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This article presents an innovative architecture for the implementation of an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) devices. The proposed architecture is based on the use of 3-dB couplers, whose coupled outputs have been shorted to the ground node. In order to reduce the physical dimensions of the 3-dB coupler and to reach the high coupling required for this application, the Coupled Slow wave CoPlanar Waveguides (CS-CPWs) architecture was favored. The demonstrator of the proposed system was fabricated in the STMicroelectronics 55-nm bipolar-cmos (BiCMOS) technology, demonstrating a return loss greater than 10 dB across the 50–160-GHz frequency range, an attenuation greater than 18 dB below 5 GHz, and a minimum insertion loss at 90 GHz of 0.55 dB. To prove the performance of the proposed solution, human body model (HBM) and charge device model (CDM) events were simulated at the input of the 3-dB coupler, showing that the proposed architecture effectively protects against these events while minimally impacting the RF path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central concern for the safe provision of ART during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the possibility of vertical transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection through gametes and preimplantation embryos. Unfortunately, data on SARS-CoV-2 viral presence in oocytes of infected individuals are not available to date. We describe the case of two women who underwent controlled ovarian stimulation and tested positive to SARS-CoV-2 infection by PCR on the day of oocyte collection. The viral RNA for gene N was undetectable in all the oocytes analyzed from the two women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has been conducted on HindIII family of satellite DNA in bat species Pipistrellus pipistrellus. The authors discuss cytogenic and molecular characterization of HindIII family, and report the discovery of differences in the ladder pattern of bands between the populations of the same species.

This paper reports design, efficiency, and measurement results of the process variation and temperature monitors for yield analysis and enhancement in deep-submicron CMOS circuits. Additionally, to guide the verification process with the information obtained through monitoring, two efficient algorithms based on an expectation-maximization method and adjusted support vector machine classifier are proposed. The monitors and algorithms are evaluated on a prototype 12-bit analog-to-digital converter fabricated in standard single poly six-metal 90-nm CMOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamete failure-derived infertility affects millions of people worldwide; for many patients, gamete donation by unrelated donors is the only available treatment. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can differentiate in vitro into germ-like cells, but they are genetically unrelated to the patient. Using an in vitro protocol that aims at recapitulating development, we have achieved, for the first time, complete differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to postmeiotic cells. Unlike previous reports using human ESCs, postmeiotic cells arose without the over-expression of germline related transcription factors. Moreover, we consistently obtained haploid cells from hiPSCs of different origin (keratinocytes and cord blood), produced with a different number of transcription factors, and of both genetic sexes, suggesting the independence of our approach from the epigenetic memory of the reprogrammed somatic cells. Our work brings us closer to the production of personalized human gametes in vitro. S TEM C ELLS 2011;29:1186-1195 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to contamination and corrosion problems caused by silicon fluoride vaporization in steelmaking plants, the formation/dissociation of Na2SiF6 has become the subject of many studies. In all the previous works, it has been assumed that silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4) is the only gas species formed during processing by the use of slags and fluxes in the steel industry. In the present work, it is proposed that during the thermal composition of Na2SiF6, SiF4 is not the only gas species formed. Based on a study on the kinetics of decomposition of Na2SiF6 in nitrogen and on thermodynamic predictions, it is proposed that Na2SiF6 decomposes endothermically into various gaseous species (SiF4, SiF3, SiF2, SiF, and Si, denoted by SiFx) through a series of complex reactions of zero-order with respect to the gaseous products, with activation energy of 156 kJ mol-1 and a rate-determiningstep given by the chemical reaction itself. The gaseous species are formed through a set of simultaneous reactions represented by the general equation [image omitted] where x varies from 0 to 4 and n, given by (2 - 0.5 x), takes the values 0, 1/2, 1, 3/2, and 2 and NaF is sodium fluoride. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously reported that prodigiosin (2-methyl-3pentyl-6-methoxyprodigiosene) induces apoptosis in human hematopoietic cancer cell lines with no marked toxicity in nonmalignant cell lines. In this study, we demonstrate that prodigiosin induces apoptosis of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells (n=32 patients). The dose-response for the cytotoxic effect of prodigiosin was analyzed in cells from 12 patients showing an IC[sub 50] of 116 ± 25 nM. Prodigiosin induced apoptosis of B-CLL cells through caspase activation. We also analyzed the cytotoxic effect of prodigiosin in T cells from BCLL samples and no differences were observed with respect to leukemia cells. This is the first report showing that prodigiosin induces apoptosis in human primary cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Cerebroaortic ratio: A new index for the prediction of adverse perinatal outcome in term small-for-gestational age fetuses with normal umbilical artery Doppler" by A. Mendez and others is presented.