Abstract
An arterial pressure waveform recorder and analyser based on a Microchip PIC microcontroller (mu C), dsPIC33FJ256GP710 is described in this article. Our purpose is to develop a dsPIC based signal monitoring and processing system for cardiovascular studies, specially dedicated to arterial pressure waveform (APW) capture. We developed a piezoelectric (PZ) probe designed to reproduce the APW from the pulsatile activity taken non-invasively at the vicinity of a superficial artery. The advantages in developing a microcontroller based system show up in decreasing the associate cost, as well as in increasing the functionality of the system. Based on a MathWorks Simulink platform, the system supports the development and transfer of program code from a personal computer to the microcontroller, and evaluation of its execution on rapid prototyping hardware. Results demonstrate that embedded system can be an alternative to be used in autonomous cardiovascular probes. Although additional studies are still required, this probe seems to be a valid, low cost and easy to use alternative to expensive and hard to manipulate devices in the market.

Abstract
Over the last years, great emphasis has been placed on the role of arterial stiffness in the development of cardiovascular diseases. This hemodynamic parameter, generally associated to age and blood pressure increase, can be assessed by the measurement of pulse wave velocity (PWV). Currently available devices that measure PWV are expensive and need to be operated by skilled medical staff, reducing the potential of ambulatory setting. This research project aims at developing and testing the sensoring and algorithmic basis of an alternative and non-invasive device for PWV assessment. The proposed device is based on a double-headed sensor probe and allows the assessment of PWV in one single location, providing important information on local arterial hemodynamics. Although studies to validate the clinical use of this system are still required, it has already demonstrated good performance on a dedicated test bench system, capable of reproducing a range of relevant cardiovascular system's properties. © 2011 IEEE.

Abstract

Abstract
Consider the problem of designing an algorithm for acquiring sensor readings. Consider specifically the problem of obtaining an approximate representation of sensor readings where (i) sensor readings originate from different sensor nodes, (ii) the number of sensor nodes is very large, (iii) all sensor nodes are deployed in a small area (dense network) and (iv) all sensor nodes communicate over a communication medium where at most one node can transmit at a time (a single broadcast domain). We present an efficient algorithm for this problem, and our novel algorithm has two desired properties: (i) it obtains an interpolation based on all sensor readings and (ii) it is scalable, that is, its time-complexity is independent of the number of sensor nodes. Achieving these two properties is possible thanks to the close interlinking of the information processing algorithm, the communication system and a model of the physical world.

Abstract
In this paper, a new multiband antenna consisting of a coplanar patch antenna over an active artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) ground plane is demonstrated. The AMC ground plane, which has been proven to be very effective in the design of low profile antennas, consists of 4x4 square shaped unit cells. By connecting RF switches between adjacent unit cells, a group of four unit cells can be aggregated to a larger size unit cell. In this proposed antenna, the coplanar patch is placed 2mm above the AMC ground plane. It is observed that it is possible to use the patch to excite the AMC ground plane to become another resonant element. Moreover, operation in two more resonant frequencies can be achieved by reconfiguring the unit size of the AMC ground plane. In this way, one coplanar antenna can operate at four different bands with a simple configuration while keeping a low profile. In this work, it is shown that using the actively tuned AMC ground plane, one coplanar patch antenna can operate at 5.8GHz, 5.2GHz, 4.5GHz and 2.4GHz with a good operation bandwidth (S11<-10dB), which includes the entire required bands for WLAN 802.11a/b/g applications. The experimental and simulated results for impedance and radiation performance characterization are presented. All of the design and optimization work have been conducted using the Ansoft HFSS, which is a 3D full-wave electromagnetic field simulation software.

Abstract
This article analyzes experimentally the limitations observed in lightwave systems using distributed Raman amplifiers operating under large pump power input conditions. The Brillouin effect is observed as the pump power reaches 1 W. The presence of Brillouin peaks degrades the performance of the system. The Raman amplification occurs in single mode and dispersion compensating fibers, being evaluated in a link at transmission rate of 40 Gb/s. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 52: 1331-1335, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.25162