, with the exception of the premaxilla-maxilla suture which showed some correlation with body size. The cranial sutures of franciscana dolphins showed closure with no directional asymmetry, in accordance with the results found in dolphin species studied to date. Our results support the idea that different species of dolphins exhibit distinct patterns of suture closure, associated with their specific evolutionary histories and functional demands, and that there is no general common pattern.Fil: del Castillo, Daniela Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Flores, David Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo. San Miguel de Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Cappozzo, Humberto Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara; Argentin

AIP and MEN1 mutations and AIP immunohistochemistry in pituitary adenomas in a tertiary referral center.

Background: Pituitary adenomas have a high disease burden due to tumor growth/ invasion and disordered hormonal secretion. Germline mutations in genes such as MEN1 and AIP are associated with early onset of aggressive pituitary adenomas that can be resistant to medical therapy. Aims: We performed a retrospective screening study using published risk criteria to assess the frequency of AIP and MEN1 mutations in pituitary adenoma patients in a tertiary referral center. Methods: Pituitary adenoma patients with pediatric/adolescent onset, macroadenomas occurring ≤30 years of age, familial isolated pituitary adenoma (FIPA) kindreds and acromegaly or prolactinoma cases that were uncontrolled by medical therapy were studied genetically. We also assessed whether immunohistochemical staining for AIP (AIP-IHC) in somatotropinomas was associated with somatostatin analogs (SSA) response. Results: Fifty-five patients met the study criteria and underwent genetic screening for AIP/MEN1 mutations. No mutations were identified and large deletions/duplications were ruled out using MLPA. In a cohort of sporadic somatotropinomas, low AIP-IHC tumors were significantly larger (P = 0.002) and were more frequently sparsely granulated (P = 0.046) than high AIP-IHC tumors. No significant relationship between AIP-IHC and SSA responses was seen. Conclusions: Germline mutations in AIP/MEN1 in pituitary adenoma patients are rare and the use of general risk criteria did not identify cases in a large tertiary-referral setting. In acromegaly, low AIP-IHC was related to larger tumor size and more frequent sparsely granulated subtype but no relationship with SSA responsiveness was seen. The genetics of pituitary adenomas remains largely unexplained and AIP screening criteria could be significantly refined to focus on large, aggressive tumors in young patients

Dimensión profética y evangelizadora: «La palabra, fuerza y alimento del ministerio sacerdotal» Dei Verbum 21

Este artículo recoge la información referente a las XIII Jornadas de Estudios Teológicos de los Seminarios Diocesanos Extremeños de Coria-Cáceres (Cáceres, 9-11 de marzo de 2011). En esos tres días se profundizó en la última Exhortación Apostólica del Santo Padre Benedicto XVI la “Verbum Domini”.This article contains information concerning the XIII Diocesan Theological Studies Seminars Extremeños of Coria-Caceres (Cáceres, 9-11 March 2011). In those three days was deepened in the last Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI "Verbum Domini"