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To fully explore the potential low-carbon and economic advantages of a virtual power plant (VPP) that aggregates multiple distributed resources, the paper proposes a VPP scheduling model that considers the carbon emission flow (CEF) and demand response (DR), which is characterized by electro-carbon coupling and source-load interaction. First, the electric-carbon characteristics of each distributed resource under VPP are modeled, and the source-load electric-carbon coupling characteristic model is modeled through the CEF theory. On this basis, a load-side multi-type DR model is established to achieve the purpose of source-load synergy to reduce carbon emissions from VPP. To this end, a two-stage scheduling model of VPP considering the source- load electro-carbon coupling relationship is established, and the implementation of the model can reduce power generation costs, carbon emissions and promote clean energy, and the simulation results of the improved IEEE-14 node system verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key challenge in cancer treatment is prevention of metastatic disease which is therapeutically resistant and carries poor prognoses necessitating efficacious prophylactic approaches that prevent metastasis and recurrence. It is previously demonstrated that cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) induces durable antitumor responses when used in situ, i.e., intratumoral injection. As a new direction, it is showed that CPMV demonstrates widespread effectiveness as an immunoprophylactic agent – potent efficacy is demonstrated in four metastatic models of colon, ovarian, melanoma, and breast cancer. Systemic administration of CPMV stimulates the innate immune system, enabling attack of cancer cells; processing of the cancer cells and associated antigens leads to systemic, durable, and adaptive antitumor immunity. Overall, CPMV demonstrated broad efficacy as an immunoprophylactic agent in the rejection of metastatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The insect epidermis covers multiple parts of the insect body, fulfilling both structural and protective roles. Primarily composed of chitin and epidermal proteins, the insect epidermis displays considerable diversity among insects. The CPR family, the largest and most diverse group of cuticular protein (CP) genes identified to date, plays crucial roles in insect development, including body length regulation and cuticle formation. Steroid hormones, such as ecdysteroids, regulate the expression of epidermal proteins. In addition, the insecticide Methoxyfenozide mimics the action of 20E, thereby affecting insect growth. Our study on Heortia vitessoides Moore elucidates the role of HvCP3L and offers novel insights into pest management strategies for Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Spreng. Cuticle proteins (CPs) constitute a multifunctional family; however, the physiological role of Cuticle Protein 3-like (CP3L) in Heortia vitessoides Moore remains largely unclear. In this study, we cloned the HvCP3L gene from the transcriptional library of Heortia vitessoides Moore. RT-qPCR results revealed that HvCP3L exhibited high expression levels during the larval stage of Heortia vitessoides Moore, particularly at the L5D1 stage, observed in both larval and adult heads. Through RNA interference, we successfully silenced the HvCP3L gene, resulting in a significant reduction in the survival rate of Heortia vitessoides Moore, with the survival rate from larvae to adults plummeting to a mere 17.7%, accompanied by phenotypic abnormalities. Additionally, we observed that the knockdown of HvCP3L led to the inhibition of genes in the chitin pathway. Following exposure to methoxyfenozide stress, the HvCP3L gene exhibited significant overexpression, coinciding with phenotypic abnormalities. These findings underscore the pivotal role of HvCP3L in the growth and development of Heortia vitessoides Moore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palladium-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction is a powerful route to construct carbon–carbon bonds in fine-chemical synthesis. However, the activation of relatively chemically inert aryl chlorides under mild conditions in this reaction is still a great challenge. Herein, N-doped hollow carbon nanosheet assemblies (HCNAs) were first developed by hydrothermal carbonization of glucose through an in situ self-generating template method, and the corresponding Pd single-atom catalyst (Pd1/HCNAs) fabricated by a conventional deposition–precipitation method showed superior catalytic activity (TOFs = 499 h–1) and high stability for the Suzuki coupling reaction of chlorobenzene under mild condition. Characterizations of transmission electron microscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, Raman spectra, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the high catalytic activity and stability of Pd1/HCNAs were related with its full positively charged Pd single-atom active sites and the low reducibility of Pd atom due to the strong interaction between Pd atom and the HCNA carrier. Meanwhile, the relative high chlorobenzene and phenylboric acid adsorption and the low affinity to product biphenyl as well as the special three-dimensional structure of Pd1/HCNAs were also beneficial to improve the catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual‐band liquid cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna with pattern diversity at two different frequency bands is proposed using the lower order and higher order modes of the HEM and TM modes namely HEM11δ, HEM12δ+1, HEM31δ+1, HEM13δ, TM01δ, and TM02δ. The proposed antenna is designed to cover the GPS L2 band and the lower Wi‐Fi band at 1.227 and 2.4 GHz frequencies, respectively. The HEM modes which constitute the primary radiating modes achieved around 20.84% and 19.35% impedance bandwidth at lower and higher bands, respectively. In the later stage, beam‐steering is performed, whereby the realised broadside HEM modes at both lower and higher bands were passively steered with simple physical re‐orientation of the antenna structure. For this, the liquid's natural fluidic property of adhering to gravity is taken as an advantage which makes the proposed antenna adaptively steer its radiation pattern always towards the sky, irrespective of the tilt angle of the antenna. This concept of passively steering two modes at two different frequency bands without the use of any mechanical, electrical, or other associated components is presented for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low‐profile rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (RDRA) through the slot‐based feed method is studied for the multiband operation. Based on the perfect magnetic wall (PMW) model and dielectric waveguide model (DWM), field distributions and resonant frequencies of the RDRA intrinsic modes are calculated for multimodal analysis. The microstrip backed slot coupling scheme is employed for the simultaneous excitation of multiple modes. A prototype is fabricated and validated. By generating 10 modes simultaneously including TEy111 to TEy711, and TEx221 to TEx421 modes. The RDRA is able to provide good multiband performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Heortia vitessoides Moore is a leaf-eating pest that affects Aquilaria sinensis. In the outbreak period, the leaves of Aquilaria sinensis can be eaten up in a short time, resulting in the death of trees and great economic losses. Chitin is the main component of insect cuticle, peritrophic membrane, and tracheal intima. Chitin synthesis in insects is a complex process that requires the cooperation of many enzymes. Chitin synthase is one of the key enzymes in the process. Chitin synthase is divided into two types: chitin synthase A gene (Chsa) and chitin synthase B gene (Chsb). Chsb is mainly responsible for the tissue synthesis of chitin in midgut peritrophic membrane. It was found that the expression of HvChsb was inhibited, the growth and development were abnormal, and the mortality rate was increased. These findings provide a reference for the prevention and control of the pest from the perspective of gene manipulation. The chitin synthase B gene is a key enzyme in the chitin synthesis of insect peritrophic matrix (PM), which affects insects' feeding behavior. The chitin synthase B gene was cloned from the transcription library of Heortia vitessoides Moore. RT-qPCR showed that HvChsb was highly expressed in the larval stage of H. vitessoides, especially on the first day of the pre-pupal stage, as well as in the midgut of larvae and the abdomen of adults. After starvation treatment, HvChsb was found to be significantly inhibited over time. After 48 h of starvation, the feeding experiment showed that HvChsb increased with the prolongation of the re-feeding time. The experimental data showed that feeding affected the expression of HvChsb. HvChsb was effectively silenced via RNA interference; thus, its function was lost, significantly decreasing the survival rate of H. vitessoides. The survival rate from larval-to-pupal stages was only 43.33%, and this rate was accompanied by abnormal phenotypes. It can be seen that HvChsb plays a key role in the average growth and development of H. vitessoides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, corn stalk rinds were used as feedstock for the production of solid-fuel pellets. In an effort to comprehensively analyze the effects of different operational parameters on the physical properties of pellets, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed in conjunction with a Box–Behnken experimental design (BBD). By assessing multiple variables simultaneously and examining their interactions, BBD facilitates the development of a reliable response model that can predict how changes in independent variables will impact response variables. The recorded responses included relaxed density, mechanical durability, and compressive strength. Based on the results, greater R2 values of 0.9467, 0.8669, and 0.9196, could be, respectively, attained for the quadratic regression models. The analysis of variance revealed that all independent variables had significant effects on the responses. The optimal processing condition for the pellets was established by determining the ideal combination of operational parameters. The process entailed the choice of a particle dimension measuring 0.5 mm, a moisture level of 11.35%, the application of heat at 125.7 °C on the die, and the utilization of a molding pressure of 154.2 MPa. Based on these factors, the predicted response values were determined to be 1639.61 kg/m3 for relaxed density, 97.95% for mechanical durability, and 10.18 MPa for compressive strength. The values obtained experimentally under the optimized conditions were similar to the predicted values with a desirability value of 1.00. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the noble metal palladium dosage in the preparation of CL-20 so as to reduce its production cost, several carbon supports were prepared successfully using the hydrothermal carbonization method in the absence or presence of urea using microcrystalline cellulose (MC) as the carbon source, and the corresponding Pd(OH)2/C catalysts were fabricated using the deposition–precipitation method, which showed high activity in the debenzylation reaction of hexabenzylhexaazaisowurtzitane (HBIW) and tetraacetyldibenzylhexaazaisowurtzitane (TADB). It was found that all the catalysts showed a high efficiency in the debenzylation of HBIW, indicating that the structure of the used carbon supports had a limited impact on the catalyst performance in this reaction. On the contrary, the activities of the catalysts in the debenzylation of TADB were quite different. The results of the nitrogen sorption isotherm measurement (BET), scanning electron microscope (SEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), element analysis and temperature programmed desorption (TPD), as well as X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) characterizations of the supports and catalysts, showed that the relatively high activity of Pd/HTC in the debenzylation of TADB was related to the high Pd dispersion and novel mesoporous structure, while the further higher activity and stability of Pd/HTC-N1:1 in the same reaction were related with its high Pd dispersion, high total oxidized Pd species, and high surface pyridinic N contents as well as the eggshell distribution of Pd species on the support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, a coupling scheme for the realization of filtering antennas is introduced. This coupling scheme allows the filtering antenna to realize a filter-like reflection coefficient using an all-radiator structure. Instead of cascading resonators one by one in a ladder manner, in a transversal filtering antenna (TFA), all the radiative resonators are coupled to the source simultaneously. The impedance and radiation behaviors of these subantennas (SAs) can be designed individually. So, the performance of these filtering antennas has much lower sensitivity to their physical structure than conventional cascaded designs, which makes the design of such a filtering antenna much easier. Besides, this topology can realize out-of-band gain zeros without using any parasitic elements or cross-coupling structures. The locations of these gain zeros can be controlled by simply changing the lengths of each SA. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that a transversal filtering antenna with all resonators radiative is presented. For validation, some transversal filtering antenna designs with different coupling topologies are introduced to prove the concept and show their advantages. A third-order prototype is fabricated and measured for demonstration, showing good agreement between the simulated and measured results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a dual-band closed-slot multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna for terminal wireless applications. By simply inserting additional slots between the closely spaced parallel-arranged radiation slots, the signal impedances of common mode (CM) and differential mode (DM) can achieve similar status, and the strong mutual coupling effect is then eliminated. The proposed slot antenna pair shows good isolation of better than 20 dB across the desired Wi-Fi bands. In addition to the one-wavelength slot antenna, flexible extension to a more compact half-wavelength slot pair is given for future industrial design (ID), which provides further validation of the method. We fabricate the $4\times4$ MIMO antenna system constituted by two sets of one-wavelength closed-slot pairs. The experimental results show that the proposed MIMO antenna can offer isolation of better than 18 dB, an envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) of lower than 0.1 between all ports, and a wide −3 dB efficiency bandwidths across the desired bands. The results confirm that the proposed antenna is a viable candidate for Wi-Fi communications inside routers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the demands of the new frequency bands and the $4\times 4$ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) specification brought by fifth generation (5G), a triple-band microstrip patch antenna and its four-antenna module are proposed. Based on the half-mode microstrip patch, the first three modes of TM1/2,0, TM1/2,1, and TM3/2,0 that can be independently tuned are engineered to cover the three Chinese 5G bands (N41/N78/N79). The proposed triple-band microstrip patch antenna with the volume of $33.5\times 32.5\times 4$ mm3 shows the −6 dB frequency bands of 2.47–2.75 GHz, 3.39–3.60 GHz, and 4.69–5.10 GHz, which makes a nice compromise between antenna volume and impedance bandwidths. Four such patches are arranged in a sequentially rotated style to constitute the triple-band four-antenna module, which is with the volume of $71\times 71\times 4$ mm3. Measured results of the module show high performance. The reflection coefficients of the four elements are almost identical: the bandwidths are 2.50–2.75 GHz, 3.41–3.62 GHz, and 4.68–5.01 GHz; all the isolations are better than −13.3 dB; the average total efficiencies of the four elements are between −1.41 and −1.11 dB, −2.45 and −2.10 dB, and −1.81 and −1.53 dB for N41, N78, and N79, respectively; and all the envelope correlation coefficients (ECCs) are lower than 0.07. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To satisfy the requirement of the sub-6 GHz bands coverage and the 4 × 4 multiple-input--multiple-output (MIMO) specification for fifth-generation (5G) era, a dual-band four-antenna module covering partial 5G bands N78 (3.4–3.6 GHz) and N79 (4.8–4.9 GHz) is proposed for 5G terminal applications. Based on a quarter-circle-shaped dual-mode slotted planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA), the two target bands are covered by the fundamental TM11 mode and a hybrid higher-order mode combined by quasi-TM11 and quasi-TM0,1/2 modes. The four-antenna module is composed of four such PIFA elements that are arranged in a sequentially rotated layout. It presents a circular shape with a diameter of 39.4 mm and is with a low profile of 1.2 mm. The measured results show that the reflection coefficients of the four elements basically cover the target bands; across N78 and N79, the isolations are better than 8.5 and 17.6 dB for the neighboring elements, and 19.4 and 18.5 dB for the diagonal elements; the average total efficiencies of the four elements are between 38.3% and 39.5% for N78 and 39.3% and 42.6% for N79; all the envelope correlation coefficients are lower than 0.42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a dual-band and dual-polarized microstrip antenna array with broadside beam scanning ability for millimeter-wave applications. Within a compact multilayer structure, wide bandwidth and high port isolation are achieved by using double-layer gridded patches with three groups of metallic via-fences. For beam scanning purpose, a prototype of $2 \times 2$ array is designed, fabricated, and tested. The experimental results agree well with the simulations. For both orthogonal polarizations, the −10 dB bandwidth covers 23.3–31.7 and 42.5–46.5 GHz with average gains of 12 and 13.1 dBi, respectively. A 3 dB beam scanning angle from −51° to 43° at 27 GHz and −28° to 30° at 45 GHz is obtained. The proposed array provides dual-band and wideband properties for dual orthogonal polarizations with competitive beam steering range and compact dimensions, as a feasible solution for fifth-generation (5G) millimeter-wave mobile communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The huge proliferation of the antenna number brought by 5G greatly increases the pressure of the bezels of the 5G terminals. To release the pressure, planar four-antenna module with miniaturization and wideband performance that can be implemented on the back cover is proposed in this article. Four identical dual-mode PIFAs are arranged in a sequentially rotated style and the whole antenna appears in a circular shape. Each antenna element is a slotted quasi-quarter circle with one inner edge shorted and the other two edges left open, and it is coupled fed by an L-shaped microstrip line. A cross line that connects all the four elements together is used to improve the isolation of the neighboring elements. The four-antenna module covering N77 is with the diameter of 30.6 mm and height of 2 mm. The measured results show that for all the four antenna elements, the −6 dB impedance bandwidths cover 3.3–4.2 GHz, all the isolations are better than 9.7 dB, the average total efficiencies are between 36% and 40%, and envelope correlation coefficients (ECCs) are lower than 0.5. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the smallest four-antenna module covering 3.3–4.2 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a novel design of the dual-band antenna pair. Starting from the single-band antenna pair composed of T-shaped monopole and T-shaped slot that are intersected with each other, orthogonal T-monopole and odd-symmetrical slot modes are excited. By adding symmetrical low-pass high-stop filters into the horizontal stub of the T-monopole and high-pass low-stop filters into the gap of the T-slot, an extra mode is introduced for each antenna, producing dual-band operation. Impedance bandwidths and radiation efficiencies of both bands can be adjusted flexibly using the filters. A detailed design guideline is given. The dual-band antenna pair operating at partial N78 (p-N78, 3.4~3.6 GHz) and partial N79 (p-N79, 4.8~4.9 GHz) is with a footprint of $15\times 6$ mm2. The measured results show that the average efficiencies are both −3.4 dB at p-N78/p-N79 for the odd-symmetrical slot and −2.8 dB/−3.7 dB at p-N78/p-N79 for the T-monopole, isolations are better than −16.8 dB at p-N78 and −11.8 dB at p-N79, and ECCs are lower than 0.1 at p-N78 and 0.2 at p-N79. The proposed dual-band antenna pair exhibits great potential to be applied in the fifth-generation (5G) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) terminal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism for the radiation efficiency local minimum in antennas, especially for open-slot antennas and T-shaped antennas, has been investigated. It is found that the local minimum in those antennas always corresponds to an ideal differential mode. Furthermore, the frequency position of the ideal differential mode is decided by the parasitic parts of the antennas. Simple methods for estimating the local minimum position are proposed based on the mechanism we have found. In addition, the duality relation between those two types of antennas is also discussed. Our findings provide a guideline for designing mobile phone antennas with improved efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an endfire dual-polarized phased antenna array with small ground clearance is proposed for the fifth-generation (5G) millimeter-wave (mmW) applications with a wide bandwidth. In this array, each antenna element consists of a dipole fed by a microstrip line for horizontal polarization and an H-plane horn using substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) for vertical polarization. To achieve a wide bandwidth for vertical polarization, two metal vias are added at the aperture of the horn antenna. Then, a four-element antenna array is designed by partially overlapping the aperture of each horn element. A prototype has been fabricated using multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) process. The measured results agree well with the simulated ones. The antenna is with an impedance bandwidth of $\vert \text{S}_{11}\vert < -10$ dB from 24.4 to 29.5 GHz for both polarizations. The maximum gains of vertical and horizontal polarizations are 9.16 and 9.27 dBi, with the scanning angle from −34° to 33° for both polarizations with gain deterioration less than 3 dB. The proposed antenna is a promising solution for 5G mmW cellphones or antenna-in-package applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a general decoupling method based on a new perspective of common mode (CM) and differential mode (DM) cancellation is proposed. For two closely spaced antennas, the mutual coupling effect can be analyzed and solved by exciting them simultaneously with in-phase (CM) and out-of-phase (DM) signals. It is theoretically proved that, if CM and DM impedances are the same, the mutual coupling effect between two separated antennas can be totally eliminated. Therefore, we can solve the coupling problem by CM and DM impedance analysis and exploit the unique field properties of characteristic modes to assist in antenna decoupling in a physical intuitive way. To validate the feasibility of this method, two practical design examples, including the decoupling between closely spaced dipole antennas and planar inverted-F antennas, are proposed. Both design examples have demonstrated that the proposed method can provide a systemic design guideline for antenna decoupling and achieve better decoupling performance compared to the conventional decoupling techniques. We forecast the proposed decoupling scheme, with a simplified decoupling procedure, has great potential for the applications of antenna arrays and multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, zero-ground-clearance dual antenna pair with high isolation and balanced high performance is proposed. A T-shaped monopole intersects with a T-shaped slot that is etched on a large ground edge, constituting the CPW-fed dual antenna pair. By exploiting the odd and even modes of the CPW structure, two orthogonal characteristic modes including the in-phase current and monopole modes can be excited, generating high port isolation. Both modes are unbalanced mode, which means that the ground currents can be fully excited, so the two antennas are with balanced high performance. A sub-6 GHz antenna pair that occupies a footprint of $15\times 7$ mm2 ($0.18\,\,\lambda \,\times 0.08\,\,\lambda$) is analyzed and the simulated results show an isolation of better than −24 dB and an envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) of lower than 0.0016, −6 dB bandwidths of 230 and 240 MHz, and average efficiencies of 57.9% and 57.4%. A four-antenna multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array is fabricated and measured to verify the feasibility. The measured isolations and ECCs of the two modes are, respectively, better than −20.0 dB and 0.04, −6 dB bandwidths are 230 MHz/240 MHz and 220 MHz/230 MHz, and average efficiencies are 54.5%/50.2% and 49.9%/48.6%. The proposed dual antenna pair exhibits a great potential for 5G MIMO smartphone application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]