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Summary: A new mechanism of digital background calibration in pipeline analog‐to‐digital converters (ADCs) is expressed. The presented technique calibrates various errors like capacitor mismatch, finite DC gain of the amplifier, third‐order nonlinearity, and fifth‐order nonlinearity, so it is called multipurpose. In this method, the error coefficients are identified by estimation of the output code of the decision points in the voltage transfer characteristic (VTC) of the pipeline stages. To achieve sufficient decision points in the VTCs of the pipeline stages, one threshold level of one comparator of the sub‐ADC is shifted, and then the digital output is calibrated by capturing the error coefficients. The digital logic of this method is simple and does not require special analog circuits. The introduced calibration mechanism is evaluated for the first five stages of a 12‐bit 100 MS/s pipeline ADC. The required time for the calibration is 1.5 ms. By applying this method, the signal‐to‐noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) and spurious‐free dynamic range (SFDR) in order are enhanced from 46.44 and 50.53 dB to 69.92 and 74.04 dB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper introduces an area‐effective and low‐power readout circuit structure tailored for high dynamic range (HDR) CMOS image sensors (CISs) utilizing dual conversion gain (DCG) imaging technology. A switched capacitor amplifier, which is applied at the comparator input port of the column‐parallel single‐slope analog‐to‐digital converter (SS ADC), is proposed to compensate for the charge injection and clock feed‐through introduced when the pixel switches between high conversion gain (HCG) and low conversion gain (LCG) modes. The proposed SS ADC is supplemented by the integration of a configurable counter, and the counter is specifically crafted for performing the A/D conversion of the readout voltage within a DCG pixel. Compared to the conventional DCG readout circuit, the proposed readout circuit use only one ADC for A/D conversion of HCG signals and LCG signals, which greatly reduces the area and power consumption of the readout circuit. Simulation results under 110 nm CMOS technology illustrate that the proposed 10‐bit SS ADC has a DNL of +0.78/−0.91 LSB and an INL of +1.91/−1.69 LSB, with a SNR of 57.2 dB and a SNDR of 55.95 dB, corresponding to an ENOB of 9 bits. The power consumption of the proposed SS ADC is 56.4 μW per column with a conversion time of 12 μs, and the simulation results show that the power consumption is 23.35% lower than the conventional structure and the area is saved by 24.69%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comparator plays a vital role in analog‐to‐digital converters. In the emerging communication era, these converters are useful to connect the analog field to the digital field. Also, the upcoming IoT‐enabled portable devices have a requirement of energy‐efficient high‐speed conversions at low power consumption for a longer battery lifetime. In this paper, a double‐tail dynamic latch CMOS comparator (DTDLC) with a modified Widlar current source (MWCS) has been proposed that will be suitable for high‐speed applications at a low voltage and low power consumption. Use of MWCS reduces random offset voltages to avoid transistor mismatch along with the reduced power dissipation due to low operating voltage. Here, the design simulation method includes Corner analysis for power consumption and Monte Carlo histogram analysis for transistor mismatch at different random offset voltages. All the design blocks were verified and simulated by Cadence's virtuoso schematic editor with a TSMC model file at 45‐nm technology by applying 500 mV and 1 V of the supply voltage. The proposed design has a transient power consumption of 41 nW, static power consumption of 17 nW, total delay of 1 ns, and power delay product (PDP) as 17 with a FOM of 1.83 (fJ/D). By using the proposed optimized design, a total of 80% power dissipation reduction was observed. Therefore, the proposed design is more efficient in terms of metrics like delay, power, and PDP at reduced offset voltage variations and reduced effect of process variations when compared to other existing comparators. The proposed comparator circuit is also simulated and verified through layout at 45‐nm CMOS process technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a voltage‐retention circuit (VRC) for a low‐power phase‐locked loop (PLL) designed for mobile interfaces. The PLL, incorporating the proposed scheme, supports the sleep mode to achieve low power consumption and fast switching between the sleep and active modes. To facilitate rapid switching between these modes, the proposed VRC stores the filter information from the previous input during sleep mode, ensuring quick settling upon reactivation. The VRC comprises a resistor‐steering digital‐to‐analog converter (DAC), a comparator, and a counter. During the active mode, the circuit adjusts the DAC using the comparator and counter to track the loop‐filter voltage, and it holds the tracked voltage value during the sleep mode. The proposed circuit, designed using a 65‐nm CMOS process, demonstrates 54% improved settling time compared to conventional circuits. Additionally, it reduces power consumption during sleep mode by 88%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high‐data‐rate solution for M‐ary differential chaos shift keying (MDCSK) based on carrier index modulation is proposed in this paper. At the transmitter, the proposed system employs index selectors, Hilbert transform, and MDCSK encoders. Walsh codes are used for separating different data‐bearing wavelets. At the receiver, the proposed system adopts energy comparators and MDCSK detectors. The transmitted chaotic signals are duplicated for several times, and the averaging operation is performed on received signals to reduce noise. Theoretical bit error rate expressions are obtained over the AWGN and the multipath Rayleigh fading channels, respectively. Simulations and comparisons are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of Mylochromis Regan 1920 are described from specimens collected on shallow rocky habitats on the northwestern coast of Lake Malawi. The generic designation is based on their prominent oblique‐striped pattern and lack of any of the unique features of other Malawi cichlid genera with this pattern. Mylochromis rotundus sp. nov. is distinguished from most congeneric species by its relatively deep, rounded body and lack of enlarged pharyngeal teeth. It is further distinguished from Mylochromis semipalatus and Mylochromis melanonotus (if they are different species) by its relatively shorter snout. Mylochromis durophagus sp. nov. is distinguished from most congeneric species by its strongly molarized pharyngeal dentition. It differs from Mylochromis mola by having a shorter snout, a less acutely pointed head profile, a deeper body, and a more continuous oblique stripe. M. durophagus has a much less steep head profile than Mylochromis anaphyrmus or Mylochromis sphaerodon. It is suggested that M. rotundus was previously identified informally as Mylochromis sp. “mollis north,” and M. durophagus as Mylochromis sp. “mollis chitande.” Lectotypes are designated for comparator species M. sphaerodon and Mylochromis subocularis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This work presents an experimental characterization of a novel clocked regenerative comparator with oxide TFT (a‐IGZO) technology on a flexible substrate. The circuit functionality is demonstrated as a wide range duty‐cycle PWM signal generator with a triangular input signal. The regenerative latch in the comparator is implemented with diode‐load–based inverters. The proposed circuit has shown a linear variation in the duty‐cycle from 12% to 84%, when the reference voltage (Vref$$ {V}_{ref} $$) is varied from 0.5 to 3.3 V, respectively, in the clocked comparator. Further, a reliable operation is observed up to an input signal frequency of 2 kHz at a supply voltage of 4 V, with a power dissipation of 20 μ$$ \upmu $$ W. This circuit would find potential applications in wearable bio‐medical and neuromorphic computational systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Design Setting Participants Intervention and comparator Measurements Findings Conclusions To evaluate whether a personalized and normative feedback (PNF) intervention for responsible gambling increases gambling insight as well as intention and self‐efficacy to engage in responsible gambling and behavioral engagement.Two‐arm randomized controlled trial. Outcome measurements occurred post‐randomization and 3 months later.Online, Canada.Canadian community members who gambled at a land‐based casino or online in the last 3 months [61.9% men; mean age = 56.52 (standard deviation = 14.80)] recruited via an online panel (n = 4091).Participants were randomized to receive PNF (n = 1940) or no feedback (n = 2151).Primary outcomes included gambling insight, intentions and self‐efficacy to engage in seven responsible gambling behaviors post‐randomization as well as engagement in these behaviors during the 3‐month follow‐up.Post‐intervention, participants receiving PNF (relative to no feedback) had greater gambling insight (d = 0.32, P = 4.59e‐25) as well as greater intentions and self‐efficacy to learn about how the games they play work (dintention = 0.31, P = 4.92e‐24; dself‐efficacy = 0.25, P = 4.35e‐16), learn about the odds of winning at these games (dintention = 0.30, P = 1.43e‐21; dself‐efficacy = 0.25, P = 2.13e‐15) and use operator‐provided tools to help limit their gambling (dintention = 0.20, P = 1.36e‐10; dself‐efficacy = 0.18, P = 3.92e‐9). However, post‐intervention differences in intention and self‐efficacy to limit time and money spent gambling, openness about gambling with others and balancing gambling with other activities were not observed. Meaningful increases in behavioral engagement 3 months later were observed but were not significant.PNF for responsible gambling (relative to no feedback) appears to increase gambling insight, intentions and self‐efficacy to engage in gambling literacy and use of limit‐setting tools. Exploratory analyses indicated receiving PNF (relative to no feedback) led to behavioral changes during the 3‐month follow‐up period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a radiation hardened by design StrongARM comparator is proposed to mitigate the radiation effects. With 12 additional transistors compared to the conventional one, the proposed structure shows much higher immunity to single‐event transients. During the amplification phase, when the input differential voltage is 10 mV, the proposed structure can withstand up to 18fC free charge, 45x far surpassing the conventional structure. During the regeneration phase, every sensitive node in the proposed structure can withstand a 200 fC‐injected charge. Compared to other redundant structures with performance deterioration, the proposed architecture exhibits high‐speed characteristics. When the differential voltage between two inputs is 1 mV, the delay of the new structure is 168.26 ps and the speed improvement is 118.02% over the conventional structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Radiofrequency (RF) microneedling produces patient discomfort which deters patients from completing the recommended treatment series. Objective: The primary objective was to determine the tolerability, safety, and efficacy of a neurocosmetic postprocedure cream post‐RF microneedling in reducing patient discomfort and enhancing recovery across the length of the study and, secondarily, to evaluate against a leading comparator. The third objective was to evaluate the efficacy of the neurocosmetic on self‐perceived improvement and objective grading. Materials and Methods: An Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved, fourteen‐day, randomized, single‐center, double‐blind, controlled clinical case study was conducted with 11 healthy female subjects, 6 randomized to the neurocosmetic and 5 to the comparator cell. Following a 7‐day washout period, subjects received RF microneedling (face and neck) and applied the postprocedure cream twice daily for 7 days. Objective and subjective tolerability, self‐assessments, and clinical photography were performed immediately postprocedure, 24 h, three and seven days following the procedure. Results: The neurocosmetic was tolerable and safe. Erythema and stinging immediately decreased postprocedure, postneurocosmetic application. After 24 h, 83% favorably agreed the neurocosmetic "reduced irritation on the skin post‐procedure," and after 7 days, 100% favorably agreed "experience with the product was positive and I would be interested in returning for a second treatment." The neurocosmetic reduced skin tone redness in the face and neck faster and to a greater degree when measured against a comparator. Conclusion: The neurocosmetic postprocedure cream improved patient discomfort and enhanced recovery when used immediately post‐RF microneedling and after 7 days. IRB Protocol Number: Pro00064211 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic tags are often used to track the freshwater‐marine migrations of smolts, where smolts are captured for tagging pre‐migration (e.g., via electrofishing) or during‐migration (e.g., via traps). Pre‐migration capture allows smolts to initiate and complete their downstream migration unhindered, but risks smolt loss before the migration commences. The contrary is the case for during‐migration trap‐caught smolts, but trapping smolts temporarily halts their seaward journey which may negatively impact their progress. This study investigated the effect of trapping on the behaviour and survival of migrating Atlantic salmon (Salmo Salar) smolts using acoustic telemetry. We compared the movements and survival of smolts tagged before the smolt run captured by electrofishing ("comparator") with smolts trapped and tagged during the smolt run ("trapped"). A total of 478 smolts were tagged and released in River Skjern (2020 and 2022), Denmark, and 82 smolts in River Ballycastle (2022), Northern Ireland, and their seaward movements were monitored using acoustic receivers deployed in the river, fjord, and coastal area. In River Skjern in 2022, comparator smolts migrated earlier than trapped smolts, likely because these constituted more of the larger‐sized, earlier migrating individuals. We found no differences in descent trajectories, diel patterns, progression rates, or survival between trapped smolts and comparator smolts in any of the rivers or study years. Thus, our results support the use of during‐migration trapping as a low‐impact method to capture smolts for telemetry studies, with trapped samples (if held <24 h) yielding comparable results in terms of behaviour and survival with non‐delayed pre‐migration tagged fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents a novel angle track converter for sinusoidal encoders. These encoders provide electronic signals in which the position is encoded in sinusoidal form. This work aims to reduce the complexity and enhance the conversion speed of the sinusoidal‐to‐angle demodulation system. Considering the periodicity of sine and cosine signals (SCSs), the full range [0,2π)$$ \left[0,2\pi \right) $$ is evenly divided into eight segments to determine the coarse angle. According to the specific coarse angle segment, the SCSs are reshaped for proceeding demodulation. Then a fine angle is derived from reshaped signals based on division and arctangent algorithm. Division operation is achieved by a capacitor digital‐to‐analog converter, dynamic comparator, and successive approximation register. The arctangent value is obtained from the division result with the compensation by a small‐size look‐up table. The new converter fabricated in 0.18‐μ$$ \upmu $$m BCD technology occupies an active area of 0.16 mm2 and consumes 1.5 mW at the sample rate 10 MHz. The measured maximum error is 1.8°, in the full range. Without analog‐to‐digital converters and no nonlinear operation unit, the proposed angle track converter has a significant advantage in cost, speed, and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the changes in the waveform of a sinusoidal carrier resulting from amplitude modulation (AM) process. Based on this analysis, a novel method for extracting amplitude information is proposed. The proposed method uses the behaviour of the amplitude limitation which does not significantly affect the slope of the sinusoidal signal near zero crossing points. A simple comparator is used to convert the changes in sinusoidal slope near zero crossing points into pulse width changes. A simple circuit is proposed which keeps the output pulse width of the comparator constant by a simple control loop. The accuracy of the method is evaluated through simulation and is experimentally tested. If the modulation index is high and the amplitude of the input signal to the detector is limited, the proposed method can yield up at least 9 dB improvement in relative error power. However, if the modulation index is small, the improvement in relative error power can be at least 35 dB compared to other conventional types of AM demodulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess comparative effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of off‐label rituximab, compared with frequently used therapies approved for multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: A Swedish cohort study of persons with relapsing–remitting MS, age 18 to 75 years at inclusion and with a first therapy start or a first therapy switch between 2011 and 2018. Low‐dose rituximab was compared with MS‐approved therapies. Primary outcomes were proportions with 12 months confirmed disability worsening and change in MS Impact Scale‐29 (MSIS‐29) scores, respectively. Secondary endpoints included relapses, therapy discontinuation, and serious adverse events. Analyses used an intention‐to‐treat approach and were adjusted for demographics, MS features, and health characteristics. Results: We included 2,449 participants as first therapy start and 2,463 as first therapy switch. Proportions with disability worsening at 3 years were 9.1% for rituximab as first therapy and 5.1% after therapy switch, with no differences to MS‐approved comparators. Worsening on rituximab was mostly independent of relapses. MSIS‐29 with rituximab at 3 years improved by 1.3/8.4 points (physical/psychological) for first disease‐modifying therapy (DMT) and 0.4/3.6 for DMT switch, and was mostly similar across therapies. Rituximab had lower relapse rates and higher therapy persistence in both groups. The rate of hospital‐treated infections was higher with rituximab after a therapy switch, but not as a first therapy. Interpretation: This population‐based real‐world cohort study found low rates of disability progression, mostly independent of relapses, and without significant differences between rituximab and MS‐approved comparators. Rituximab led to lower rates of inflammatory activity and higher treatment persistence, but was associated with an increased rate of serious infections. ANN NEUROL 2024;96:678–693 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Few population‐based studies have investigated the association between metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and depression. Additionally, it remains unclear if depression affects progression to major adverse liver outcomes (MALO) in MASLD. Methods: All patients in Sweden with newly diagnosed MASLD between 2006 and 2020 were identified from the National Patient Register. Each patient was matched on age, sex, inclusion year, and municipality with up to 10 comparators from the general population. Cox regression was used to compare rates of severe depression in persons with MASLD to the comparators. In persons with MASLD, Cox regression was used to estimate rates of MALO using severe depression before baseline or diagnosed during follow‐up as a time‐varying exposure. Results: We included 11 301 persons with MASLD and 104 205 comparators who were followed for a median of 3.9 (IQR 1.5–7.6) and 4.9 years (IQR 2.3–8.7), respectively. The median age was 56 years and 5576 of 11 301 (49.3%) persons with MASLD were male. Incident severe depression developed in 228 of 11 301 (2.0%) persons with MASLD and 1160 of 104 205 (1.1%) comparators (fully adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.5–2.1). Of persons with MASLD, 25 of 1229 (2.0%) of those with severe depression before or after baseline progressed to MALO compared to 322 of 10 326 (3.1%) of those without severe depression (fully adjusted HR = 1.0, 95% CI =.6–1.5). Conclusions: We confirm an association between MASLD and severe depression. However, no association between severe depression and incident MALO was found, but conclusions are limited by few observed outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Non‐randomized studies on bariatric surgery have reported large reductions in mortality within 6‐12 months after surgery compared with non‐surgical patients. It is unclear whether these findings are the result of bias. Study Design and Setting: We searched PubMed to identify all non‐randomized studies investigating the effect of bariatric surgery on all‐cause mortality compared with non‐surgical patients. We assessed these studies for potential confounding and time‐related biases. We conducted bias analyses to quantify the effect of these biases. Results: We identified 21 cohort studies that met our inclusion criteria. Among those, 11 were affected by immortal time bias resulting from the misclassification or exclusion of relevant follow‐up time. Five studies were subject to potential confounding bias because of a lack of adjustment for body mass index (BMI). All studies used an inadequate comparator group that lacked indications for bariatric surgery. Bias analyses to correct for potential confounding from BMI shifted the effect estimates towards the null [reported hazard ratio (HR): 0.78 vs. bias‐adjusted HR: 0.92]. Bias analyses to correct for the presence of immortal time also shifted the effect estimates towards the null (adjustment for 2‐year wait time: reported HR: 0.57 vs. bias‐adjusted HR: 0.81). Conclusion: Several important sources of bias were identified in non‐randomized studies of the effectiveness of bariatric surgery versus non‐surgical comparators on mortality. Future studies should ensure that confounding by BMI is accounted for, considering the choice of the comparator group, and that the design or analysis avoids immortal time bias from the misclassification or exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A high circulating total cholesterol (TC) concentration increases the risk for atherosclerosis in the domestic dog. Intake of marine foods is associated with a lowering effect on circulating TC concentration in humans and rodents, but the reported effects of marine ingredients on the TC concentration in domestic dogs has not yet been reviewed. The main aim was to investigate the effects of consuming marine ingredients on the TC concentration in domestic dogs. A systematic literature search was performed using the databases PubMed, Web of Science and Embase, structured around the population (domestic dogs), intervention (source and type of marine ingredients, dose, duration), comparator (control diet) and the primary outcome (circulating TC). Articles were assessed for risk of bias using the SYRCLE's tool. A meta‐analysis was conducted in Review Manager v. 5.4.1 (the Cochrane Collaboration), comprising 12 articles with 243 dogs. Consumption of marine oils resulted in a significantly lower circulating TC concentration relative to comparator groups (mean difference −0.70 mmol/L, 95% CI (−1.21, −0.18), p = 0.008), with high statistical heterogeneity (I2 = 78%). The risk of bias is unclear since few of the entries in the SYRCLE's tool were addressed. We did not identify any studies using marine proteins or marine organisms other that fish. To conclude, intake of marine oils results in a lower TC concentration in dogs, thus reducing an important risk factor for atherosclerosis in canines. This study was registered at www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/ as CRD42023396943. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While HC2 and GP5+/6+ PCR‐EIA were pivotal in test validation of new HPV assays, they represent the first generation of comparator tests based upon technologies that are not in widespread use anymore. In the current guideline, criteria for second‐generation comparator tests are presented that include more detailed resolution of HPV genotypes. Second‐generation comparator tests should preferentially target only the 12 genotypes classified as carcinogenic (IARC‐group I), and show consistent non‐inferior sensitivity for CIN2+ and CIN3+ and specificity for ≤CIN1 compared to one of the first‐generations comparators, in at least three validation studies using benchmarks of 0.95 for relative sensitivity and 0.98 for relative specificity. Validation should take into account used storage media and other sample handling procedures. Meta‐analyses were conducted to identify the assays that fulfill these stringent criteria. Four tests fulfilled the new criteria: (1) RealTime High‐Risk HPV Test (Abbott), (2) Cobas‐4800 HPV test (Roche Molecular System), (3) Onclarity HPV Assay (BD Diagnostics), and (4) Anyplex II HPV HR Detection (Seegene), each evaluated in three to six studies. Whereas the four assays target 14 carcinogenic genotypes, the first two identify separately HPV16 and 18, the third assay identifies five types separately and the fourth identifies all the types separately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency medical diseases (EMDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. A time‐to‐death analysis is needed to accurately identify the risks and describe the pattern of an EMD because the mortality rate can peak early and then decline. Dose‐ranging Phase II clinical trials are essential for developing new therapies for EMDs. However, most dose‐finding trials do not analyze mortality as a time‐to‐event endpoint. We propose three Bayesian dose‐response time‐to‐event models for a secondary mortality analysis of a clinical trial: a two‐group (active treatment vs control) model, a three‐parameter sigmoid EMAX model, and a hierarchical EMAX model. The study also incorporates one specific active treatment as an active comparator in constructing three new models. We evaluated the performance of these six models and a very popular independent model using simulated data motivated by a randomized Phase II clinical trial focused on identifying the most effective hyperbaric oxygen dose to achieve favorable functional outcomes in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. The results show that the three‐group, EMAX, and EMAX model with an active comparator produce the smallest averaged mean squared errors and smallest mean absolute biases. We provide a new approach for time‐to‐event analysis in early‐phase dose‐ranging clinical trials for EMDs. The EMAX model with an active comparator can provide valuable insights into the mortality analysis of new EMDs or other conditions that have changing risks over time. The restricted mean survival time, a function of the model's hazards, is recommended for displaying treatment effects for EMD research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an artificially intelligent Flash ADC with enhanced resolution from 4 to 10 bits. Unlike conventional approaches, this artificial intelligence (AI)‐based architecture avoids the use of many number of comparators in the Flash ADC when the ADC's resolution changes from 4 to 10 bits. This work initially gets the digital output of a 4‐bit existing Flash ADC as a training data set and then uses these 4‐bit output bits and sends to resolution enhancement logic (REL) block to vary its resolution without increasing the hardware complexities. After simulation, it is observed that the proposed ADC is of SNR of 24.13 dB for 4‐bit Flash ADC designed in SCL 180 nm CMOS technology and increases from 36.89 to 60.70 dB for 6 to 10‐bit resolution, respectively. The sampling frequency of the proposed architecture ranges from 3.6 to 1.04 GHz for a change in resolution from 4 to 10 bits. The FoM of 235 fJ/conv‐step in the training phase is obtained, and it varies from 56 to 20.3 fJ/conv‐step in the next phase of the testing and the prediction. The estimated area of the proposed 4‐to‐10‐bit variable resolution Flash ADC is 235.23×301.67 μm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To provide up‐to‐date clinical guidance on the efficacy of lamotrigine in bipolar disorder (BD). Methods: Eligible studies were identified during a systematic literature search according to PRISMA‐guidelines. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies that quantitatively assessed lamotrigine's efficacy in BD. We divided the included studies into three groups: 1. acute treatment of depression, 2. acute treatment of mania and hypomania, and 3. maintenance treatment. Analyses were stratified by control group (placebo vs active comparator) and treatment strategy (monotherapy vs add‐on treatment). Results: We included 20 RCTs (n = 1166 lamotrigine users) and 20 cohort studies (n = 11,141 lamotrigine users). Twenty‐four of these studies were included in meta‐analyses. During depressive episodes, greater decreases in depressive symptomatology were associated with initiation of lamotrigine as add‐on treatment than with placebo (SMD −0.30 [95% CI = −0.51, −0.10], df = 3, p = 0.004). Decreases in depressive symptomatology did not differ significantly between lamotrigine and the active comparator (SMD −0.28 [95% CI = −1.06, 0.50], df = 3, p = 0.488). As a maintenance treatment, lamotrigine was associated with a significantly lower relapse/recurrence rate than placebo (risk ratio (RR) 0.84 [95% CI = 0.71, 0.99], df = 2, p = 0.037). Relapse/recurrence rates did not differ significantly between lamotrigine and lithium (RR 1.06 [95% CI = 0.89, 1.25], df = 2, p = 0.513). A qualitative assessment of high‐quality register‐based studies found that lamotrigine was associated with lower hospital admission rates than other commonly used treatment regimes. Conclusions: There is substantial evidence for the efficacy of lamotrigine in BD, specifically as add‐on treatment during acute depressive episodes and as maintenance treatment for preventing relapse and recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comprehensively perfects the sensitive node transient detection feedback latch (SNTDFL) technique, subsequently conceptualizes an ideal hardening structure for the pre‐amplification stage, and proposes a radiation hardened by design (RHBD) strategy to cope with the severe single‐event transient (SET) effects of high‐precision voltage comparators in a space radiation environment. Analysis and verification results show that the hardening strategy exhibits excellent SET hardening performance, which can not only detect extremely small transient voltage disturbances at sensitive nodes but also effectively resist transient current pulses of various intensities generated by SETs. Compared with an unhardened high‐precision comparator, the proposed one, hardened with a hybrid strategy of SNTDFL and triple modular redundancy (TMR) techniques, can greatly preserve the original electrical properties and remarkably improve the tolerance of SET with little overhead. In addition, the proposed high‐precision comparator significantly reduces static power consumption compared with the one hardened with the TMR technique alone and has a smaller area overhead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic document examination has been considered one of the most important fields in the forensic science. For this, a quick, effective, and cheap techniques for evaluation of forensic evidence is highly required. This study explores the comparison of A4 document paper by chemical and physical analysis. 16 of white A4 paper from different brands were analyzed by FTIR for investigation of structural characteristics. Video Spectral Comparator 8000 has been used to compare the A4 papers under different light source. The inorganic filler composition in the paper is also explored by ICP‐OES. The calcium carbonate content in document papers play a discriminant role which found to be between 16.02 % and 35.54 %. Also, water contact angle has been utilized in order to examine the surface of paper which is generally related to the inorganic filler and other additives. The WCA results ranged between 83° and 111° that enable quick and easy way to compare A4 document papers. The experimental results have demonstrated that besides FTIR methods, other methods such as ICP‐OES for elemental composition, WCA for wetting test, VSC for visualization under different light of source could have been applied for comparison of document papers in case of criminal cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compression garments (CGs) are commonly used in rehabilitation and sports contexts to enhance performance and speed up recovery. Despite the growing use of CGs in recent decades, there is no unanimous consensus on their overall influence on joint proprioception. In this current meta‐analysis, we aim to fill this knowledge gap by assessing the impact of CGs on joint proprioception. We conducted a literature search across seven databases and one registry. Ultimately, we included 27 studies with 671 participants. The meta‐analysis revealed that wearing CGs resulted in a significant reduction in absolute error during joint position sensing (Hedges' g: −0.64, p = 0.006) as compared to no CGs. However, further analyses of variables such as constant error (p = 0.308), variable error (p = 0.541) during joint position sense tests, threshold to detect passive motion (p = 0.757), and active movement extent discrimination (p = 0.842) did not show a significant impact of CGs. The review also identified gaps in the reporting of certain outcomes, such as parameters of CGs, reporting of performance, individual‐reported outcomes, and lack of placebo comparators. Consequently, this review provides guidelines for future studies that may facilitate evidence‐based synthesis and ultimately contribute to a better understanding of the overall influence of CGs on joint proprioception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypernatremia is a common electrolyte disturbance in hospitalised patients associated with adverse outcomes. The aetiology is diverse but often related to fluid therapy and sodium‐containing medicaments. We aim to outline the evidence base on hypernatremia in adult hospitalised patients. Methods: We will conduct a scoping review and adhere to the preferred reporting items for systematic and meta‐analysis extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA‐ScR). We will systematically search the Cochrane Library, Medline, Pubmed, and Embase from inception with no limitations to language, and include all study designs. We will use the population, exposure, comparator, and outcome‐based approach to define eligibility criteria. The population: adult hospitalised patients; exposure: hypernatremia; comparator: no hypernatremia or all types of treatments of hypernatremia; and outcomes: all reported outcomes. Two authors will independently screen and select studies followed by full‐text assessment and data extraction in duplicate. All outcome measures will be reported, and descriptive analyses will be performed. The certainty of evidence will be assessed according to an adapted grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) approach. Discussion: This scoping review will provide an overview of the current evidence regarding the incidence of hypernatremia, treatment modalities, and outcomes reported for hospitalised adult patients with hypernatremia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probabilistic computing can solve complex combinatorial optimization problems more efficiently than conventional deterministic computing. A probabilistic bit (p‐bit) with an n‐p‐n bistable resistor (biristor) is demonstrated for probabilistic computing. It is fabricated on an 8‐inch wafer with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) compatible technologies. Its stochastic behavior of threshold switching, which is based on the phenomenon of a single transistor latch, provides output with a Boltzmann distribution. The p‐bit is composed of a biristor, a serial resistor, and a comparator. The output probability of the biristor‐based p‐bits shows a sigmoidal relationship with the input voltage, showing typical p‐bit characteristics. Invertible Boolean logic operations with p‐bits are demonstrated, and weighted maximum Boolean satisfiability problems are solved with high energy efficiency and accuracy. The biristor‐based p‐bits with perfect CMOS compatibility show sufficient device stability, demonstrating the possibility of large‐scale integration with a p‐bit array for complex optimization solvers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Corticosteroids remain the first‐line treatment of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), but increase the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Bisphosphonates are used for the treatment of osteoporosis, but their usage among patients with ITP has not been systemically described. We investigated the risk of fractures and the use of bisphosphonates in adult patients with primary (pITP) and secondary ITP (sITP) compared with matched comparators in a nationwide registry‐based cohort study. We identified 4030 patients with pITP (median age 60 years [IQR, 40–74]), 550 with sITP (median age 59 years [IQR, 43–74]) and 182 939 age–sex‐matched general population comparators. All individuals were followed for incident fractures. Bisphosphonate use was estimated for calendar‐years and in temporal relation to the ITP diagnosis. Adjusted cause‐specific hazard ratio (csHR) for any fracture was 1.37 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23; 1.54) for pITP and 1.54 (1.17; 2.03) for sITP. The first‐year csHR was 1.82 (1.39; 2.40) for pITP and 2.78 (1.58; 4.91) for sITP. Bisphosphonate use over calendar‐years and in the early years following ITP diagnosis was higher among patients with ITP diagnosis compared with the general population. In conclusion, the risk of fractures and the use of bisphosphonates are higher in patients with ITP compared with the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we assess the international trade implications of Ukraine's pursuit of self‐determination through the lens of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and the contemporaneous war with Russia in the years preceding the 2022 Russian Invasion. To do so, we construct a dataset with annual, bilateral export and import flows for Ukraine and a set of comparator countries at the 6‐digit level of the Harmonised Tariff Schedule (HS) for years 2000–2019. Using this data, we nest a difference‐in‐difference design within a series of econometric gravity models to estimate the effects on the sectoral and geographic composition of Ukrainian trade. Our results indicate a major re‐direction of exports towards the EU and away from Russia. Trade outcomes are one of many considerations that led to Ukraine's pursuit of EU integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses labour force survey data to analyse the dynamics of job tenure in seven transition economies of Europe and a comparator country (Türkiye) for an average 13 years per country during the period 1994–2020. The country‐specific age‐period‐cohort decomposition demonstrates that the job tenure of the cohort of workers entering the labour market in the 2000s is 4–9 years shorter than that of workers who started working in the 1970s. This difference is at least twice as large as the difference in job tenure observed among workers from the same cohorts in European Union countries. These trends in tenure persist after accounting for changes in cohort composition, but they are significantly attenuated by controlling for differences in individual worker characteristics. These results suggest that the evolution of tenure in the transition economies of Europe may still be driven by the transition‐induced structural change processes in the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel dynamic bias latch‐type comparator combined with a voltage‐controlled delay line (VCDL), designed specifically for low‐power and low‐noise applications in high‐speed analog‐to‐digital converters (ADCs). The incorporation of the VCDL precedes the dynamic bias amplifier in the proposed comparator, thereby achieving a balance between energy efficiency and high‐speed operation. This innovative design enhances the input common voltage of the dynamic bias amplifier through the utilization of the VCDL, surpassing that of a conventional dynamic bias comparator. Furthermore, it demonstrates increased adaptability in technology scaling and efficient operation at lower supply voltages, leveraging inverters and other simple cells. The proposed comparator in 28 nm process technology achieves a 309.7 µV input‐referred noise while consuming approximately 145.8 fJ and completing comparisons in 125 ps with a 0.9 V supply and a 0.45 V input common‐mode voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents a low‐power single‐slope analog‐to‐digital converter (ADC) for column‐parallel architectures. A simple and effective design technique is proposed to solve the input‐dependent power consumption problem of the conventional single‐slope ADCs. A decision‐feedback loop is implemented in the second stage of the comparator. Based on the negative‐feedback path, which is activated after the signal decision of the comparator, the input‐dependent dynamic current path in the amplifier is disabled. Furthermore, an additional low‐power design technique is proposed to save the power consumption of the ADC by optimizing the offset cancelling auto‐zero period. With the combination of the proposed techniques, the power consumption of the single‐slope ADC can be effectively saved while suppressing the dynamic current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To assess how long participants with type 2 diabetes spent with HbA1c less than 7.0% and how likely they were to maintain this target with oral semaglutide 7 mg versus sitagliptin 100 mg or oral semaglutide 14 mg versus empagliflozin 25 mg, sitagliptin 100 mg or subcutaneous liraglutide 1.8 mg. Materials and Methods: Analyses used on‐treatment data without rescue medication for all randomized participants (semaglutide [approved maintenance doses], n = 1880; comparators [not including placebo], n = 1412). Duration of time with HbA1c less than 7.0% was calculated using an HbA1c time curve. A binary endpoint of achieving HbA1c less than 7.0% at weeks 26 (week 24 for PIONEER 7) and 52 of each trial (and week 78 for PIONEER 3) was analysed. Results: Mean duration of time with HbA1c less than 7.0% was greater with oral semaglutide 7 mg versus sitagliptin in PIONEER 3 (27 vs. 22 weeks) and with oral semaglutide 14 mg versus empagliflozin and sitagliptin (27‐34 vs. 19 vs. 22 weeks, respectively), and similar versus subcutaneous liraglutide. A greater proportion of participants achieved and maintained HbA1c less than 7.0% for more than 75% of the trial with oral semaglutide 14 mg versus oral comparators. The odds of achieving HbA1c less than 7.0% at weeks 24/26 and 52/78 were significantly greater with oral semaglutide 14 mg versus oral comparators or subcutaneous liraglutide, and with oral semaglutide 7 mg versus sitagliptin. Conclusions: Oral semaglutide 7 and 14 mg resulted in greater time spent with HbA1c less than 7.0%, and a greater likelihood of achieving and maintaining HbA1c less than 7.0% versus oral comparators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter proposes a W‐band multimode monopulse horn (MMH) feed to improve the total efficiency (TE) of the reflector antenna. The feed consists of a MMH and a single‐layer comparator. The MMH utilizes one pyramidal horn and four rectangular waveguides (RWGs) for feeding. The eight electric modes required in the MMH yield excellent sum and difference patterns. The impact of unwanted modes is suppressed using a 90° phase difference approach. The comparator contains four novel 3 dB couplers and E‐plane RWGs, providing low loss and high multiport transmission performance. The MMH feed has been fabricated, tested, and applied to a Cassegrain antenna. The measured maximal TE for the Cassegrain antenna between 90 and 97 GHz is 54.9%. The realized gain of the sum beam is 40.3 dBi at 93.5 GHz. The null depths of difference beams in the azimuth and elevation planes are about −37.7 and −29.1 dB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate models' capability of reproducing the present climate at both global and regional scales still needs improvements. The assessment of model performance critically depends on the data sets used as comparators/references. Reanalysis and gridded observational data sets have been frequently used for this purpose. However, none of these can be considered an accurate reference data set because of their associated uncertainties and full representativity. This paper, for the first time, uses in‐situ measurements from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) spanning the period 2006–2020 to assess daily temperature and precipitation from a suite of dynamically downscaled regional climate models (RCMs; driven by ERA‐Interim) involved in NA‐CORDEX. The assessment is also extended to the most recent and widely used Earth system reanalyses (ERA5, ERA‐Interim, MERRA2 and NARR) and a few in situ‐based gridded data sets (Daymet, PRISM, Livneh and CPC). Results show that biases for the different data sets are seasonally and subregionally dependent. On average, reanalysis and in situ‐based gridded data sets are warmer (with biases exceeding 0.3°C) than USCRN year‐round, while RCMs are colder (warmer) in winter (summer) with biases ranging from −0.5 (0.9)°C for RCMs at 0.44° to −0.2 (1.4)°C for CRCM5‐UQAM‐11. In situ‐based gridded data sets provide the best performance in most of the Contiguous United States (CONUS) regions compared to reanalyses and RCMs, but still have biases in regions such as the Western mountains and the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, in most US subregions, reanalysis data sets do not outperform reanalysis‐driven RCMs. Likewise, for both reanalysis data sets and RCMs, temperature and precipitation biases vary considerably depending on the local orography, with larger temperature biases for coarser model resolutions and precipitation biases for reanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Well‐designed randomized trials provide high‐quality clinical evidence but are not always feasible or ethical. In their absence, the electronic medical record (EMR) presents a platform to conduct comparative effectiveness research, central to the emerging academic learning health system (aLHS) model. A barrier to realizing this vision is the lack of a process to efficiently generate a reference comparison group for each patient. Objective: To test a multi‐step process for the selection of comparators in the EMR. Materials and Methods: We conducted a mixed‐methods study within a large aLHS in North Carolina. We (1) created a list of 35 candidate variables; (2) surveyed 270 researchers to assess the importance of candidate variables; and (3) built consensus rankings around survey‐identified variables (ie, importance scores >7) across two panels of 7–8 clinical research experts. Prioritized algorithm inputs were collected from the EMR and applied using a greedy matching technique. Feasibility was measured as the percentage of patients with 100 matched comparators and performance was measured via computational time and Euclidean distance. Results: Nine variables were selected: age, sex, race, ethnicity, body mass index, insurance status, smoking status, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and neighborhood percentage in poverty. The final process successfully generated 100 matched comparators for each of 1.8 million candidate patients, executed in less than 100 min for the majority of strata, and had average Euclidean distance 0.043. Conclusion: EMR‐derived matching is feasible to implement across a diverse patient population and can provide a reproducible, efficient source of comparator data for observational studies, with additional testing in clinical research applications needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To compare the proportion of participants with type 2 diabetes (T2D) treated with once‐weekly (OW) subcutaneous (SC) semaglutide versus comparators who achieved a composite metabolic endpoint. Materials and Methods: SUSTAIN 1‐5, 7‐10 and SUSTAIN China trial data were pooled. Participants with T2D (aged ≥18 years) and glycated haemoglobin ≥7.0% (≥53 mmol/mol) who had been randomized to OW SC semaglutide (0.5 or 1.0 mg) or comparator in addition to background medication. Using patient‐level data pooled by treatment, proportions of participants achieving the metabolic composite endpoint, defined as glycated haemoglobin <7% (<53 mmol/mol), blood pressure <140/90 mmHg and non‐high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol <130 mg/dl (<3.37 mmol/L), were evaluated following baseline adjustments. Endpoints were analysed per trial using a binomial logistic regression model with treatment, region/country and stratification factor as fixed effects and baseline value as covariate. Pooled analysis used logistic regression with treatment and trial as fixed effects and baseline value as covariate. Results: This post hoc analysis included data from 7633 participants across 10 trials. The proportion of participants who achieved the metabolic composite endpoint was significantly higher with OW SC semaglutide 0.5 and 1.0 mg versus comparators (23.7% and 32.0% vs. 11.5%, respectively; p <.0001). Likewise, when the OW SC semaglutide doses were pooled, significantly higher proportions of patients receiving semaglutide achieved the composite metabolic endpoint versus comparators (29.1% vs. 11.4%, respectively; p <.0001). Conclusions: Treatment with OW SC semaglutide versus comparators was associated with increased proportions of participants with T2D meeting the composite metabolic endpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To reduce the impact of the single‐event transient (SET) effect on the high‐precision comparator, based on the common high‐gain pre‐amplification stage structure of the comparator, a new radiation hardened by design (RHBD) method, namely, the sensitive node transient detection feedback latch (SNTDFL) technique, is proposed. The hardening technique avoids comparator erroneous output by detecting the sensitive nodes of the high‐gain pre‐amplification stage. The detection circuit receives the response generated by the high energy particle impacts and feeds the high level back to the sensitive nodes to latch the current comparator state. In this paper, a novel high‐precision SET hardened voltage comparator based on this technique is developed. Through detailed circuit principle and simulation analysis, the functional characteristics and the hardening performance of the high‐precision hardened comparator are verified. Compared with the unhardened and the TMR technique hardened comparator, the SNTDFL technique hardened comparator effectively avoids the erroneous output caused by the SET effect with less overhead and still has excellent functional characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacovigilance studies based on spontaneous reporting systems use disproportionality analysis methods to identify drug‐event combinations with higher‐than‐expected reporting. Enhanced reporting is deemed as a proxy for a detected signal and is used to generate drug safety hypotheses, which can then be tested in pharmacoepidemiologic studies or randomized controlled trials. Higher‐than‐expected reporting means that the reporting rate of a drug‐event combination of interest is disproportionately higher than the rate in a specific comparator or reference set. Currently, it is unclear which comparator is the most appropriate for use in pharmacovigilance. Moreover, it is also unclear how the selection of a comparator may affect the directionality of the various reporting and other biases. This paper reviews commonly used comparators chosen for signal detection studies (active comparator, class‐exclusion comparator, and full data reference set). We give an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of each method based on examples from the literature. We also touch upon the challenges related to the derivation of general recommendations for the selection of comparators when mining spontaneous reports for pharmacovigilance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and fabrication of low loss and wideband Magic‐T with 10 dB return loss (RL) bandwidth over 40% is proposed for X‐band application, which can be used in monopulse comparator network. The proposed Magic‐T is composed of WR90 waveguides include an exponentially conducting cone, metallic multistep l‐shaped septum, and some other conducting posts. By implementation of these optimized conducting cone, septum, and posts, the 20 dB RL bandwidth over 36% is achieved with very low insertion loss (IL) (<0.15 dB) at each port. Moreover, high isolation (>40 dB) across all port over X‐band is another feature of the proposed Magic‐T. The equal power division (in amplitude and phase) at H‐arm and phase cancellation of input power at E‐arm introduce the proposed Magic‐T as a good candidate for sum/difference comparator network for monopulse application. Validation of the simulation results by experimental ones proves the wideband RL, low IL, and high isolation coefficient of the proposed high‐power Magic‐T as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Previous studies concerning reproductive patterns among non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) survivors are scarce and those available have reported conflicting results. Treatment regimens vary considerably between aggressive and indolent NHL and studies of reproductive patterns by subtypes are warranted. In this matched cohort study, we identified all NHL patients aged 18–40 years and diagnosed between 2000 and 2018 from the Swedish and Danish lymphoma registers, and the clinical database at Oslo University Hospital (n = 2090). Population comparators were matched on sex, birth year and country (n = 19 427). Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox regression. Males and females diagnosed with aggressive lymphoma subtypes had lower childbirth rates (HRfemale: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.31–0.59, HRmale: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.47–0.78) than comparators during the first 3 years after diagnosis. For indolent lymphomas, childbirth rates were not significantly different from comparators (HRfemale: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.48–1.04, HRmale: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.70–1.27) during the same period. Childbirth rates reached those of comparators for all subtypes after 3 years but the cumulative incidence of childbirths was decreased throughout the 10‐year follow‐up for aggressive NHL. Children of NHL patients were more likely to be born following assisted reproductive technology than those of comparators, except for male indolent lymphoma patients. In conclusion, fertility counselling is particularly important for patients with aggressive NHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a nanosecond voltage comparator with PECL logic for a photon-counting radiation imaging system is presented. To realize a high-speed comparison of four gamma detector channels in a limited board space, quad comparators MAX9602 with PECL logic are chosen. Each of the four channels is coupled with a PECL to CMOS converter ICS508, which exports CMOS logic data for later use in an FPGA. Simulated findings for cobalt-60 with intensities ranging from 30 Ci to 300 Ci show little count loss caused by using a comparator and indicate ideal propagation delays at all source intensities. While in the laboratory test using a PCB-level system, signals with pulse width less than 3 ns might be dropped, and dispersion of propagation delay occurs. Despite these, the performance is still satisfactory and can meet the requirements of practical applications, as demonstrated by an improved result of 0.9% in the contrast indicator model. Further studies to optimize the circuit design can be conducted to gain improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper presents an energy‐efficient fully differential switching scheme for successive approximation register (SAR) analog‐to‐digital converters (ADCs). During the sampling phase, the top and bottom plates of all capacitors except most significant bit (MSB) capacitors are grounded in digital‐to‐analog converter (DAC) arrays. The input signals are bottom plate sampled on MSB capacitors. This technique can reduce the settling time by more than 87.5% in comparison with the conventional switching scheme. Furthermore, a novel reset‐free regenerative comparator is unveiled in this paper. The proposed comparator is armed to amplify its inputs both during the reset and evaluation phases. In comparison with a conventional single‐ended comparator, the proposed comparator can reduce power consumption above 90% for the almost same input‐referred offset voltage. The proposed scheme is designed with a resolution of 8‐bit and a sampling rate of 90 MS/s in a standard 65‐nm CMOS technology. The simulation results certify that the ADC dissipates 363‐μW power with a 1.2‐V supply voltage and achieves a 7.13 effective number of bits (ENOBs), yielding a 28.8 fJ/conversion step Nyquist rate Walden FOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large amount of secondary effects in complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology limits its application in the ultra‐nanoscale region. Circuit designers explore a new technology for the ultra‐nanoscale region, which is the quantum‐dot cellular automata (QCA). Low‐energy dissipation, high speed, and area efficiency are the key features of the QCA technology. This research proposes a novel, low‐complexity, QCA‐based one‐bit digital comparator circuit for the ultra‐nanoscale region. The performance of the proposed comparator circuit is presented in detail in this paper and compared with that of existing designs. The proposed QCA structure for the comparator circuit only consists of 19 QCA cells with two clock phases. QCA Designer‐E and QCA Pro tools are applied to estimate the total energy dissipation. The proposed comparator saves 24.00% QCA cells, 25.00% cell area, 37.50% layout cost, and 78.11% energy dissipation compared with the best reported similar design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an asynchronous SAR ADC featuring a self‐timed track‐and‐hold (STH) architecture. The design aims to address the common timing issue of divider‐based clock generation, where the fixed‐time track‐and‐hold (FTH) period often results in incomplete conversions due to prolonged conversion times time due to comparator metastability. To alleviate the degradation of the ENOB induced by these delays, the proposed STH method is introduced so that more conversion period is secured without requiring a high‐speed input clock. Based on measurements, the proposed STH method achieves up to 0.7 bit improvement over the conventional FTH approach as conversion time increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Letter, a new low‐voltage and low‐power current‐mode winner‐take‐all (WTA) circuit is proposed. The proposed circuit is able to operate with a low supply voltage requirement while exhibiting a high accuracy. Moreover, the sensitivity of the circuit to the process variations and mismatches is improved. The proposed WTA circuit is designed and simulated in a 65‐nm technology with a supply voltage of VDD = 0.9 V. The post‐layout simulation results show that the power consumption of the proposed circuit is about 72 μW with the input dynamic range of 40 μA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a survey of the most promising reported SAR ADC designs for biomedical applications, stressing advantages, disadvantages, and limitations, and concludes with a quantitative comparison. Recent progress in the development of a single SAR ADC architecture is reviewed. In wearable and biosensor systems, a very small amount of total power must be devoured by portable batteries or energy-harvesting circuits in order to function correctly. During the past decade, implementation of the high energy efficiency of SAR ADC has become the most necessary. So, several different implementation schemes for the main components of the SAR ADC have been proposed. In this review study, the various circuit architectures have been explained, beginning with the sample and hold (S/H) switching circuits, the dynamic comparator, the internal digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and the SAR control logic. In order to achieve low power consumption, numerous different configurations of dynamic comparator circuits are revealed. At the end of this overview, the evolutions of DAC architecture in distinct biomedical applications today can make a tradeoff between resolution, speed, and linearity, which represent the challenges of a single SAR ADC. For high resolution, the dual split capacitive DAC (CDAC) array technique and hybrid capacitor technique can be used. Also, for ultralow power consumption, various voltage switching schemes are achieved to reduce the number of switches. These schemes can save switching energy and reduce capacitor array area with high linearity. Additionally, to increase the speed of the conversion process, a prediction-based ADC design is employed. Therefore, SAR ADC is considered the ideal solution for biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact reconfigurable monopulse antenna is presented. The proposed antenna consists of two closely spaced patches, a sum‐difference comparator with four PIN diodes, and an embedded inductor between the two patches. The sum‐difference comparator consists of a 1‐to‐2 divider, two feeding lines with four PIN diodes, and the DC bias line. By controlling the states of the PIN diodes, the sum and difference beams are achieved. The embedded inductor is applied to mitigate the difference in resonant frequency at the sum and difference beams. The working mechanism of the inductor is analyzed in detail. A prototype shows that the measured overlapped −10 dB impedance covers the 3.41–3.58 GHz at the sum and difference beams. The measured gain and null depth in the broadside directions are 6.8 and −30.5 dB, respectively. The proposed monopole antenna with close space is a promising candidate for some compact systems, like unmanned aerial vehicles and mobile terminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A double‐layer 2D substrate integrated waveguide monopulse slot antenna array is proposed. By adopting the dual‐mode monopulse comparators (DMCs), the isolations between ports are significantly improved. The antenna generates "sum" and "difference" patterns in the orthogonal axis with a pair of DMCs. The DMC for azimuth plane tracking and the radiating 4 × 4 slots are located on the top layer, and another DMC is on the bottom layer for the elevation plane tracking and feeds the slot array through two coupling slots. Based on the proposed antenna, an antenna prototype is fabricated. The measured −10 dB shared impedance bandwidth for four ports is 6.18% (9.4–10 GHz) and the isolations between ports are better than 27 dB. The null depths of the difference patterns are lower than −35 dB. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulated results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Quantum‐dot cellular automata (QCA) is a transistor‐free technique for designing digital circuits. It is a substitute for CMOS technology for producing low‐energy and high‐speed digital circuits. In addition, the digital comparator is an important digital circuit; its fault‐tolerant design is examined in this article. Additionally, a coplanar QCA‐based fault‐tolerant comparator circuit with a small number of cells is suggested. The QCADesigner is used to achieve exact simulation results. The suggested fault‐tolerant comparator requires 63 QCA cells, uses 0.8 μ$$ \upmu $$m2, and has three clock cycles delay in accomplishing its purpose. Furthermore, simulation results demonstrate that the suggested comparator design with a limited number of cells can achieve a fault‐tolerant of 80% against cell missing, extra cell, cell displacement, and cell rotation faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter presents an 11 b 200 MS/s 28 nm CMOS 2b/cycle successive-approximation register (SAR) analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The offset calibration technique is proposed to reduce the comparator offset mismatch that degrades the linearity of the high-resolution 2b/cycle SAR ADC. The offset mismatch is reduced to within 0.25 least significant bit (LSB) by generating a compensation voltage from capacitor-resistor (C-R) hybrid digital-to-analogue converters (DACs). The prototype ADC implemented in a 28-nm CMOS process demonstrates measured differential and integral non-linearities within 0.6 LSB and 1.73 LSB at 11 b resolution, respectively. The measured signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) and spuriousfree dynamic range (SFDR) are 50.9 dB and 66.2 dB at Nyquist, respectively. The prototype ADC occupies an active die area of 0.115 mm² and consumes 3.98 mW at a 1.1-V supply voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]