Noise and PSRR improvement technique for TPC readout front-end in CMOS. technology.

ALICE is one of four major experiments of particle accelerator LHC installed in the European laboratory CERN. The management committee of the LHC accelerator has just approved a program update for this experiment. Among the upgrades planned for the coming years of the ALICE experiment is to improve the resolution and tracking efficiency maintaining the excellent particles identification ability, and to increase the read-out event rate to 100 KHz. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to update the Time Projection Chamber detector (TPC) and Muon tracking (MCH) detector modifying the read-out electronics, which is not suitable for this migration. To overcome this limitation the design, fabrication and experimental test of new ASIC named SAMPA has been proposed . This ASIC will support both positive and negative polarities, with 32 channels per chip and continuous data readout with smaller power consumption than the previous versions. This work aims to design, fabrication and experimental test of a readout front-end in 130nm CMOS technology with configurable polarity (positive/negative), peaking time and sensitivity. The new SAMPA ASIC can be used in both chambers (TPC and MCH). The proposed front-end is composed of a Charge Sensitive Amplifier (CSA) and a Semi-Gaussian shaper. In order to obtain an ASIC integrating 32 channels per chip, the design of the proposed front-end requires small area and low power consumption, but at the same time requires low noise. In this sense, a new Noise and PSRR (Power Supply Rejection Ratio) improvement technique for the CSA design without power and area impact is proposed in this work. The analysis and equations of the proposed circuit are presented which were verified by electrical simulations and experimental test of a produced chip with 5 channels of the designed front-end. The measured equivalent noise charge was <550e for 30mV/fC of sensitivity at a input capacitance of 18.5pF. The total core area of the front-end was 2300?m × 150?m, and the measured total power consumption was 9.1mW per channel.

Development and programming of Geophonino: A low cost Arduino-based seismic recorder for vertical geophones

The commercial data acquisition systems used for seismic exploration are usually expensive equipment. In this work, a low cost data acquisition system (Geophonino) has been developed for recording seismic signals from a vertical geophone. The signal goes first through an instrumentation amplifier, INA155, which is suitable for low amplitude signals like the seismic noise, and an anti-aliasing filter based on the MAX7404 switched-capacitor filter. After that, the amplified and filtered signal is digitized and processed by Arduino Due and registered in an SD memory card. Geophonino is configured for continuous registering, where the sampling frequency, the amplitude gain and the registering time are user-defined. The complete prototype is an open source and open hardware system. It has been tested by comparing the registered signals with the ones obtained through different commercial data recording systems and different kind of geophones. The obtained results show good correlation between the tested measurements, presenting Geophonino as a low-cost alternative system for seismic data recording.

Impact des cavines sur le phénotype invasif et inflammatoire des cellules souches mésenchymateuses

L’évolution d’une cellule tumorale initiée à une tumeur solide nécessite, à chaque étape, un microenvironnement favorable à sa survie et à sa croissance. Le microenvironnement tumoral est comparé à un foyer d’inflammation chronique dont la composition cellulaire et moléculaire est complexe. Les cellules souches mésenchymateuses (CSM) représentent l’un des principaux acteurs cellulaires présents. Elles migrent vers les sites tumoraux où elles soutiennent l’inflammation, l’angiogenèse et le développement tumoral en activant plusieurs voies de signalisation. Une des voies majeures qui contribuent à l’inflammation est la voie de signalisation NF-B. L’initiation de cette voie provient de la membrane cellulaire entre autres des cavéoles. Nous soumettons l’hypothèse que l’une des cavines, protéines associées aux cavéoles, modulerait le phénotype inflammatoire etou migratoire dans les CSM traitées à la cytokine TNF- (facteur de nécrose tumorale ) en modulant la voie de signalisation NF-B. En effet, nous avons observé une régulation à la hausse de l’expression de la COX-2 (cyclooxygénase-2) et une diminution de l’expression d’IκB qui sont synonymes de l’activation de la voie NF-B dans les CSM que nous avons traitées au TNF-. Nous avons trouvé que le TNF- induit la migration des CSM, et que la répression génique de la Cavine-2 augmente significativement la migration des CSM traitées par le TNF-. La répression génique de la Cavine-2 vient aussi amplifier la tubulogenèse dans les CSM en réponse au TNF-. D’un point de vue moléculaire, la répression génique de la Cavine-2 a montré une très forte amplification de l'expression protéique de la COX-2 dans les CSM en réponse au TNF-. Dans ces mêmes cellules où la Cavine-2 a été réprimée, et suite à un traitement au TNF-, le pic de phosphorylation est plus intense et la courbe de phosphorylation est plus prolongée dans le temps. Ces observations nous permettent d’affirmer que la Cavine-2 a un rôle répresseur sur l’expression de COX-2. Collectivement, nos résultats montrent que la Cavine-2 peut être proposée comme un gène suppresseur de tumeur et est de ce fait, une bonne cible thérapeutique dans les CSM qui permettraient d’agir à des stades précoces du développement tumoral.

British Balance of Competence Reviews, Part II: Again, a huge contradiction between the evidence and Eurosceptic populism. EPIN Paper No. 40, June 2014

This paper is the second in a series for a CEPS project entitled “The British Question and the Search for a Fresh European Narrative”. It is pegged on an ambitious exercise by the British government to review all the competences of the European Union on the basis of evidence submitted by independent stakeholders. In all, 32 sectoral policy reviews are being produced over the period 2013-2015, as input into public information and debate leading up to a referendum on whether the UK should remain in, or secede from, the EU, planned for 2017. This second set of reviews covers a broad range of EU policies (for the single market for goods, external trade, transport policy, environment, climate change, research, asylum, non-EU immigration, civil judicial cooperation, tourism, culture and sport). The findings confirm what emerged from the first set of reviews, namely that there is little or no case for repatriation of EU competences at the level they are defined in the treaties. This does not exclude that at a more detailed level there can be individual actions or laws that might be done better or not at all. However, that is the task of all the institutions to work at on a regular basis, and hardly a rationale for secession. For the UK in particular the EU has shown considerable flexibility in agreeing to special arrangements, such as in the case of the policies here reviewed of asylum, non-EU immigration and civil judicial cooperation. In other areas reviewed here, such as the single market for goods, external trade, transport, environment, climate change and research, there is a good fit between the EU’s policies and UK priorities, with the EU perceived by stakeholders as an ‘amplifier’ of British interests.

Multipartite entanglement and quantum state exchange

We investigate multipartite entanglement in relation to the process of quantum state exchange. In particular, we consider such entanglement for a certain pure state involving two groups of N trapped atoms. The state, which can be produced via quantum state exchange, is analogous to the steady-state intracavity state of the subthreshold optical nondegenerate parametric amplifier. We show that, first, it possesses some 2N-way entanglement. Second, we place a lower bound on the amount of such entanglement in the state using a measure called the entanglement of minimum bipartite entropy.

Design of an X-band tray-type spatial power combiner using uniplanar quasi-Yagi antennas

The design of an X-band tray-type spatial power combiner, which employs uniplanar quasi-Yagi antennas (QYAs) for receiving and transmitting signals by individual amplifiers, is presented. Passive and active varieties of a seven-tray power-combining structure that includes two hard horns for uniform signal launching and combining across the tray stack are developed and measured. In order to compensate for nonuniform phase across the stack, which is caused by the nonplanar wave front of the horn antennas, Schiffman phase shifters are implemented in individual trays. The experimental-results show an improved performance of the investigated tray-type power combiner when the proposed phase-error compensation is implemented. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Continuous-variable Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox with traveling-wave second-harmonic generation

The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and quantum entanglement are at the heart of quantum mechanics. Here we show that single-pass traveling-wave second-harmonic generation can be used to demonstrate both entanglement and the paradox with continuous variables that are analogous to the position and momentum of the original proposal.

Quadrature-phase noise penalties of optically and electro-optically phase-locked lasers

Focussing particularly on solid-state laser systems, the phase-noise penalties of laser injection-locking and electro-optical phase-locking are derived using linearised quantum mechanical models. The fundamental performance limit (minimum achievable output phase noise) for an injection-locked laser (IJL) system at low frequencies is equal to that of a standard phase-insensitive amplifier, whereas, in principle, that of a phase-locked laser (PLL) system can be better. At high frequencies, the output phase noise of the IJL system is limited by that of the master laser, while that of the PLL system tends to a weighted sum of contributions from the master and slave laser fields. Under conditions of large amplification, particularly where there has been significant attenuation, the noise penalties are shown to be substantial. Nonideal photodetector characteristics are shown to add significantly to the noise penalties for the PLL system. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Continuous variable tripartite entanglement and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations from triple nonlinearities

We compare theoretically the tripartite entanglement available from the use of three concurrent x(2) nonlinearities and three independent squeezed states mixed on beamsplitters, using an appropriate version of the van Loock-Furusawa inequalities. We also define three-mode generalizations of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox which are an alternative for demonstrating the inseparability of the density matrix.

Continuous variable tripartite entanglement from twin nonlinearities

In this work, we analyse and compare the continuous variable tripartite entanglement available from the use of two concurrent or cascaded X (2) nonlinearities. We examine both idealized travelling-wave models and more experimentally realistic intracavity models, showing that tripartite entangled outputs are readily producible. These may be a useful resource for applications such as quantum cryptography and teleportation.

SAÚDE MENTAL DE INTERNAUTAS UNIVERSITÁRIOS

O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a saúde mental de internautas universitários. Trata-se de uma pesquisa com delineamento transversal e quantitativa. Participaram deste estudo 150 usuários de internet, dos gêneros, masculino e feminino, com idade entre 17 e 53 anos, estudantes universitários de diversos cursos de graduação da faculdade de saúde, de um único campus, de uma universidade privada, localizada na cidade de São Bernardo do Campo, na região metropolitana de São Paulo. A amostra foi selecionada por critério de conveniência, porém considerou-se a amostragem por cotas para melhor representatividade da população estudada. Os instrumentos utilizados foram o Questionário de Morbidade Psiquiátrica para Adultos (QMPA) e um questionário complementar desenvolvido para caracterização da amostra. Após coleta, os dados foram lançados e tratados estatisticamente. Os resultados mostraram prevalência de saúde mental em 58% dos internautas universitários. Entre os participantes que apresentaram sintomas de morbidade psiquiátrica (42%) prevaleceram os sintomas de exaltação do humor, ansiedade, somatização, irritabilidade e depressão, sintomas comumente referidos como transtornos psiquiátricos menores. Dos internautas estudados 55% foram considerados usuários pesados por utilizarem a internet acima de 60 horas mensais. A média de horas de acesso à internet apresentou correlação com os sintomas de morbidade psiquiátrica avaliados. Contudo estes sintomas de morbidade psiquiátrica não apresentaram diferenciação entre tipo de usuário (pesado e leve), em ambos os casos prevaleceram a avaliação de saúde mental. As horas de acesso à internet foram consideradas um dos indícios do uso patológico da internet, porém insuficiente para estabelecer qualquer diagnóstico. O uso patológico da internet mostrou-se presente em 57% dos internautas, por utilizarem a internet em detrimento de outros aspectos de suas vidas. Os sintomas de morbidade psiquiátrica apresentaram correlações positivas e significativas com as questões sobre o uso patológico da internet. Os resultados desta pesquisa sugerem que o uso patológico da internet revela-se como um novo campo de expressão de morbidades psiquiátricas já conhecidas. Deste modo, a internet não se mostra como um fator de risco para saúde mental de seus usuários. Ela seria um amplificador, uma ferramenta que facilitaria a expressão de tais comportamentos patológicos, que são provenientes de transtornos já existentes, assim como a utilização de diversas outras práticas sociais, que podem se tornar patológicas pela manifestação de diferentes transtornos do indivíduo.

10-Gb/s transmission over 100 Mm of standard fiber using 2R regeneration in an optical loop mirror

The transmission of a 10-Gb/s data stream was demonstrated experimentally over a practically unlimited distance in a standard single-mode fiber system using nonlinear optical loop mirrors as simple in-line 2R regenerators. Error-free propagation over 100 000 km has been achieved with terrestrial amplifier spacing. © 2004 IEEE.