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This paper presents a process, voltage and temperature (PVT) robust Gm-R-based residue amplifier (RA). The proposed folded positive feedback (FPF) technique facilitates a high open-loop gain of 49.2 dB and gain bandwidth of 30.6 GHz without employing multiple cascading stages or cascode devices, consuming only 8.2 mW. The PVT robustness of the proposed RA is self-adapted, addressing the requirement of bias-generating circuitry. Transistor level design and simulations are implemented based on a 28 nm CMOS process. Configured in closed-loop, the proposed RA demonstrates a relative gain variation smaller than 5% and a fast settling time of 400 ps. The simulated gain linearity exceeds 9 bit with a 440 m V p p output swing, yielding an improved trade-off between speed and accuracy in nanoscale RA designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel switching scheme for successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is presented in this paper. Based on the asymmetric capacitor array and splitted MSB capacitor, the proposed scheme achieves 99.09% and 93.41% reductions in the average switching energy and capacitor area, respectively, over the conventional scheme. Moreover, the proposed SAR ADC obtains a moderate linearity performance with max(INL-RMS) less than 0.112 LSB, max(DNL-RMS) less than 0.160 LSB and consumes zero reset energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants protect themselves with a vast array of toxic secondary metabolites, yet most plants serve as food for insects. The evolutionary processes that allow herbivorous insects to resist plant defenses remain largely unknown. The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a cosmopolitan, highly polyphagous agricultural pest that vectors several serious plant pathogenic viruses and is an excellent model to probe the molecular mechanisms involved in overcoming plant defenses. Here, we show that, through an exceptional horizontal gene transfer event, the whitefly has acquired the plant-derived phenolic glucoside malonyltransferase gene BtPMaT1. This gene enables whiteflies to neutralize phenolic glucosides. This was confirmed by genetically transforming tomato plants to produce small interfering RNAs that silence BtPMaT1 , thus impairing the whiteflies' detoxification ability. These findings reveal an evolutionary scenario whereby herbivores harness the genetic toolkit of their host plants to develop resistance to plant defenses and how this can be exploited for crop protection. [Display omitted] • Many plants contain phenolic glycosides that are toxic for insect herbivores • Whitefly carries a plant-derived phenolic glucoside malonyltransferase gene BtPMaT1 • BtPMaT1 enables whiteflies to neutralize phenolic glycosides in host plants • Plant-mediated silencing of BtPMaT1 confers tomato full resistance to whiteflies The cosmopolitan agricultural pest Bemisia tabaci has acquired a plant-derived gene through a plant-to-insect horizontal gene transfer event. This acquired gene allows whiteflies to detoxify plant defense compounds and continue to feed on their plant hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]