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Objective Protein–energy malnutrition and the subsequent muscle wasting (sarcopenia) are common ageing complications. It is knowing to be also associated with dementia. Our programme will test the cytoprotective functions of vitamin E combined with the cortisol-lowering effect of chocolate polyphenols (PP), in combination with muscle anabolic effect of adequate dietary protein intake and physical exercise to prevent the age-dependent decline of muscle mass and its key underpinning mechanisms including mitochondrial function, and nutrient metabolism in muscle in the elderly.Methods and analysis In 2020, a 6-month double-blind randomised controlled trial in 75 predementia older people was launched to prevent muscle mass loss, in respond to the ‘Joint Programming Initiative A healthy diet for a healthy life’. In the run-in phase, participants will be stabilised on a protein-rich diet (0.9–1.0 g protein/kg ideal body weight/day) and physical exercise programme (high-intensity interval training specifically developed for these subjects). Subsequently, they will be randomised into three groups (1:1:1). The study arms will have a similar isocaloric diet and follow a similar physical exercise programme. Control group (n=25) will maintain the baseline diet; intervention groups will consume either 30 g/day of dark chocolate containing 500 mg total PP (corresponding to 60 mg epicatechin) and 100 mg vitamin E (as RRR-alpha-tocopherol) (n=25); or the high polyphenol chocolate without additional vitamin E (n=25). Muscle mass will be the primary endpoint. Other outcomes are neurocognitive status and previously identified biomolecular indices of frailty in predementia patients. Muscle biopsies will be collected to assess myocyte contraction and mitochondrial metabolism. Blood and plasma samples will be analysed for laboratory endpoints including nutrition metabolism and omics.Ethics and dissemination All the ethical and regulatory approvals have been obtained by the ethical committees of the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata of Verona with respect to scientific content and compliance with applicable research and human subjects’ regulation. Given the broader interest of the society toward undernutrition in the elderly, we identify four main target audiences for our research activity: national and local health systems, both internal and external to the project; targeted population (the elderly); general public; and academia. These activities include scientific workshops, public health awareness campaigns, project dedicated website and publication is scientific peer-review journals.Trial registration number NCT05343611.

Keypoints Aberrant salience is a trans-nosographic trait of psychotic and pre-psychotic symptoms which is not commonly used in clinical practice. The use of the Aberrant Salience Inventory may constitute a valuable instrument for the early detection of psychosis. A dimensional approach evaluating aberrant salience may provide a different framework in the assessment of psychotic diagnoses.

Objective: To translate and perform the cross-cultural adaption of the CD:H scale for use in Paediatric Dentistry in Brazilian Portuguese language. Material and Methods: The translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the CD: H was carried out in four stages: 1) translation of the instrument; 2) reverse translation (back translation); 3) cross-cultural adaptation, and 4) face validation. Face validation consisted of the evaluation of 30 subjects from the target population. A pilot study was conducted with 15 children aged 5-10 years treated at a university dental clinic and their drawings were analysed by two dentists. Data were analysed using Stata 12.0. Results: In the face validation, most items were understood; however, some words were changed, and terms were included to identify the dental environment. Good reproducibility was obtained: inter-examiner reliability was 0.9647 and intra-examiner reliability was 0.9619 for examiner A and 0.8260 for examiner B. Conclusion: The Brazilian version of the CD:H scale is a useful tool for dentists, helping identify children's emotions and being enjoyable for them.

Reverse bandgaps generate PVT-independent reference voltages by means of the sums of pairs of currents over individual matched resistors: one (CTAT) current is proportional to VEB; the other one (PTAT) is proportional to VT (Thermal voltage). Design guidelines and techniques for a CMOS low-power reverse bandgap reference are presented and discussed in this paper. The paper explains firstly how to design the components of the bandgap branches to minimize circuit current. Secondly, error amplifier topologies are studied in order to reveal the best one, depending on the operation conditions. Finally, a low-voltage bandgap in 65 nm CMOS with 5 ppm/°C, with a DC PSR of −91 dB, with power consumption of 5.2 μW and with an area of 0.0352 mm2 developed with these techniques is presented.

O ambiente odontológico pode ser considerado um estressor para o público infantil, capaz de desencadear comportamentos indesejados. A Odontopediatria é uma especialidade que exige do profissional o conhecimento de medidas preventivas e de habilidades restauradoras para a realização do tratamento odontológico na criança ou no adolescente. Além disso, é muito importante que o profissional se atente aos sentimentos e às reações da criança, e identifique situações que possam desencadear estresse para o paciente durante o atendimento odontopediátrico, e maneje os comportamentos apresentados. Estudos recentes têm mensurado as reações das crianças e seus sentimentos durante tratamentos odontológicos por meio de técnicas projetivas. Diante da importância do desenho como meio para identificar as emoções das crianças, o objetivo deste estudo foi fazer uma busca na literatura acerca do uso de desenhos como técnica projetiva em Odontopediatria. As técnicas projetivas, com ênfase no desenho, revelaram-se um instrumento eficaz a ser utilizado na prática clínica a fim de melhor compreender as reações apresentadas pelas crianças durante o atendimento odontológico e seu relacionamento com os dentistas. Elas evitam situações inesperadas no consultório e possibilitam maiores chances de se obter um retorno positivo do paciente.

Since 2015 slow-release oral morphine (SROM) is approved for opioid substitution treatment (OST) in Germany. The SROMOS study (efficacy and tolerability of slow-release oral morphine in opioid substitution treatment) evaluates the efficacy and safety of SROM in routine care. This article describes the switching process from racemic methadone, levomethadone and buprenorphine to SROM.Between July 2016 and November 2017 180 patients in 23 study centers in Germany were included in the prospective, non-interventional, naturalistic observational study. Patients were already in OST and switched from a previous medication to SROM. The switching process was analyzed during a period of fourteen days.Data were available for 169 participants. The switching process had a different progression depending on premedication and pre dosage. On the fourteenth day of SROM treatment patients switched from racemic methadone took an average dosage of 922.2 mg/day, from levomethadone 801.0 mg/day and from buprenorphine 626.7 mg/day. Average conversion ratio racemic methadone to SROM was 1:11.8, levomethadone to SROM 1:17.4 and buprenorphine to SROM 1:58.0.This study provides the first data on the switching process from buprenorphine to SROM. Average dose ratio racemic methadone to SROM on the fourteenth day of treatment was considerably higher than recommended in the prescribing information.

Abstract In the framework of the search for dark matter in the form of WIMPs using superheated liquids, a study is conducted to establish a computational procedure aimed at determining how the thermodynamic conditions kept inside a particle detector affect the acoustic signal produced by bubble nucleation. It is found that the acoustic energy injected into the liquid by the growing vapour bubble increases as the liquid pressure is decreased and the superheat degree is increased, the former effect being crucial for the generation of a well-intelligible signal. A good agreement is met between the results of the present study and some experimental data available in the literature for the amplitude of the acoustic signal. Additionally, the higher loudness of the alpha-decay events compared with those arising from neutron-induced nuclear recoils is described in terms of multiple nucleations.

Abstract This randomized parallel-group control trial tested the efficacy of distraction using audiovisual eyeglasses (AVE) during dental procedures [NCT03902158]. Forty-four 6–9 year-old children with low/moderate anxiety and who needed restorative treatment or exodontia of the primary molars were randomly allocated into two groups: the AVE (experimental) and the conventional behavior management techniques (control) groups. Motion sensors were used to measure the participants’ body movements. Dental visits were video recorded, and their pain levels and behavior were assessed using the Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability Behavioral Pain Assessment Scale and the Venham Behavioral Scale, respectively. Anxiety was assessed via heart rate measurements. After treatment, the children scored their pain using the Faces Pain Scale. Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests were used to compare the groups. The mean score on the behavioral scale was 0.59 in the experimental group and 0.72 in the control group under local anesthesia (p = 0.73). During the procedure, the mean score was 0.41 in the experimental group and 1.32 in the control group (p = 0.07). The mean heart rate was similar in both groups (p = 0.47), but a significant increase during treatment was observed in the control group. There was no difference between the groups in terms of pain, behavior, and self-reported pain scores (p = 0.08). Children aged 6-7 who used the AVE had fewer wrist movements (435.6) than that of children in the control group (1170.4) (p = 0.04). The AVE achieved similar results to the basic behavior management techniques, with good acceptance by the children.

This paper presents specific noise minimization strategies to be adopted in silicon–cell interfaces. For this objective, a complete and general model for the analog processing of the signal coming from cell–silicon junctions is presented. This model will then be described at the level of the single stages and of the fundamental parameters that characterize them (bandwidth, gain and noise). Thanks to a few design equations, it will therefore be possible to simulate the behavior of a time-division multiplexed acquisition channel, including the most relevant parameters for signal processing, such as amplification (or power of the analog signal) and noise. This model has the undoubted advantage of being particularly simple to simulate and implement, while maintaining high accuracy in estimating the signal quality (i.e., the signal-to-noise ratio, SNR). Thanks to the simulation results of the model, it will be possible to set an optimal operating point for the front-end to minimize the artifacts introduced by the time-division multiplexing (TDM) scheme and to maximize the SNR at the a-to-d converter input. The proposed results provide an SNR of 12 dB at 10 µVRMS of noise power and 50 µVRMS of signal power (both evaluated at input of the analog front-end, AFE). This is particularly relevant for cell–silicon junctions because it demonstrates that it is possible to detect weak extracellular events (of the order of few µVRMS) without necessarily increasing the total amplification of the front-end (and, therefore, as a first approximation, the dissipated electrical power), while adopting a specific gain distribution through the acquisition chain.

This paper presents a fourth-order continuous-time analog filter based on the cascade of two flipped-source-follower (FSF) biquadratic (biquad) cells. The FSF biquad adopts two interacting loops (the first due to the classic source-follower, and the second to the additional gain path) which lower the impedances of all circuit nodes with relevant benefits in terms of noise power reduction and linearity enhancement. The presented device was integrated in 28 nm CMOS and featured 100 MHz −3 dB bandwidth with 67 dB Dynamic-Range. Input IP3 was 12 dBm at 10 and 11 MHz input tone frequencies. Total power consumption was 0.968 mW (0.484 mW per cell). Hence, the filter performed one of the highest figures-of-merit (160.7 dBJ-1) compared with analog state-of-the-art filters.

This paper presents a transistor-level design with extensive experimental validation of a Content Addressable Memory (CAM), based on an eXclusive OR (XOR) single-bit cell. This design exploits a dedicated architecture and a fully custom approach (both in the schematic and the layout phase), in order to achieve very low-power and high-speed performances. The proposed architecture does not require an internal clock or pre-charge phase, which usually increase the power request and slow down data searches. On the other hand, the dedicated solutions are exploited in order to minimize parasitic layout-induced capacitances in the single-bit cell, further reducing the power consumption. The prototype device, named CAM-28CB, is integrated in the deeply downscaled 28 nm Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) Bulk (28CB) technology. In this way, the high transistor transition frequency and the intrinsic lower parasitic capacitances allow the system speed to be improved. Furthermore, the high radiation hardness of this technology node (up to 1Grad TID), together with the CAM-28CB high-speed and low-power performances, makes this device suitable for High-Energy Physics experiments, such as ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) at Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The prototype operates at a frequency of up to 100 MHz and consumes 46.86 µW. The total area occupancy is 1702 µm2 for 1.152 kb memory bit cells. The device operates with a single supply voltage of 1 V and achieves 0.41 fJ/bit/search Figure-of-Merit.

This work presents a comparison between different neural spike algorithms to find the optimum for in vivo implanted EOSFET (electrolyte–oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor) sensors. EOSFET arrays are planar sensors capable of sensing the electrical activity of nearby neuron populations in both in vitro cultures and in vivo experiments. They are characterized by a high cell-like resolution and low invasiveness compared to probes with passive electrodes, but exhibit a higher noise power that requires ad hoc spike detection algorithms to detect relevant biological activity. Algorithms for implanted devices require good detection accuracy performance and low power consumption due to the limited power budget of implanted devices. A figure of merit (FoM) based on accuracy and resource consumption is presented and used to compare different algorithms present in the literature, such as the smoothed nonlinear energy operator and correlation-based algorithms. A multi transistor array (MTA) sensor of 7 honeycomb pixels of a 30 μm2 area is simulated, generating a signal with Neurocube. This signal is then used to validate the algorithms’ performances. The results allow us to numerically determine which is the most efficient algorithm in the case of power constraint in implantable devices and to characterize its performance in terms of accuracy and resource usage.

RESUMO Objetivo: comparar o resultado do escore de Alvarado com os achados cirúrgicos e com os resultados do exame histopatológico do apêndice de pacientes operados por apendicite aguda. Métodos: estudo observacional com delineamento transversal de 101 pacientes com 14 anos de idade ou mais, submetidos à apendicectomia de urgência. A avaliação continha o escore de Alvarado, pontuação no escore, sexo, idade, etnia dos pacientes e tempo de evolução. Foi obtido o aspecto cirúrgico do apêndice, dados a respeito das complicações pós-operatórias e o resultado do exame histopatológico. O intervalo de confiança pré-estabelecido foi de 95%. Foram calculadas sensibilidade, especificidade, valor preditivo positivo e negativo do escore, e realizada uma análise através da curva ROC. Resultados: a associação entre o escore de Alvarado e a confirmação diagnóstica utilizando como ponto de corte uma pontuação maior ou igual a seis encontrou-se significância estatística (P=0,002), com sensibilidade de 72% e especificidade de 87,5%. A pontuação maior ou igual a seis mostrou maior tendência a apresentar fases mais avançadas da apendicite aguda tanto no aspecto cirúrgico quanto histopatológico, quando comparado a uma pontuação menor que seis. O sexo masculino apresentou maiores chances de complicações quando comparado ao sexo feminino (P=0,003). Conclusão: o escore de Alvarado se mostrou um bom método para triagem diagnóstica na apendicite aguda, já que pontuações maiores ou iguais a seis estão associadas a uma probabilidade maior de confirmação diagnóstica e de quadros mais avançados da doença aguda.

O artigo tem como objetivo fazer uma leitura sobre a exposição Not everyone will be taken into the future dos artistas Ilya e Emilia Kabakov que ocorreu na Tate Modern em Londres entre os anos de 2017 e 2018. O texto aborda os gestos artísticos que são persistência e recorrência nas obras apresentadas na exposição: a problemática da História da Arte, a presença de biografias e autobiografias de ficções e verdades e a possibilidade do voo, do escape. A partir dessas questões, pode-se pensar no gesto artístico como algo que sempre retorna na produção de um artista, como uma obstinação e premeditação em suas obras.

Nowadays, automotive wire harnesses have become very complex systems as the number of electronic components and Electronic Control Units (ECUs) inside a vehicle have increased dramatically. To manage this complexity, and to support the automotive systems of tomorrow, new communication techniques need to be investigated. In this work, a direct modulated Power-Line Communication (PLC) method is proposed to drastically reduce the number of interconnections and give advantages in cost, complexity, and weight. Two transmitter topologies based on a Switching Capacitor approach are presented and implemented in a Test Chip fabricated in a 180 nm HV-CMOS SOI technology. The proposal is validated by communication tests connecting the designed chip and a discrete component-based demonstrator receiver through an unshielded twisted pair cable. Compared to commercially available solutions, the proposed approach can reach a data rate of 2 Mbps, making it able to implement high-speed event-driven networks, such as the Controller Area Network (CAN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This brief presents a 4th-order continuous-time analog filter based on Flipped-Source-Follower stage. Source-Follower (SF) filters typically adopt pseudo-differential topology (critical for matching and bulk/substrate noise rejection) and are realized in not recent CMOS processes (130nm or 180nm) due to the intrinsic voltage headroom required by SF operation. The proposed device solves the above limitations by proposing a fully-differential circuital topology, which improves by 13 dB the power supply rejection with respect to pseudo differential approach, and by operating in 28nm-CMOS process, thanks to a proper level-shifter transistor, which enables optimum biasing point and enhances filter dynamic range. The prototype is composed by the cascade of two biquadratic cells. It features 90 MHz −3 dB bandwidth, and consumes 816 μW power (408 μW per cell) from a 1V supply. Dynamic-Range is 64 dB with 140 μVRMS output noise, and at 0.32 V0-PEAK differential output voltage swing. Figure-of-Merit is 156 dBJ−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton range verification by ionoacoustic wave sensing is a technique under development for applications in adron therapy as an alternative to nuclear imaging. It provides an acoustic imaging of the proton energy deposition vs. depth using the acoustic wave Time of Flight (ToF). State-of-the-art (based on simulations and experimental results) points out that this detection technique achieves better spatial resolution (< 1 mm) of the proton range comparing with Positron-Emission-Tomography (PET) and prompt gamma ray techniques. This work presents a complete Geant4/k-Wave model that allows to understand several physical phenomena and to evaluate the key parameters that affect the acoustic field generated by the incident proton radiation.

Oncological hadron therapy utilizes a beam of charged particles to destroy the tumor cells, exploiting the particular deposition curve that allow minimum damage to the surrounding healty tissues compared to traditional radiotherapy. Sulak and Hayakawa’s works have shown the applicability of this technique in clinical scenarios, but the lack of dedicated electronics for this type of experiments affects the spatial resolution that can be obtained with this technique [1]. This work presents an integrated analog front-end dedicated to ionoacoustic experiments that allows to estimate the position of the Bragg Peak with an average deviation of 1% with respect to the real position.

This article investigates the device variability induced by the total ionizing dose (TID) effects in a commercial 16-nm bulk nFinFETs, using specially designed test structures and measurement procedures aimed at maximizing the matching between devices. DC static characteristic measurements show that below 100 Mrad(SiO2) the device variability is slightly affected by the total accumulated dose. However, when the total dose reaches 100 Mrad(SiO2), the device variability increases significantly showing a correlation with pre-irradiation electrical responses of the devices. Transistors characterized by higher drain current exhibit the worst TID degradation. This phenomenon is likely due to the impact of random dopant fluctuations on the TID effects and/or to variations in the hydrogen concentration responsible for the TID-induced interface traps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]