With the increasing demand of compact and lightweight wireless devices, there is a significant need to miniaturize the antennas, which are one of the largest radiofrequency components. The radiation performance of antennas degrades as their physical size becomes smaller in terms of operating wavelength [1]. The key challenge in antenna design, therefore, lies in the compromise between size and radiation performance. This challenge becomes critical for low frequency antennas such as for the RFID band. The Antenna-in-Package (AiP) concept, where the antenna is realized as part of the package along with the driving electronics, provides some console in terms of size as the antenna does not need any additional space. In this approach, the package becomes a functional module along with its primary job of protecting the components from the environment. This work aims to investigate various miniaturization techniques for a UHF RFID tag on package. Firstly, a dipole is given a 3D shape by carefully folding it over a package, in a manner that the currents on different segments add constructively. Secondly, the package material (which acts as the substrate for the antenna) is chosen to have a dielectric constant of 5.3 which further helps in size reduction. Finally, loading of slow-wave structures, comprising of inductors and capacitors, is used to achieve further miniaturization. The Artificial Transmission Line approach is utilized to determine the required values of the lumped components, and its location is optimized by analyzing the current distribution of the antenna to maintain a good efficiency. The RFID chip with a large capacitive impedance is conjugately matched to the antenna without an external matching network. This is done by carefully selecting the values of the lumped components as well as by adjusting the trace width of the antenna. The package has been realized through a low-loss filament (𝑡𝑎𝑛(𝛿) = 0.004) with the Raise3D Pro2 printer, and the conductor has been realized by copper tape using laser patterning technology with the laser platform PLS6MW. At an operational frequency of 866 MHz, a 𝑘𝑎 of 0.26, a read-range of 2.7 𝑚, and a radiation efficiency of approximately 32% is achieved.

The method targeted memory reactivation (TMR) uses specific stimulation when subjects are completing tasks and during sleep. The TMR process is known to influence the consolidation of declarative memories. The aim of this thesis is to conduct a systematic review on the effects of TMR on declarative memory consolidation during slow-wave sleep (SWS). The research question is to answer what effect TMR during SWS has on the consolidation of declarative memory in healthy humans when presented with associated cues of the targeted learning experiences. Eighteen studies were included in this review. Four studies found a significant effect of TMR on declarative memory consolidation, and 10 found a non-significant effect. In four studies the effect of TMR depended on different inclusions, analyses, and factors, for example between slow oscillation up-and down-states and between participants that vary in pre-sleep performance in the examined task. In contrast to previous findings, this review does not provide evidence for the effect of TMR on declarative memories during SWS. More research analysing different factors, such as different cues, age of participants, duration of SWS, and specific experimental tasks, needs to be done in the fields of TMR and auditory cues.

No description available.

<p>The small intestine of the gastrointestinal tract displays a variety of motor patterns involved in the mixing, digestion, and propulsion of luminal content. Ultimately, it is the co-ordinated effort of smooth muscle contraction influenced by neural and myogenic stimulation that facilitate these motor patterns. While neural input from the enteric nervous system (ENS) and slow wave producing activity of the peacemaking interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in the myenteric plexus (ICC-MP) are key players in the manipulation of smooth muscle cells, the mechanisms behind the onset the segmentation motor pattern are currently unknown. I have demonstrated with intracellular recordings of electrical activity from circular smooth muscle cells, the same nutrient stimulants used to induce the segmentation motor pattern in whole organ preparations evokes the waxing waning phenomenon of the smooth muscle slow wave. Through the use of continuous wavelet transformation analysis on nutrient induced waxing waning, it was determined that the induction of a rhythmic low frequency component is responsible for the generation of waxing waning. Stimulated low frequency activity after methylene blue mediated elimination of ICC-MP slow wave activity suggested the low frequency component did not originate from the ICC-MP. The hypothesis emerged that the ICC of the deep muscular plexus (ICC-DMP), on the opposite side of the circular muscle thickness to the ICC-MP, were responsible for the low frequency oscillations. ICC-DMP networks in close physical proximity to nerve fibers were found to be under tonic inhibited by nitric oxide, and to respond to substance P stimulation. Both alleviation of the inhibition and stimulus by tachykinergic neurotransmission induced the low frequency component and waxing waning. The ENS and myogenic pacemakers play an important role in stimulating the segmentation motor pattern. ICC-DMP are the pacemakers responsible for generation of the low frequency component involved in waxing waning and segmentation.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Diverses études se sont penchées sur les paramètres EEG du sommeil en ondes lentes, y compris l’activité en ondes lentes en lien avec le somnambulisme, mais les résultats se révèlent inconsistants et contradictoires. Le premier objectif de la présente étude était d’analyser quantitativement l’EEG en sommeil en mesurant les fluctuations de puissance spectrale en delta (1-4 Hz) et delta lent (0.5-1 Hz) avant des épisodes de somnambulisme. Le second était de détecter les oscillations lentes (> 75 μV, fréquence d'environ 0.7-0.8 Hz) et très lentes (> 140 μV, fréquence d'environ 0.7-0.8 Hz) afin d'examiner leur changement d'amplitude et de densité avant de tels épisodes. Suite à une privation de sommeil de 25 heures, les enregistrements polysomnographiques de 22 adultes atteints de somnambulisme ont été scrutés. L’analyse des 200 secondes avant les épisodes révèle que ceux-ci ne sont pas précédés d’une augmentation graduelle de puissance spectrale en delta ni en delta lent, tant sur les dérivations frontale, centrale que pariétale. Toutefois, une hausse statistiquement significative de la densité des oscillations lentes et des oscillations très lentes a été observée au cours des 20 sec immédiatement avant le début des épisodes. Reste à déterminer le rôle exact de ces paramètres de l’EEG en sommeil par rapport à la manifestation et au diagnostic des parasomnies en sommeil lent. / Several studies have investigated slow-wave sleep EEG parameters, including slow-wave activity (SWA) in relation to somnambulism, but results have been both inconsistent and contradictory. The first goal of the present study was to conduct a quantitative analysis of sleepwalkers’ sleep EEG by studying fluctuations in spectral power for delta (1-4 Hz) and slow delta (0.5-1 Hz) before the onset of somnambulistic episodes. A secondary aim was to detect slow wave oscillations to examine their changes in amplitude and density prior to behavioral episodes of somnambulism. Twenty-two adult sleepwalkers were investigated polysomnographically following 25 h of sleep deprivation. Analysis of patients’ sleep EEG over the 200 sec prior to the episodes’ onset revealed that the episodes were not preceded by a gradual increase in spectral power for either delta or slow delta over frontal, central, or parietal leads. However, time course comparisons revealed significant changes in the density of slow and very slow wave oscillations, with significant increases occurring during the final 20 sec immediately preceding episode onset. The specificity of these sleep EEG parameters for the occurrence and diagnosis of NREM parasomnias remains to be determined.

Healthy ageing has been found to be accompanied by changes in slow wave activity (SWA) and cognitive function. Furthermore, these changes have been seen predominantly in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to other regions of the cortex. Current theories of cognitive ageing propose that this occurs due to a specified deterioration of neuronal substrates of the PFC, and as such, changes in SWA and cognitive function may decline at similar rates due to similar underlying aetiology. The main aim of the current thesis was to explore age-related differences in electroencephalographic (EEG) SWA during the first NREM period and cognitive performance that relies on the integrity of the PFC: executive function and social cognition. The extent to which executive function (reliant on dorsolateral PFC areas) and social cognitive function (reliant on ventromedial PFC regions) show similar age-related deterioration was investigated in Study 1. Here, 16 young (22.2 years) and 16 older (71.5 years) adults were administered with a cognitive testing battery including executive function measures: Verbal Fluency (VF) and Tower of London (TOL); as well as measures of social cognition: Go/No-go, Emotional Prosody and Ekman 60 Faces. Not all measures of PFC function were affected to the same extent. The older group performed significantly worse on the TOL, but not on the VF test. Additionally, simple aspects of social cognition did not display differences between the groups, but the older group performed significantly worse than the young group on more complex aspects of recognition of emotion from facial expression (Ekman 60 Faces) and Emotional Prosody. As most studies of cognitive ageing are cross-sectional and show large agerelated changes, the remainder of this thesis focused on age-related changes using a longitudinal design over a relatively small ageing period (mean = 6.29 years). The average age of participants at baseline was 67.1 years and the average age at follow-up was 73.4 years. In Study 2, in a sample of 11 participants, performance on executive function tests was measured (TOL, VF and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: WCST). As found in the cross-sectional analyses reported in Study 1, the TOL task was found to be the most sensitive indicator of age-related changes, as this showed a decline with age; whereas, VF and WCST remained stable over time. Furthermore, in Study 3, localised SWA was recorded via EEG, and significant declines were found in low frequency delta (0.5 – 1 Hz), which was localised to the left frontal region.

Este trabalho, desenvolvido junto ao Grupo de Novos Materiais e Dispositivos (GNMD) pertencente ao Laboratório de Microeletrônica (LME) da Universidade de São Paulo, apresenta a modelagem de um defasador passivo miniaturizado com baixas perdas para aplicações em ondas milimétricas (mmW-milimeter waves). Este defasador é baseado em um conceito inovador utilizando sistemas micro-eletromecânicos (MEMS) distribuídos e linhas de transmissão coplanares de ondas lentas. Este conceito é proposto no projeto Jovem Pesquisador FAPESP (Processo no. 2011/18167-3), ao qual este projeto está vinculado. A defasagem neste tipo de dispositivo é conseguida pela liberação das fitas da camada de blindagem de uma linha de transmissão tipo S-CPW (Shielded-Coplanar Waveguide). As fitas liberadas podem ser movimentadas eletrostaticamente, o que praticamente não consome energia. Este projeto pretende projetar um defasador para fabricação com a tecnologia do Laboratório de Microeletrônica da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. Adicionalmente, este trabalho apresenta resultados experimentais de um processo de fabricação IN-HOUSE baseado na metodologia de integração por flip-chip. A tecnologia de integração implementada é baseada na soldagem de um chip sobre um substrato, no qual são construídos uma nova geração de pilares de cobre finos, cujo espaçamento entre pilares é menor que 100 ?m. Essa redução nas dimensões pode ser usada com a nova geração de dispositivos de comunicações na faixa das mmW. Em termos de fabricação, foram obtidos pilares de cobre altamente miniaturizados com uma altura significativa e uniforme que permite a integração com o chip. Além do mais, os resultados obtidos representam avanços significativos no processo de fabricação que será usado como tecnologia de integração híbrida em um interposer baseado em substrato de alumina nanoporosa (MnM-Metallic Nanowire Membrane). Esse interposer desempenha um papel indispensável no GNMD, já que atualmente estão sendo estudadas suas propriedades elétricas e já foram construídos dispositivos sobre o substrato com resultados promissores. / This work, performed at the New Materials and Devices Group (GNMD) of the Microelectronics Laboratory of the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, presents the modeling of a miniaturized passive phase shifter with low losses for applications in millimeter waves. It is based on an innovated concept, which uses distributed MEMS phase shifters and slow-wave coplanar wave guides. Such concept is proposed under the FAPESP Youth Researcher project (Process number 2011/18167-3). The phase shifter on this kind of device is achieved by releasing the shielding layer of the Shielded-Coplanar Waveguide. The released ribbons are electrostatically displaced, which does not consume energy. The aim of this project is to design a phase shifter for fabrication with the technology available at the Microelectronics Laboratory. Additionally, this work presents experimental results of a flip-chip fabrication process. This technology is based on next generation of fine pitch copper pillar bumping, with pillar pitch of less than 100 ?m that support next generation of communication devices at the millimeter wave frequency range. From the fabrication point-of-view, highly miniaturized copper pillars with appropriate thicknesses were obtained. Furthermore, the results obtained represent a significant advance in the fabrication process that will be used as a hybrid integration technology on an interposer based on a nanoporous alumina substrate (MnM-Metallic Nanowire Membrane).

Chez les mammifères, l’alternance des états de vigilance nécessite la mise en jeu de mécanismes spéci ques qui facilitent les transitions entre l’éveil, le sommeil lent (SL) et le sommeil paradoxal (SP). L’objectif de cette thèse s’inscrit dans l’optique de disséquer chez la souris les processus neuronaux contrôlant l’alternance physiologique entre ces trois états de vigilance. Au cours de cette thèse, nous avons tout d’abord démontré par des approches complémentaires ex vivo et in vivo que le glucose peut favoriser l’endormissement par son action excitatrice directe sur les neurones promoteurs du SL localisés dans l’aire préoptique ventrolatérale (VLPO). Nous avons ensuite, par deux approches méthodologiques di érentes et complémentaires, contribué à préciser le rôle physiologique des neurones exprimant l’hormone de mélano-concentration (MCH) dans la régulation du cycle veille-sommeil, démontrant ainsi qu’en plus de faciliter le déclenchement et le maintien du SP lorsqu’ils sont activés, ils contrôlent certains aspects du SL en favorisant, au cours SL, un SL plus profond ainsi que la terminaison des épisodes de SL. Forts de ces nouveaux résultats supportant une contribution des neurones MCH à la régulation du SL, nous avons déterminé une voie potentielle pouvant sous-tendre cette fonction physiologique à travers leurs projections efférentes sur le VLPO. Nos résultats préliminaires indiquent que la stimulation optogénétique des axones des neurones MCH dans le VLPO favorise le déclenchement d’un état de transition entre SL et SP sans pour autant conduire au SP / In mammals, alternating between vigilance states requires some speci c processes that facilitate transitions between wake, Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS), and Paradoxical Sleep (PS). The objective of this thesis was to decipher, in mice, the neuronal mechanisms that control the alternation between these three vigilance states. During thus thesis, we first demonstrated using complementary ex vivo and in vivo approaches that glucose can facilitate sleep induction by directly exciting sleep- promoting neurons located within the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO). Then, by developing two different and complementary approaches, we contributed to clarify the physiological role of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH)-expressing neurons in sleep-wake regulation. Indeed, in addition to their PS-promoting effect when activated, we found that MCH neurons also contribute to the regulation of some aspects of SWS regulation by favouring the appearance of a deeper SWS and facilitating SWS episodes termination. These new results supporting a role of MCH neurons to SWS regulation led us to investigate a putative pathway underlying such an effect through efferent projections from MCH neurons to the VLPO. Preliminary results suggest that the optogenetic stimulation of axons from MCH neurons within the VLPO could facilitate the appearance of a transition state between SWS and PS without triggering PS onset

Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Paula Ayako Tiba / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociência e Cognição, 2016. / Memórias de extinção são um produto das variações nas condições de condicionamento e na quantidade de tempo e sessões de extinção. Aumentos de sono paradoxal após a exposição a sessões de extinção foram descritas anteriormente, contudo trabalhos anteriores não testaram mais de um dia de extinção e tão pouco testaram se a modificação do sono após a extinção dependeria do intervalo de tempo entre condicionamento e extinção. Nós exploramos modificações da arquitetura do sono em diferentes condições de aprendizagem a extinção do medo condicionado. Em primeiro lugar, usamos uma tarefa de condicionamento de medo ao contexto (CMC) a fim de explorar o efeito de um evento aversivo (o choque elétrico) e um possível efeito do intervalo de tempo entre a sessão condicionamento e a sessão de extinção no sono e comportamento. O primeiro grupo, chamado Extinção Múltipla recebeu um treino de CMC com uma apresentação de choque único seguido por cinco sessões de extinção. O segundo grupo, chamado extinção única, foi treinado no CMC e expostos à extinção sete dias após este treino. O terceiro grupo - chamado choque imediato - recebeu uma sessão de treinamento com um único choque aplicado imediatamente depois de entrar na caixa de condicionamento e seguiu o mesmo protocolo de extinção que o grupo de extinção múltipla. A resposta de congelamento foi o parâmetro comportamental analisado. Informações sobre sono-vigília foram registradas através da coleta de dados de ECOG e EMG e classificado entre três fases: vigília, sono de ondas lentas e sono paradoxal. Os resultados mostraram aumento do sono de ondas lentas após CMC e aumento do sono paradoxal depois de CMC e extinção entre os grupos T-múltipla e T-única. Nossas descobertas apoiam achados anteriores sobre a relação entre sono paradoxal e aprendizagem da extinção e sugerem que modificações de sono de ondas lentas para extinção antecipada sejam dependentes do tempo. / Extinction memory is a product of variations in fear conditioning and fear extinction procedure and the amount of time and sessions of extinction. Increases in paradoxical sleep (PS) after exposure to extinction sessions was previously described; however, previous works did not test more than one day of extinction and did not test whether sleep modifications after extinction are dependent upon the time interval between conditioning and extinction. We explored sleep architecture modifications on different conditions of conditioned fear extinction learning. We first adapted a contextual fear-conditioning task in order to explore the effect of an aversive event (the electric shock) and a possible effect of time interval between conditioning and extinction session on sleep and behaviour. The first group, named Multiple Extinction (T-10 Multiple) received a contextual fear conditioning (CFC) training with a single shock presentation followed by five sessions of extinction. The second group, named single extinction (T-Single), was trained in the same CFC procedure and exposed to one single extinction session, seven days after training. The third group ¿ named immediate shock ¿ received a training 1session with a single shock applied immediately after entering the conditioning box following the same protocol of extinction as the T-Multiple group. The freezing response was the behavioural parameter analysed. Sleep-wake information was recorded by collecting electrocorticogram (ECOG) and electromyogram (EMG) data and scored as one between three phases: awake, slow wave sleep (SWS) and PS. Results showed that SWS increased after CFC, and it also showed that PS increased after CFC and extinction for either T-Multiple and T- Single group. Our findings support previous findings on PS relation with extinction learning and suggest some time-dependent SWS modification for early extinction re-exposure. The discovery of the participation of PS in contextual fear extinction and SWS role on nuances of extinction procedure expands the understanding of behaviour and sleep relations and, at the same time, offer a behavioural model to study sleep dependent stressful memory related to PTSD or HPA axis without the unconditioned behavioural and physiological effects of ES.

Este trabalho, desenvolvido junto ao Grupo de Novos Materiais e Dispositivos (GNMD) pertencente ao Laboratório de Microeletrônica (LME) da Universidade de São Paulo, apresenta a modelagem de um defasador passivo miniaturizado com baixas perdas para aplicações em ondas milimétricas (mmW-milimeter waves). Este defasador é baseado em um conceito inovador utilizando sistemas micro-eletromecânicos (MEMS) distribuídos e linhas de transmissão coplanares de ondas lentas. Este conceito é proposto no projeto Jovem Pesquisador FAPESP (Processo no. 2011/18167-3), ao qual este projeto está vinculado. A defasagem neste tipo de dispositivo é conseguida pela liberação das fitas da camada de blindagem de uma linha de transmissão tipo S-CPW (Shielded-Coplanar Waveguide). As fitas liberadas podem ser movimentadas eletrostaticamente, o que praticamente não consome energia. Este projeto pretende projetar um defasador para fabricação com a tecnologia do Laboratório de Microeletrônica da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. Adicionalmente, este trabalho apresenta resultados experimentais de um processo de fabricação IN-HOUSE baseado na metodologia de integração por flip-chip. A tecnologia de integração implementada é baseada na soldagem de um chip sobre um substrato, no qual são construídos uma nova geração de pilares de cobre finos, cujo espaçamento entre pilares é menor que 100 ?m. Essa redução nas dimensões pode ser usada com a nova geração de dispositivos de comunicações na faixa das mmW. Em termos de fabricação, foram obtidos pilares de cobre altamente miniaturizados com uma altura significativa e uniforme que permite a integração com o chip. Além do mais, os resultados obtidos representam avanços significativos no processo de fabricação que será usado como tecnologia de integração híbrida em um interposer baseado em substrato de alumina nanoporosa (MnM-Metallic Nanowire Membrane). Esse interposer desempenha um papel indispensável no GNMD, já que atualmente estão sendo estudadas suas propriedades elétricas e já foram construídos dispositivos sobre o substrato com resultados promissores. / This work, performed at the New Materials and Devices Group (GNMD) of the Microelectronics Laboratory of the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, presents the modeling of a miniaturized passive phase shifter with low losses for applications in millimeter waves. It is based on an innovated concept, which uses distributed MEMS phase shifters and slow-wave coplanar wave guides. Such concept is proposed under the FAPESP Youth Researcher project (Process number 2011/18167-3). The phase shifter on this kind of device is achieved by releasing the shielding layer of the Shielded-Coplanar Waveguide. The released ribbons are electrostatically displaced, which does not consume energy. The aim of this project is to design a phase shifter for fabrication with the technology available at the Microelectronics Laboratory. Additionally, this work presents experimental results of a flip-chip fabrication process. This technology is based on next generation of fine pitch copper pillar bumping, with pillar pitch of less than 100 ?m that support next generation of communication devices at the millimeter wave frequency range. From the fabrication point-of-view, highly miniaturized copper pillars with appropriate thicknesses were obtained. Furthermore, the results obtained represent a significant advance in the fabrication process that will be used as a hybrid integration technology on an interposer based on a nanoporous alumina substrate (MnM-Metallic Nanowire Membrane).