Confirmatory factor analysis of the Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury in a Spanish clinical sample

Objectives: The main aim of the present study was to confirm the two‐factor structure of the Inventory of Statements About Self‐injury‐ Part II (ISAS‐II), analyze its psychometric properties and test-retest reliability of Parts I and II of the ISAS. Method: The sample was composed of 355 Spanish participants diagnosed with eating disorders or borderline personality disorder (mean age 27.89, standard deviation = 13.31; 315 women, 40 men). Two models proposed for the ISAS‐II were analyzed by means of confirmatory factorial analysis. Results: A two‐factor model was confirmed, and a model with self‐care included in the intrapersonal factor was preferable. The ISAS‐II showed positive correlations with emotional dysregulation. Test-retest reliability showed statistically significant correlations at 7 months (n = 123). Conclusion: The ISAS‐II is a valid instrument to assess nonsuicidal self‐injury in Spanish populations, making it possible to assess these behaviors, which require valid and reliable measures worldwide

Ovarian damage from chemotherapy and current approaches to its protection

BACKGROUND: Anti-cancer therapy is often a cause of premature ovarian insufficiency and infertility since the ovarian follicle reserve is extremely sensitive to the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. While oocyte, embryo and ovarian cortex cryopreservation can help some women with cancer-induced infertility achieve pregnancy, the development of effective methods to protect ovarian function during chemotherapy would be a significant advantage.OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: This paper critically discusses the different damaging effects of the most common chemotherapeutic compounds on the ovary, in particular, the ovarian follicles and the molecular pathways that lead to that damage. The mechanisms through which fertility-protective agents might prevent chemotherapy drug-induced follicle loss are then reviewed.SEARCH METHODS: Articles published in English were searched on PubMed up to March 2019 using the following terms: ovary, fertility preservation, chemotherapy, follicle death, adjuvant therapy, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, doxorubicin. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the analysis of the protective agents.OUTCOMES: Recent studies reveal how chemotherapeutic drugs can affect the different cellular components of the ovary, causing rapid depletion of the ovarian follicular reserve. The three most commonly used drugs, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin and doxorubicin, cause premature ovarian insufficiency by inducing death and/or accelerated activation of primordial follicles and increased atresia of growing follicles. They also cause an increase in damage to blood vessels and the stromal compartment and increment inflammation. In the past 20 years, many compounds have been investigated as potential protective agents to counteract these adverse effects. The interactions of recently described fertility-protective agents with these damage pathways are discussed.WIDER IMPLICATIONS: Understanding the mechanisms underlying the action of chemotherapy compounds on the various components of the ovary is essential for the development of efficient and targeted pharmacological therapies that could protect and prolong female fertility. While there are increasing preclinical investigations of potential fertility preserving adjuvants, there remains a lack of approaches that are being developed and tested clinically

Reconfigurable Folded Reflectarray Antenna Based Upon Liquid Crystal Technology

A reconfigurable antenna based on the liquid crystal technology is presented in this paper. The antenna comprises a planar lower reflector with an incorporated feed at its center and a polarizing grid on top as an upper reflector. The lower reflector is utilized to collimate the beam and to twist the polarization. The polarizing grid selects the polarization for the transmission and reflects the orthogonally polarized waves toward the lower reflector. Combining reflector elements with a polarizing grid allows performing additional phase adjustment on the upper reflector for beam steering. Reconfigurability is maintained by the upper reflector, in which a liquid crystal mixture is used as a tunable substrate. The liquid crystal layer is tuned with a bias voltage configuration to obtain an appropriate phase adjustment for the beam steering. As a proof of concept, the beam steering capability of the antenna is demonstrated by steering the main beam to -6°, 0 °, and 6 ° at 78 GHz. The measured gain at 78 GHz is 25.1 dB. The proposed antenna configuration is a promising candidate for reconfigurable, high-gain, low-profile, and low-cost antennas

Reconfigurable Folded Reflectarray Antenna Based Upon Liquid Crystal Technology

A reconfigurable antenna based on the liquid crystal technology is presented in this paper. The antenna comprises a planar lower reflector with an incorporated feed at its center and a polarizing grid on top as an upper reflector. The lower reflector is utilized to collimate the beam and to twist the polarization. The polarizing grid selects the polarization for the transmission and reflects the orthogonally polarized waves toward the lower reflector. Combining reflector elements with a polarizing grid allows performing additional phase adjustment on the upper reflector for beam steering. Reconfigurability is maintained by the upper reflector, in which a liquid crystal mixture is used as a tunable substrate. The liquid crystal layer is tuned with a bias voltage configuration to obtain an appropriate phase adjustment for the beam steering. As a proof of concept, the beam steering capability of the antenna is demonstrated by steering the main beam to -6°, 0 °, and 6 ° at 78 GHz. The measured gain at 78 GHz is 25.1 dB. The proposed antenna configuration is a promising candidate for reconfigurable, high-gain, low-profile, and low-cost antennas

Advanced characterization of a W-band phase shifter based on liquid crystals and MEMS technology

In this paper, we present a continuously tunable phase shifter realized in MEMS technology. Varactors with liquid crystal as a tunable dielectric layer underneath gold bridges are used to build a loaded line phase shifter. Measurements show that the phase shifter has a differential phase shift of 928, a figure of merit (FoM) of 428/dB and an input matching of 219 dB at 76 GHz.The tuning speed of the phase shifter is measured at different temperatures between 10 and 508C. The realized phase shifter can be used in combination with MEMS switches in order to build a 3608 tunable reflection phase shifter