FPGA implementation of a sub-400ns 6G free-space optical wireless communications transmitter.

Future wireless networks are planned to service many applications with an Ultra Low-Latency (ULL) requirement. Numerous 6G systems have been proposed including more traditional electro-magnetic (EM) antenna transmissions and optical wireless communications (OWC). For extremely wide-band operation, the traditional approaches require digital pre-distortion and other processing techniques which, in turn, require more computational resources and processing times thus increasing latency. Alternatively, OWC has the potential for extremely wide bandwidths in 6G without the need for as much digital signal processing. In order to realise ULL performance, a minimum number of digital signal processing (DSP) blocks is required, as well as an optimal design of each of these. In this letter, we propose a DSP solution for ULL and peak to average power ratio (PAPR) reduction for OWC systems. Unitary checkerboard precoding - orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (UCP-OFDM) is chosen as the modulation scheme and has been implemented within a single digital block avoiding the use of standard OFDM which would otherwise require multiple digital blocks. Experimentally validated results successfully demonstrate a 2.21184 GSps wireless link at distances of up to 2m in noisy daylight settings. Bit error rates (BER) of 0 at root mean square (RMS) error vector magnitude (EVM) of 4.09% are achieved. A complete digital line-up of an OWC transmitter chain for this work contains only three core blocks and ULL of less than 400 ns.

A Consent Support Resource with Benefits and Harms of Vaccination Does Not Increase Hesitancy in Parents-An Acceptability Study.

It is unclear whether information given about the benefits and risks of routine childhood vaccination during consent may cue parental vaccine hesitancy. Parents were surveyed before and after reading vaccine consent information at a public expo event in Sydney, Australia. We measured vaccine hesitancy with Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccine Short Scale (PACV-SS), informed decision-making with Informed Subscale of the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS-IS), items from Stage of Decision Making, Positive Attitude Assessment, Vaccine Safety and Side Effect Concern, and Vaccine Communication Framework (VCF) tools. Overall, 416 parents showed no change in vaccine hesitancy (mean PACV-SS score pre = 1.97, post = 1.94; diff = -0.02 95% CI -0.10 to 0.15) but were more informed (mean DCS-IS score pre = 29.05, post = 7.41; diff = -21.63 95% CI -24.17 to -18.56), were more positive towards vaccination (pre = 43.8% post = 50.4%; diff = 6.5% 95% CI 3.0% to 10.0%), less concerned about vaccine safety (pre = 28.5%, post = 23.0%, diff = -5.6% 95% CI -2.3% to -8.8%) and side effects (pre = 37.0%, post = 29.0%, diff = -8.0% 95% CI -4.0% to -12.0%) with no change in stage of decision-making or intention to vaccinate. Providing information about the benefits and risks of routine childhood vaccination increases parents' informed decision-making without increasing vaccine hesitancy.

Detection and quantitation of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists in infused papers from prisons in a constantly evolving illicit market.

Drug misuse in prisons contributes to increased disruption and violence and negatively impacts prisoner safety, rehabilitation, and recovery. Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), colloquially known as "spice", are infused into papers and are of particular concern in a prison setting where they are commonly vaped. Methods for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of SCRA infused papers, including impurity profiling, were developed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with qualitative confirmation by ultra high pressure liquid chromatography with photodiode array and quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry detection (UPLC-PDA-QToF-MS) and applied to 354 individual seized paper samples originating from 168 seizures from three Scottish prisons. Of these samples, 41% (146 samples from 101 seizures) contained at least one SCRA and multiple SCRAs were detected on 23% of these papers. Concentrations ranged from < 0.05-1.17 mg/cm2 paper, representing the first reported quantitative data for SCRA infused papers. An evolution in the SCRAs detected was demonstrated; 5F-MDMB-PINACA (5F-ADB) predominated until late 2018, after which time 5F-MDMB-PICA and 4F-MDMB-BINACA became increasingly more prevalent, followed by the arrival of MDMB-4en-PINACA in June 2019. Concentration mapping data from two seized paper samples demonstrated that SCRA concentrations across larger papers were highly variable (0.47-2.38 mg/cm2 paper) making consistent dosing by users, and representative sampling by laboratory analysts, difficult. Near real-time qualitative and quantitative information on SCRAs circulating in prisons acts as an early warning system for SCRAs emerging on the wider illicit market, inform the methods used to detect them and limit supply, and provide information to support harm reduction measures.