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In this study, we used a network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the effectiveness of medicines and supplements for idiopathic male infertility and to identify the best treatment. Medline, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Ovid, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), were searched for the period from January 1990 to June 2021 using the keywords “male infertility,” “medical therapy,” “supplement/nutrient therapy,” and related terms. Studies involving randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating medicines (mainly follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), androgen, and clomiphene/tamoxifen) or supplements (mainly zinc, selenium, vitamin C or E, carnitine, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), or combined treatment) for idiopathic infertile men were selected for meta-analysis. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) was used for data extraction, and a risk-of-bias tool and grades of recommendation, assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) system adapted to the NMA were employed to assess the quality of the evidence. The primary outcomes were live birth and spontaneous pregnancy rate (SPR). The secondary outcomes were sperm parameters (including concentration, progressive motility, and morphology) and side effects. In total, 65 RCTs involving 7541 men with sperm abnormalities but normal hormone levels were included. A total of 36 studies reported SPR but only three reported live birth rates. The quality of the included studies was found to be moderate to high. Compared with a placebo or being untreated, carnitine plus vitamins significantly improved SPR (relative risk (RR) = 3.7, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.6–8.5); fatty acids significantly increased sperm concentrations (mean difference (MD) = 12.5 × 106 mL–1, 95%CI, 3.1 × 106–22.0 × 106); and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM) plus CoQ10 significantly improved sperm progressive motility (MD = 11.0%, 95%CI, 0.1%–21.9%) and normal sperm morphology (MD = 11.0%, 95%CI, 4.6%–17.4%). The most optimal intervention was carnitine plus vitamins and fatty acids for SPR and sperm concentrations, respectively, even after excluding trials at a high risk of bias. Compared with a placebo or being untreated, FSH (RR = 4.9, 95%CI, 1.1–21.3) significantly increased SPR, whereas SERM plus kallikrein increased sperm concentration (MD = 16.5 × 106 mL–1, 95%CI, 1.6 × 106–31.4 × 106), and SERM plus CoQ10 significantly improved sperm progressive motility (MD = 11.3%, 95%CI, 7.3%–15.4%) and normal morphology (MD = 11.2%, 95%CI, 5.4%–16.9%) in men with oligoasthenozoospermia (OA). In terms of side effects, fatty acids and pentoxifylline were associated with foul breath and/or a bad taste (RR = 8.1, 95%CI, 1.0–63.5) and vomiting (RR = 8.0, 95%CI, 1.0–63.0), respectively. In conclusion, the optimal treatment for male infertility for live birth is still unknown. Carnitine plus vitamins and FSH are likely to be better than other therapies in achieving successful spontaneous pregnancy in couples overall and in couples with men with OA, respectively. The efficacy of other treatments on pregnancy outcomes warrants further verification.

In this letter, a novel dual-band coupler made of only three coupled microstrip-slotline (CMSL) sections is proposed to achieve a tight coupling with a high band ratio in a small size. A desired dual-band operation can be obtained by proper design of the coupling levels of the CMSL sections. Explicit design equations of the proposed coupler were derived by the method of even- and odd-mode excitations, and the characteristics of the CMSL were studied. For demonstration, a 3-dB dual-band CMSL coupler operating at 1 and 3 GHz is designed, fabricated, and measured. The proposed coupler has the advantages of small size, tight coupling, and high isolation.

A low-profile single-layer end-fire circularly-polarized (CP) antipodal linearly tapered slot antenna (ALTSA) is proposed and investigated through simulations and experiments. This antenna is a composite structure consisting of a novel width-tapered slotted substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) and an ALTSA fed by the SIW. The former also serves as a radiator to produce vertically polarized radiation, which is crucial to achieve a fully planar end-fire CP antenna when a thin substrate is deployed. Compared to the previous ALTSA fed by the SIW, this proposed antenna utilizes slots on the spare broad walls of the SIW to form an extra slotted width-tapered SIW radiator, which presents an extension of the conventional width-uniform slotted SIW. Moreover, there are no space harmonics in the slotted width-tapered SIW; it is a slow wave that produces the vertically polarized radiation. The proposed antenna is demonstrated at 28 GHz, which is one of the millimeter-wave bands specified for 5G. An experimental prototype of the antenna has an impedance bandwidth of about 9 GHz from 23.8 GHz to 32.8 GHz and an axial ratio bandwidth of about 1.4 GHz from 27.35 GHz to 28.75 GHz, which coincide well with simulated results.

In this work, we propose and demonstrate an integrated dual linearly polarized cavity-backed patch antenna, which is excited by a concurrent dual-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) structure. For the first time, we have exploited the TE10 and TE20 modes of a traveling wave in a dual-mode SIW configuration to excite the horizontal and vertical polarizations of the patch antenna. The proposed methodology yields a low-profile structure with a high inter-port isolation thanks to the inherent symmetry of the structure. Measurement results indicate an isolation performing better than 42 dB over a 600-MHz impedance bandwidth of the antenna. Moreover, a methodology is developed to implement transitions from the dual-mode SIW to the two different TEM transmission lines for separate but concurrent excitations of the device. A detailed field and impedance analyses are presented to explain the operation principle of the proposed antenna, which are supported by an excellent agreement between the obtained measurement and simulation results.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the correlation between white matter structural damage and cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: A total of 40 patients with PD were divided into two groups, i.e., a mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and a normal cognitive (PDN) group, and 20 healthy patients were enrolled as the control group. Changes in the white matter structure of patients with PD were evaluated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and cognitive function was evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Finally, the correlations between the two groups were analyzed. RESULTS: The Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale score was significantly higher in the PD-MCI than in the PDN group (P=0.008). The total MoCA and MMSE scores in the PD-MCI group were significantly lower than in the PDN and control groups (P

An approach for implementing compact multichannel substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) diplexers is presented based on orthogonal dual modes and split-type multiband responses. By coupling multiple TE $_{101}$ -based bandstop single-mode cavities to TE $_{201}$ /TE $_{102}$ -based bandpass dual-mode cavities, one or both of the two passbands constructed by TE $_{201}$ and TE $_{102}$ modes could be split into multiple subpassbands. Additionally, by arranging two output ports at central positions of adjacent sides of the last cascaded dual-mode cavity, isolations between these two output ports can be achieved and then further improved by tiny offset locations benefitting from the orthogonal characteristics of TE $_{201}$ and TE $_{102}$ modes. Three experimental prototypes, including a 1 + 2 type tri-channel SIW diplexer, a 3 + 1 type quad-channel SIW diplexer, and a 2 + 2 type quad-channel SIW diplexer, are synthesized, designed, fabricated, and measured to demonstrate and validate the proposed mode-collaborative design concepts.

Recent deep learning (DL) detectors adopted by radar or sonar (RS) are normally trained with transfer learning, where the typical workflow is to pretrain a convolutional neural network (CNN) on external large-scale classification datasets (e.g., ImageNet) as the backbone and then finetune the entire detector on detection datasets. Though transfer learning could effectively avoid overfitting, transferred models are usually redundant and might not generalize well on RS datasets. To achieve high generalization and to eliminate the dependence on transfer learning, a self-trained target detection method is established by including Automatic Deep Learning (AutoDL) to design optimal detectors. This self-trained target detection consists of three stages. First, a derived classification dataset (DCD) consisting of image blocks of targets and backgrounds is derived from detection datasets. Then, a memory-efficient Differentiable Architecture Search algorithm with flexible search space and large inputs (FL-DARTS), which is characterized by its predefined multistride convolutions, poolings, and unique super-structure, is proposed to automatically design and self-train optimal CNNs on DCDs. Finally, self-trained AutoDL detectors are implemented with the automatic backbone designed by FL-DARTS. We evaluated three self-trained AutoDL detectors on the public SAR ship detection dataset (SSDD) and the self-made sonar common target detection dataset (SCTD). The experiments show that while the number of parameters of automatic backbones designed for SSDD and SCTD are only 11.8% and 15.2% of that of ResNet50, self-trained AutoDL detectors implemented with automatic backbones significantly outperform their transfer learning detectors and achieve state-of-the-art detection precisions and high detection speeds. Data, codes are publicly available.

Continuous advances in ultralow-power electronics are a fundamental driving force of developing far-field wireless power harvesting techniques, which generally harnesses low/ambient energy in free space or dedicated wireless power from a power base station. This article reviews recent developments and technology trends in far-field (radiative) wireless power harvesting, including modeling of rectification process inside nonlinear devices, insights into rectenna system design, and demonstrations of emerging applications. The rectification process inside nonlinear devices will be explored, upon which a device selection guideline is provided to help quickly identify suitable devices. Then, the optimization of rectenna design is discussed to realize efficiency enhancement at a limited input power level. Since far-field wireless power harvesting has become a critical enabling technology for battery-free Internet of Things, a series of promising applications is demonstrated in this article to highlight the challenges and opportunities in the field.

In unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA), many efforts are taken to pull the source domain and the target domain closer by adversarial training. Most methods focus on aligning distributions or features between the source domain and the target domain. However, little attention is paid to the interaction between finer-grained levels, such as classes or samples of the two domains. In contrast to UDA, another transfer learning task, i.e., few-shot learning (FSL), takes full advantage of the finer-grained-level alignment. Many FSL methods implement the interaction between samples of support sets and query sets, leading to significant improvements. We wonder whether we can get some inspiration from these methods and bring such ideas of FSL to UDA. To this end, we first take a closer look at the differences between FSL and UDA and bridge the gap between them by high-confidence sample selection (HCSS). Then we propose cross-attention map generation module (CAMGM) to interact samples selected by HCSS. Moreover, we propose a simple but efficient method called cross-attention-map-based regularization (CAMR) to regularize the feature maps generated by the feature extractor. Experiments on three challenging datasets demonstrate that CAMR can bring solid improvements when added to the original objective. More specifically, the proposed CAMR can outperform original methods by 1% to 2% in most tasks without bells and whistles.

Miniaturized substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) diplexers with widely separated channel passbands using common half-mode dual-mode SIW junction-cavities are presented and developed for 5G sub-6 GHz communications and wireless systems. With this kind of half-mode dual-mode junction-cavities to eliminate the conventional T-junctions and also to produce one transmission pole in each channel passband, significant circuit miniaturization can be achieved for SIW diplexers. Additionally, by exploiting the first dual modes in the half-mode SIW junction- cavities, flexibly allocated fractional bandwidths (FBWs) for the two channels can be realized through FBW design graphs, large frequency ratios can also be accommodated, which is difficult to implement using the whole-mode SIW cavity scheme due to spurious problems. Two compact SIW diplexers with large frequency ratios are synthesized, designed, fabricated, and measured for demonstration, including a third-order direct-coupled prototype centered at 3.5 and 5.0 GHz with a frequency ratio of 1.43 based on the TE₁₀₁/TE₃₀₁ half-mode dual-mode junction-cavity and a fourth-order cross-coupled prototype centered at 3.5 and 5.5 GHz with a frequency ratio of 1.57 based on the TE₁₀₁/TE₁₀₂ half-mode dual-mode junction-cavity.

This article proposes and presents a fully planar endfire circularly polarized (CP) antenna with mingled three-layer substrates. It consists of a unidirectional dielectric radiator (UDR) and an antipodal linearly tapered slot antenna (ALTSA) surrounded by a UDR. The ALTSA is fed by a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) on a thin substrate of $0.05\lambda _{0}$ , which can easily be integrated with RF subsystems. The UDR is fed by the ALTSA, which enables the UDR to enhance the original vertically polarized radiation rather than the horizontally polarized radiation from the ALTSA. Due to the polarization selectivity enhancement, an endfire CP antenna with a very thin substrate is created. An experimental prototype of the proposed antenna has been studied, designed, and measured. The measured impedance bandwidth of −10 dB covers a broadband of 29.7 GHz from 26.1 to 55.8 GHz, and the 3 dB AR bandwidth is 19.7 GHz ranging from 25.3 to 45 GHz. The measured gain is over 9 dBic from 27.8 GHz to over 32 GHz. A good performance with a small size of only $2.57\lambda _{0} \times 0.78\lambda _{0} \times 0.33\lambda _{0}$ , including the CPW-SIW transition, makes it an attractive option in the development of high gain planar endfire CP antennas and arrays for 5G and B5G applications.

This work devises and investigates a Fabry–Perot-styled planar unidirectional dielectric radiator (UDR) antenna fed by a thin embedded slotted substrate integrated waveguide (SIW). The proposed UDR-SIW antenna consists of two identical dielectric substrates and an embedded feeding SIW between the two dielectric substrates. This diligently mingled multilayer structure makes it possible to not only use the thick dielectric substrates to narrow down the E-plane pattern for symmetrical radiation but also facilitate its integration with RF subsystems through the thin embedded feeding SIW, thereby achieving a compact size and an effective excitation. An experimental prototype of the URD-SIW antenna is simulated, fabricated, and measured. It features a size of $2.96\lambda _{0}\,^\ast \,0.65\lambda _{0}\,^\ast \,0.33\lambda _{0}$ and a nearly symmetrical endfire radiation pattern. The antenna presents a measured impedance bandwidth of 9.4% from 26.3 to 28.9 GHz, a gain varied from 8.2 to 10.3 dBi, which is over 10 dBi from 27.7 to 28.4 GHz, and a front to back ratio over 20 dB from 27.5 to 29 GHz. The proposed UDR-SIW antenna has vertically polarized radiation pattern that is different from a conventional UDR antenna; thus, it is an appropriate candidate to replace the SIW H-plane horn in certain applications.

It all started with a spark. Let us rewind back to 1887, in Germany. The days were getting cooler in the garden of the Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe as Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was setting up the first-ever far-field wireless power transmission with increasingly more power [1]. He was striving to demonstrate the wireless nature of electromagnetic waves and propagation. Moreover, as no high-frequency (nearly 100 MHz) voltmeter was available at that time for his experiment, he had to transmit enough power to generate a spark-hundreds of volts!-at the receiver to validate the famous theory of James Clerk Maxwell.

Intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy (IAIC), using immunomodulatory cisplatin, is a novel treatment for bladder cancer (BC) that allows the delivery of specific drugs to the local malignant lesion. To explore the immunomodulatory effect of cisplatin during IAIC, we detected the proportion of immunosuppressed cells in BC tissue from eight BC patients, with the reduction of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), more specifically fibrocytic-MDSCs (f-MDSCs). Further, we demonstrated that cisplatin inhibits their proliferation and immunosuppressive activity. f-MDSCs promote tumor proliferation and metastasis in the BC immune environment. Then, we analyzed the genetic differences detected in samples before and after chemotherapy and found that granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF) decreased after IAIC. Furthermore, G-CSF methylation decreased following treatment with cisplatin. Specifically, treatment with cisplatin decreased the methylase (METTL3) levels in BC cells, which is important for G-CSF production. Collectively, cisplatin decreased the number of f-MDSCs during IAIC, by blocking G-CSF methylation via targeting METTL3.

This work summarizes an outdoor dynamic measurement of ambient radiofrequency (RF) power density in the core areas of Montreal city, which can eventually be exploited for possible battery-free Internet of Things (IoT) sensor network planning. The measurement covers a frequency range of 400–2700 MHz. The power density along major streets, roads, and highways is captured and analyzed, which differs from previous stationary measurements. Results indicate that cellular communication bands (GSM/LTE850 and LTE700) are the best choice for RF energy recycling in downtown (populated) areas. The largest average power levels of GSM/LTE850 and LTE700 bands are −35.50 and −36.95 dBm, respectively. In contrast, in suburban areas where cellular communication signals are generally weak, the digital television band with a peak level of −47.68 dBm presents the largest among all frequency bands. Moreover, one separate measurement at a fixed location is conducted on a typical workday to study the effects of foot traffic on ambient RF power density. Results illustrate that no obvious fluctuations are detected during this daytime measurement. For example, both average power levels of GSM/LTE850 and LTE700 remain at a relatively stable level of −25 dBm throughout the measurement. With the advance of far-field wireless power transfer and backscattering techniques, ambient RF power-enabled battery-free IoT sensors are feasible and will contribute to the planning and implementation of a smarter and greener city.

Emerging evidence suggests that KIF11 could play a pivotal role in cancer cell proliferation; however, its biological functions and molecular mechanisms in Wilms tumor (WT) cells are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance and therapeutic potential of KIF11 proteins in WT. KIF11 expression in WT tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues was determined using qRT-PCR, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and bioinformatics. The function of KIF11 protein was determined by its correlation with tumor cell growth, angiogenesis, and apoptosis using IHC and lentiviral vector-mediated KIF11 depletion. KIF11 expression was upregulated in WT tissues and was associated with WT clinical outcomes. Tumor KIF11 expression was significantly associated with the Ki67 proliferation index. CCK-8, flow-cytometric analysis, and Western blotting revealed that KIF11 knockdown significantly inhibited WT cell growth. Functional studies have indicated that increased KIF11 expression is significantly correlated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and intratumoral microvessel density. We further confirmed that downregulated expression of KIF11 promoted cell apoptosis and significantly increased Bcl-2 and Bax expression. Our findings demonstrate that KIF11 plays a role in promoting the development of human WT and can serve as a potential molecular marker for the treatment of WT.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) has emerged as an effective optoelectronics material due to its novel optical properties. Understanding the role of defects in exciton kinetics is crucial for achieving high-efficiency TMD devices. Here, we observe defects induced anomalous power dependence exciton dynamics and spatial distribution in hexagonal heterogeneous WS2. With transient absorption microscopy study, we illustrate that these phenomena originate from the competition between radiative and defect-related non-radiative decays. To understand the physics behind this, a decay model is introduced with two defect-related channels, which demonstrates that more excitons decay through non-radiative channels in the dark region than the bright region. Our work reveals the mechanisms of anomalous exciton kinetics by defects and is instrumental for understanding and exploiting excitonic states in emerging 2D semiconductors.

A cylindrical open-ended substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity is studied and analyzed in this work. Two orthogonally oriented gaps are used to shrink the dimension of the cylindrical open-ended SIW cavity. Then, the miniaturized cylindrical open-ended SIW cavity is used to construct dual-band antennas. One dual-band antenna is realized by a composite structure that supports two independent modes: they are the half-circular loop mode for the lower band and the half quasi TE11(1/2) mode for the upper band. The other dual-band antenna is an aperture-shared structure: the lower band is related to the miniaturized cylindrical open-ended SIW cavity which works at the quasi TE11(1/2) mode; the upper band is characterized by suspending a concentric slot-loaded circular patch which works at the TM11 patch mode over the empty space of the miniaturized cylindrical open-ended SIW cavity. All modes involved in the two dual-band antennas, the half-circular loop mode, the half quasi TE11(1/2) mode, the quasi TE11(1/2) mode, and TM11 mode, are featured by broadside radiation. The structures of the two dual-band antennas are easy to fabricate by using conventional printed circuit board (PCB) techniques and can be integrated with other planar circuits. Compared to other open-ended cavity antennas, the proposed cylindrical counterpart shows a more compact size and lower profile.

Background In this research, the factors that influence the self-precautionary behavior during the pandemic are explored with the combination of social support and a risk perception attitude framework. Methods An online survey was conducted among 429 members to collect information on demographic data, social support, perceptions of outbreak risk, health self-efficacy, and self-precautionary behaviors with the guide of the Social Support Scale, the COVID-19 Risk Perception Scale, the Health Self-Efficacy Scale and the Self-precautionary Behavior Scale. Results The research shows that among the three dimensions of social support, both objective support and support utilization negatively predict risk perception, while subjective support positively predicts health self-efficacy; health self-efficacy and risk perception significantly predict self-precautionary behavior; the relationship between risk perception and self-precautionary behavior is significantly moderated by health self-efficacy. Conclusions The combined influence of social capital and risk perception attitudinal frameworks on self-precautionary behavior is highlighted in this study, with the relationship between the public’s risk perception, health self-efficacy, and self-precautionary behavior intentions examined against the background of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These findings contribute to understanding the impact of social capital factors on risk perception and health self-efficacy, which provides insight into the current status and influencing factors of the public’s precautionary behavior and facilitates early intervention during a pandemic.

BACKGROUND At present, the value of lipid indicators in evaluating the prognosis of colorectal cancer is still relatively limited. AIM To evaluate the value of a novel parameter for colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis scoring based on preoperative serum lipid levels. METHODS Four key serum lipid factors, namely, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), and apolipoprotein B (ApoB), were detected. Two representative ratios, HDL-C-LDL-C ratio (HLR) and ApoA1-ApoB ratio (ABR) were calculated. The relationship of these parameters with the prognosis of CRC patients including progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier plot and Cox proportional hazards regression. A novel lipoprotein cholesterol-apolipoprotein (LA) score based on HLR and ABR was established and its value in prognosis evaluation for CRC patients was explored. RESULTS Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis of PFS and OS showed that HDL-C, ApoA1, HLR, and ABR were positively associated with the prognosis of CRC patients. LA score was independently associated with a good prognosis in resectable CRC patients. Data processing of a dummy variable showed that the prognosis of patients with higher LA scores is better than that with lower LA scores. CONCLUSION The newly established LA score might serve as a better predictor of the prognosis of resectable CRC patients.

This work proposes to enlarge the maximum readout distance of battery-free harmonic transponders through a careful Schottky diode selection and a consideration of low-temperature operations. Diode SMS7621 is identified to deliver lower conversion loss (CL) of harmonic transponders based on a diode selection guide. Moreover, an analytical method for studying temperature effects on the transponder CL performance is introduced and derived with satisfactory accuracy. A diplexer inserted in the harmonic transponder design can help reduce the antenna number. To mitigate matching difficulties at both fundamental and second-harmonic frequencies, a third-order diplexer is developed to enhance its bandwidth performance. Experimental verification has shown that low-temperature operations can effectively reduce the CL of the SMS7630-based harmonic transponder, thus increasing its readout distance. Specifically, its maximum readout distance at −40 °C has increased by more than 10%, from 6.4 to 7.1 m, compared with that at +40 °C. A complete harmonic transponder based on SMS7621, with dimensions of 85 mm $\times45$ mm has reached a maximum readout distance of 8 m when the fundamental frequency is 3.5 GHz.

This article presents a novel class of dual-mode substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filters exploiting perturbed SIW rectangular cavities. By introducing metallized via-holes along the central line of an SIW rectangular cavity, the resonant frequency of TE101 mode can be shifted close to that of TE201 mode, thus creating a dual-mode resonator. This structure implements a doublet, which provides two poles and one or two transmission zeros (TZs). The pass bandwidth, spurious-free bandwidth, and positions of the TZs can be fully controlled by modifying the length of the perturbation, the side ratio of the rectangular cavity, and the offset of the input/output ports, respectively. Eight two-pole SIW filters are designed and investigated to demonstrate the high design flexibility. Moreover, a four-pole SIW filter with the asymmetric response and a five-pole SIW filter with quasi-elliptic response are designed, fabricated, and measured to describe the extension of the proposed approach to higher order filters.

In this communication, a dual-band on-chip meander-line monopole antenna is proposed and demonstrated for emerging fifth-generation (5G)-compatible Internet of Things (IoT)-served sensor nodes. The targeted 28/60 GHz compact antenna is a hybrid structure of meander-line monopole antenna and packaging substrate to both shield the antenna from its deployed environment and to enhance the antenna radiation efficiency as well as the gain over the two bands of interest. The antenna model and design analysis are presented in this work together with a fabricated and tested 65 nm bulk CMOS chip. The prototyped on-chip antenna exhibits a measured gain of −10 dBi at 28 GHz with a bandwidth of 5.3% and 0 dBi at 60 GHz with a bandwidth of 5.9%. A radiation efficiency of 45% and 30% is obtained at 28 and 60 GHz, respectively. The antenna occupies a space of $0.25\times0.3$ mm2 ( $\lambda /43\times \lambda /35.7$ at 28 GHz). The on-chip antenna solution proposed in this work addresses the highly desirable yet challenging overall design of future wireless systems (5G and beyond) which hit the mark on compactness, cost, and compatibility. In addition, this work provides a viable design platform for achieving frequency diversity and multifunctionality of future wireless involving power harvesting, data transfer, and sensing operation.

Space is the fourth domain of human activities after land, sea and air. After 60 years of development, the number of China’s in-orbit spacecraft has ranked the second in the world. The scope of space activities is extending from near-Earth space to the moon, asteroids, Mars and other deep space objects. Commercial space industry grows vigorously. The governance of space activities is the management and regulation of various activities of entering, exploring, developing and utilizing space, including organization management, laws and regulations, international governance, technical support, etc. The governance modernization of space activities is the strategic pivot in modernization of national governance. It serves as means for nations that participate in global governance, and is also the prerequisite for becoming one of the leading nations in space domain. The governance system of space activities incorporates four aspects: Regime, protocol, global coordination, and technical means. The governance modernization of space activities is to reform the system and mechanism barriers, laws and regulations, and technical thresholds that are not suitable for present development, and to expedite its systematization, regularization, legalization, scientization. In this paper, the newest situation in the current space governance is analyzed from four perspectives, including the increasingly severe space security situation, the fierce competition for space resources, the increasing competition for international space dominance, and the necessity to improve the technical capabilities of space governance. On this basis, the development status of space governance in China is presented from four aspects, including the organization and management, laws and regulations, international cooperation, and pertinent technologies. Subsequently the three issues of space activities governance capabilities and modernization requirements are analyzed, including insufficient space resource coordination, inadequate space governance capabilities, and weak dominance of international dialogue. In respect of the above aspects, this paper proposes to strengthen the role of space activity governance in the national governance, to establish a mechanism for conducting research on the normalization of space activity governance, to promote the process of legislation related to space governance, to increase policy support and investment in international cooperation, and to carry out a series of measures such as strengthening the guidance and supervision of commercial space activities. In terms of organization and management, it is necessary to focus on the research of organizational optimization, efficient operation mechanisms, and organization and management effectiveness evaluation. In terms of laws and regulations, it is necessary to focus on the framework of the legal and regulatory system, the formulation of key laws and regulations, and the efficient implementation mechanism of laws and regulations. In terms of international cooperation, it is necessary to focus on the research of long-term sustainable international cooperation goals and policies, international rules based on the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, and major projects to facilitate international cooperation. In terms of technical support systems, it is necessary to focus on space object monitoring, space data application, space spectrum monitoring, space debris mitigation, space facility maintenance, near-Earth object defense and other technical research of space activities in the governance support technology system. The methods mentioned above will accelerate the modernization of China’s governance system and capability of space activities and lay a solid foundation for becoming a space power.

This letter introduces a simple technique to reduce cross polarization in multilayer antipodal linearly tapered slot antenna taking advantage of the slab air-filled substrate integrated waveguide (SAFSIW) topology. The operation mechanism is presented together with simulations and experimental validations. The measured results show a reflection coefficient lower than –17 dB over the Ka -band. A measured gain of 13 ± 1.35 dBi is observed in the overall Ka -band. The proposed broadband structure achieves a measured cross-polarization isolation of better than 16.07 dB at endfire direction over the Ka -band, which is a significant improvement compared to its multilayer AFSIW implementation counterpart.

This letter presents a novel class of compact dual-mode bandpass filters based on half-mode substrate-integrated waveguide (HMSIW) cavities. By using both TE102 and TE301 modes of the HMSIW rectangular cavity as resonant modes and TE101 mode as nonresonating mode, a novel HMSIW doublet with two poles and two transmission zeros (TZs) is implemented. The TZs can be located at one side or both sides of the passband. Therefore, flexible responses can be obtained. A two-pole HMSIW filter with asymmetric response and a four-pole HMSIW filter with quasi-elliptic response have been designed, fabricated, and measured, to demonstrate and verify the proposed structure. Compared with substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) counterparts, the dual-mode HMSIW filters have the advantage of smaller size.

Background Tonsillectomy is the most common procedure for treatment of pediatric recurrent acute tonsillitis and tonsillar enlargement that contributes to obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome. Postoperative hemorrhage of tonsillectomy is a life-threatening complication. Aim To identify the risk factors that may contribute to primary and secondary post-operative hemorrhage in pediatric tonsillectomy. Methods The clinical data from 5015 children, 3443 males and 1572 females, aged 1.92-17.08 years, with recurrent tonsillitis and/or tonsil hypertrophy who underwent tonsillectomy in our hospital from January 2009 to December 2018 were retrospectively collected. The variables including sex, age, time of onset, diagnosis, method of tonsillectomy, experience of surgeon, time when the surgery started and monthly average air temperature were abstracted. The patients with postoperative hemorrhage were classified into two groups, the primary bleeding group and the secondary bleeding group, and their characteristics were compared with those of the nonbleeding group separately. Statistical analysis was performed by chi-square test with SPSS 20. Results Ninety-two patients had post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage, and the incidence rate of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage was 1.83%. The mean age was 5.75 years. Cases of primary hemorrhage accounted for approximately 33.70% (31/92), and cases of secondary hemorrhage occurred in 66.30% (61/92). The rate of reoperation for bleeding was 0.92%, and the rate of rehospitalization for bleeding was 0.88% in all patients. Multiple hemostasis surgery was performed in 6.52% (3/46) of patients. The method of tonsillectomy (coblation tonsillectomy) and experience of the surgeon (junior surgeon with less than 5 years of experience) were significantly associated with primary hemorrhage (χ 2 = 5.830, P = 0.016, χ 2= 6.621, P = 0.010, respectively). Age (over 6 years old) and time of onset (more than a 1-year history) were significantly associated with secondary hemorrhage (χ 2= 15.242, P = 0.000, χ 2=4.293, P = 0.038, respectively). There was no significant difference in sex, diagnosis, time when the surgery started or monthly average air temperature. There was a significant difference in the intervention measures between the primary bleeding group and the secondary bleeding group (χ 2= 10.947, P = 0.001). The lower pole and middle portion were the common bleeding sites, followed by the upper pole and palatoglossal arch. Conclusion The incidence rate of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage is low. Coblation tonsillectomy and less than 5 years' experience of surgeon contribute to the tendency for primary hemorrhage. Age and time of onset are responsible for secondary hemorrhage.

Reflection happening on a specular surface severely degrades the performance of structured light-based 3D measurements. Traditional structured light techniques remain limited to ideal scenes. Inspired by the multiple exposure fusion technique in photography, which fuses a number of exposure sequences into a well-exposed image, we propose an exposure fusion (EF)-based structured light method in this work. With well-exposed images, the brightness difference of the specular surface can be reduced. Binary gray code is adopted as the primary structured light pattern. With the help of the EF technique, the generated well-exposed structured light images are used for 3D reconstruction of the specular surface. To evaluate the performance of our method, the defective batteries with reflective properties are tested in this experiment. The high dynamic range (HDR)-based structured light method, auto-HDR and ABFDP methods are introduced for comparison. In these experiments, an average error of 0.088 mm and a standard deviation of 0.1921 mm are obtained. These results show that the EF method performs better than other methods for the reconstruction of specular surfaces and can be used to distinguish defects on the surface of a battery.

An efficient modes analyses technique for isotropic or anisotropic material filled 2D metallic waveguides with an arbitrary contour using the multifilament current method (MFCM) is presented. The ideal PEC boundary of a 2D waveguide is replaced by a shell with a high conductivity and electrical small thickness. The thin lossy shell not only can well approximate the boundary condition of PEC waveguide wall therefore without altering the initial waveguide modes, but also can let the external excitation penetrate through to excite the inside modes, resulting in a high internal field intensity at the frequency of each mode. In this case, the modes are revealed by the peaks of field intensity responses, and the spurious modes which existed in traditional source‐free modes determination techniques can be completely avoided. Based on this idea, a generalized impedance boundary condition (GIBC) is formulated to represent the lossy waveguide wall and further utilized in the MFCM for simulating the internal field intensity over frequency. Three different configurations of a 2D waveguide are considered. The computed modes are compared with that obtained from commercial software, and an excellent agreement is achieved, yet an competitive advantage on simulation performances is observed by using the proposed technique.

A novel design for a TE10‐mode rectangular waveguide to a TE11‐mode circular waveguide mode converter based on the use of an intermediate one‐step double‐cruciform section is proposed. The converter achieves compactness and broadband by employing the one‐step double‐cruciform transition instead of the conventional multi‐step transitions or smooth transitions. Due to the one‐step structure, the converter achieves an extremely short‐length (around 0.3λ, where λ is the wavelength at the centre frequency), which makes it suitable for highly compact systems. For verification purpose, a back‐to‐back connection rectangular‐to‐circular mode converter was fabricated and measured. The measured results show that the return loss is around 15 dB and the insertion loss is around 0.4 dB in the operating frequency band. Thus, we can infer that the return loss and insertion loss of a single mode converter are around 19 and 0.2 dB, respectively. The experimental results reasonably agree with the simulated results.

In Part I of this two-part work, we have presented the theoretical foundation and physical mechanism of the mode-selective transmission line (MSTL). This part is devoted to its excitation scheme, practical transition design, and experimental verification. The MSTL excitation is first explained by comparison with a conductor-backed coplanar waveguide (CBCPW). To produce the specific mode excitation, an ultrabroadband transition between CBCPW and MSTL is proposed. It has a tapered structure operating as a tapered-mode coupler, which supports smooth evolution from the fixed CPW mode of CBCPW to the frequency-dependent dominant mode of MSTL. This modal evolution along the transition is analytically treated based on a local normal mode theory. Couplings between the local normal modes are negligible as a result of gradual tapering, thereby effectively suppressing higher order modes in MSTL and sustaining a mode purity over an ultrabroad frequency range. For experimental demonstration purposes, back-to-back CBCPW-to-MSTL transition circuits are physically realized. The measured results are in agreement with the prediction, showing a return loss of 15 dB from 3 to 109 GHz; the single transition introduces a relatively low insertion loss of 1.84 dB at 100 GHz. The propagation characteristics of MSTL are also extracted from the measured S-parameters, which provides an excellent validation of the proposed structure.

This article presents the generation scheme of picosecond (ps) pulses based on both step recovery diode (SRD) topology and nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) scheme with a focus on simultaneous rise and fall time compression. First, the SRD topology is suggested and investigated for manifesting the capability of pulse compression. The SRD solution is then integrated with different NLTL schemes for alienating and achieving rise or fall time compression in the ps regime. It is observed that single NLTL integration only sharpens the rising or falling edge at the same time. To overcome this challenge, two NLTLs having different diode polarities are then integrated with SRD topology-based ps pulse generator to compress rise and fall time simultaneously. The theory of NLTL is developed in each case, and based on it, the shortest rise and fall time is selected for the final design. Several parameters that are responsible for waveform distortion are also investigated in detail as well. Finally, we have fabricated four different pulse generators in which the first three only compress the rise time whereas the fourth one is responsible for both rise and fall time compressions. The overall pulse duration for the first three generators falls within 80–95 ps having different ringing levels and they are based on rise time compression only. The pulse duration for the fourth pulse generator is almost 25 ps having a detailed ringing level of −14.24 dB and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 10.1 ps based on both rise and fall time compressions. Finally, all these pulse generators are compared with the state of the arts in the literature where they utilize different techniques for sharpening and the superiority of our proposed designs is provided. These generators will find their key role and will be the best candidates for ultra-wide band (UWB) radars for electromagnetic imaging and sensing applications, ultrafast electronic techniques including edge sharpening, future oscilloscopes, comb, or pulse generators, and geophysical exploration.

This paper presents a general overview of substrate integrated transmission lines, from the perspective of historical background and progress of guided-wave structures and their impacts on the development of microwave circuits and integration solutions. This is highlighted through a technology roadmap involving the categorized five generations of microwave circuits. In particular, the substrate integration technologies are reviewed and discussed with focus on technical features, design highlights, component developments, structures evolution, and systems integration. A number of examples are presented to showcase some of the selected milestone research and development activities and accomplishments in connection with substrate integrated transmission line technologies, with particular focus on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) techniques. Practical applications and industrial interests are also presented with key references and technical results, which show more and more product developments in the end-user sectors. It can be found that the popularity of SIW techniques is closely related to the achieved seamless integration of planar and non-planar structures into a unified design space, thereby allowing the possibility of combining major advantages of all the structures while alleviating their potential drawbacks. The future perspectives of the substrate integration technology are discussed through five major research directions, which suggest potential impacts in the development of future generations of circuits and systems such as system-on-substrate (SoS).

Continuous real-time measurement of body temperature using a wearable sensor is an essential part of human health monitoring. Electrospun aligned carbon nanofiber (ACNF) films are employed to assemble flexible temperature sensors. The temperature sensor prepared at a low carbonization temperature of 650 °C yields an outstanding sensitivity of 1.52% °C−1, high accuracy, good linearity, fast response time and excellent long-term durability. Moreover, it exhibits high discriminability towards temperature amidst other unwanted stimuli and maintains its original performance even after repeated stretch/release cycles because of highly-aligned structures. The correlation between the atomic structure and the temperature sensing performance of ACNF sensors is established. Contrary to conventional highly conductive temperature sensors, the ACNF sensor with a low electrical conductivity prepared at a low carbonization temperature ameliorates the temperature sensing performance. This anomaly is explained by (i) the smaller and more disordered sp2 carbon crystallites yielding a high negative temperature coefficient, (ii) a larger number of defects, and (iii) a higher pyridinic-N content generating abundant entrapped and localized electrons which are activated once sufficient thermal energy is available. Flexible ACNF sensor's overall performance is among the best-known carbon material-based flexible temperature sensors, demonstrating potential applications in emerging healthcare and flexible electronics technologies.

Hyperspectral anomaly detection involves in many practical applications. Traditional anomaly detection methods are mainly proposed based on statistical models and geometrical models. This article proposes an Otsu-based isolation forest method, which applies the assumption that anomaly pixels are more sensitive to be isolated from the alternative pixels. The proposed article trains an isolation forest by assembling multiple binary trees. To construct a more discriminative binary tree, Otsu-based splitting criterion is applied to split subsamples into two groups at each division. Then, it feeds each tested pixel into isolation forest and obtains its anomaly score via the average path length throughout isolation forest. Considering the pixels with anomaly attribute values, path length refinement strategy based on distance weight is applied to better distinguish anomaly scores of tested pixels. Experimental results on three datasets reveal that the proposed method can effectively separate anomalies from backgrounds compared with other anomaly detection methods.

In this article, three frequency independent optical paths are designed and analyzed. A two-parabolic-mirror system and a four-parabolic-mirror system are studied and developed over 140–220 GHz to achieve precision complex permittivity measurements of a dielectric substrate. To achieve a wide plane wave zone for the center of the four-parabolic-mirror system, two 80-mm-length corrugated horns are designed and fabricated for the measurement systems. The Gaussicity of the corrugated horn is larger than 97.4%. For the multiple reflection model and direct wave model, two closed-form expressions of loss tangent are derived from the transmission parameters (insertion losses) of the measurement systems. Meanwhile, the resolution and uncertainty of loss tangent can be calculated according to the working frequency, the thickness of the wafer, the real part of the relative permittivity, and the $| {{S_{21}}} |$ measurement uncertainty. The complex permittivity of the Rogers/Duroid series PCB substrates, which are commonly used at microwave frequencies, and silicon wafers are measured in G -band.

This article introduces two-way broadband air-filled substrate integrated waveguide (AFSIW) isolated power dividers/combiners based on surface mounted absorbing materials. The proposed structures take advantage of the AFSIW multilayer feature. The absorber implementation is found highly tolerant of variations in dimensions and positioning. Three different power dividers/combiners topologies are analyzed theoretically, simulatively, and experimentally. The measurement results validate the broadband responses of the fabricated Ka-band demonstrators. The proposed power dividers/combiners are intended to exploit high-power AFSIW system on substrate (up to few hundred watts).

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs)-based therapy has emerged as a promising novel therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). However, the therapeutic quantity of viable implanted BMMSCs necessary to initiate efficacy is still undetermined. Increased oxidative stress following TBI, which leads to the activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase signaling pathway, has been implicated in accounting for the diminished graft survival and therapeutic effect. To prove this assertion, we silenced the expression of NADPH subunits (p22-phox, p47-phox, and p67-phox) and small GTPase Rac1 in BMMSCs using shRNA. Our results showed that silencing these proteins significantly reduced oxidative stress and cell death/apoptosis, and promoted implanted BMMSCs proliferation after TBI. The most significant result was however seen with Rac1 silencing, which demonstrated decreased expression of apoptotic proteins, enhanced in vitro survival ratio, reduction in TBI lesional volume and significant improvement in neurological function post shRac1-BMMSCs transplantation. Additionally, two RNA-seq hub genes (VEGFA and MMP-2) were identified to play critical roles in shRac1-mediated cell survival. In summary, we propose that knockdown of Rac1 gene could significantly boost cell survival and promote the recovery of neurological functions after BMMSCs transplantation in TBI mice.

Emerging and disruptive information and communication technology (ICT) RaD is principally driven by the growing needs of signal generation, collection, transmission, processing, and storage as well as the applications of massive data sets in our fast-evolving information society. Such data set-related operations call for fundamental wireless- and wireline-empowered capabilities as well as many others. The next breed in ICT is closely related to, and enabled on a large scale by, the much-publicized 5G and future heterogeneous wireless systems [1]-[4], which in the future will connect everyone and everything at different speeds for various functions and services. This will propel us toward a much more connected, smarter world.

Laparoscopic major liver resection, such as laparoscopic left hemihepatectomy (LLH), is still perceived as a complicated procedure due to technical difficulties and slow learning curve. The study introduced an optimized procedure using the liver parenchyma transection-first approach and investigated its advantages on surgical outcomes by comparison with the conventional hilar dissection approach for LLH. Between January 2015 and May 2019, 96 patients who underwent laparoscopic left hemihepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were enrolled in the study. Among these, 41 patients underwent the liver parenchyma transection-first approach (LP-first group) and the other 55 underwent the conventional hilar dissection approach (conventional group). A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to compare the perioperative and long-term oncological outcomes of the two groups. After 1:1 PSM, 37 patients in each group were selected for further analysis. The LP-first group was associated with shorter median operative time (210 vs 235 min, P = 0.035) and less blood loss (200 vs 300 mL, P = 0.410). In addition, no statistical differences were found in overall complications between the two groups (8.1% vs 24.3%, P = 0.058). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of 1-year and 3-year disease-free survival (DFS, P = 0.608) and overall survival (OS, P = 0.414). The prior liver parenchyma approach for LLH is safe and reproducible in selected patients, which showed improved perioperative outcomes and comparable long-term oncological outcomes compared with the conventional approach.

In this work, directly perforated substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs) in the form of periodic air holes are studied with a focus on the electromagnetic shielding effect by examining its bandpass and stopband filtering characteristics. Two different configurations of the air-filled holes are considered for this electromagnetic bandgap structure, which are called shielded and unshielded cases. In both the scenarios, the relationship between the center frequency of the bandgap and the structural material and geometric parameters is established and used for the bandgap investigation. In addition, the impact that the shielding of the air-filled holes yields on the loss of the structure is systematically examined. Finally, equivalent circuits for both the cases are formulated and experimentally verified up to 30 GHz.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the microvasculature alterations in convalescent Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), and to explore the association between microvasculature and the presence of sunset glow fundus (SGF). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 28 VKH patients at convalescent stage and 25 healthy individuals. Both eyes of each participant were enrolled. The VKH patients were classified into two subgroups based on the existence of SGF. OCTA images (3 × 3 mm) were assessed for the data of superficial capillaris plexus (SCP), deep capillaris plexus (DCP), choriocapillaris, and foveal avascular zone (FAZ). RESULTS: Compared with healthy control eyes and eyes without SGF, the vessel densities of the SCP and DCP decreased significantly in most regions of eyes with SGF (p 0.05). VKH patients with SGF had slightly increased FAZ area (p = 0.067) and decreased choroid flow area (p = 0.427) than those in the control group. CONCLUSION: Convalescent VKH patients with SGF showed decreased macular capillary perfusion. OCTA could serve as a sensitive tool to assess the microvasculature alterations of VKH disease.

Ambient power rectifiers are pivotal for batteryless or self-powered internet of things architectures and self-sustained communication/sensor platforms. The core of rectifiers, a nonlinear device, has been subject to significant research and improvements recently, especially at a low-power level, where rectifying efficiency is so limited. Current responsivity (the key rectification parameter describing the nonlinearity) is known to be impacted by the operating temperature, as predicted by William Shockley's law. However, no work has been carried out to quantify the impact of temperature in the RF rectification process, nor to relate existing diodes with their optimum operating temperature range. To address those missing links, this article first develops an analytical method to predict power conversion efficiency (PCE) of rectifiers from approximate milli-watt down to nano-watt level. Next, it identifies the optimum operating temperature of rectifiers corresponding to peak PCE. It also reports that the previous PCE ceiling of 15% (at an input power level below -30 dBm) can be broken when rectifiers operate at their optimum temperatures. Enhanced PCE results are then validated experimentally on SMS7630 and HSMS-2850-based rectifiers when operating at their optimum temperatures. Noticeably, the SMS7630-based rectifier delivers efficiency of 17.5% at -30 dBm and 41.7% at -20 dBm, showing respectively comparable and better PCE than that of tunnel diode-based counterparts at similar power levels. This article also indicates that rectifier design should consider the operating temperature when selecting diodes to maximize rectifying potential.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents a significant global medical issue, with a growing number of cumulative confirmed cases. However, a large number of patients with COVID-19 have overcome the disease, meeting hospital discharge criteria, and are gradually returning to work and social life. Nonetheless, COVID-19 may cause further downstream issues in these patients, such as due to possible reactivation of the virus, long-term pulmonary defects, and posttraumatic stress disorder. In this study, we, therefore, queried relevant literature concerning severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and COVID-19 for reference to come to a consensus on follow-up strategies. We found that strategies, such as the implementation of polymerase chain reaction testing, imaging surveillance, and psychological assessments, starting at the time of discharge, were necessary for long-term follow-up. If close care is given to every aspect of coronavirus management, we expect that the pandemic outbreak will soon be overcome.

With the high spectral resolution, hyperspectral image (HSI) can provide a wealth of information for image classification. Many classification methods utilize the training samples to classify the ground materials. However, the small sample problem is still urgent to be solved when considering the cost of labeling training samples. In order to solve this problem, this letter proposes a semisupervised classification method based on the simple linear iterative cluster (SLIC) segmentation for HSI. This method improves the SLIC method to better explore the spectral characteristic of HSI. It explores the learned superpixel map and initial classification map to select the pseudo-labeled samples (PLSs), which is expected to increase the effectiveness of PLSs. The final classification map can be obtained with the integrated labeled training samples and PLSs. Experiments were carried out on three HSIs, and it was founded that the proposed method generally shows a better classification performance than the other methods.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is among the most common cancers of the genitourinary system. Once RCC has progressed to a high tumor stage, surgery is no longer the optimal option, and treatment with drugs is more suitable. However, a proportion of patients with advanced RCC (aRCC) experience accelerated progression following targeted therapy or immunotherapy, a condition known as hyperprogressive disease (HPD). There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of HPD. In the present review, thousands of studies that describe a variety of treatments for aRCC were identified in PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library and analyzed to establish the severity of clinical outcomes. Therefore, we managed to perform a review related to HPD of aRCC in these databases. It was found that 7~74% of patients advanced into progressive disease, 0~45% of patients died during post-treatment assessment, possibly due to fatal HPD. However, risk factors, mechanisms, and predictive factors are still not entirely clear. It is suggested that combination therapies might play a pivotal role in preventing HPD. Additional light needs to be shed on customization of therapies for aRCC after more data is collected and analyzed for HPD.

In this letter, a class of rectangular waveguide filters with central-post resonators is introduced. By introducing a central post in an oversized rectangular cavity, the resonant frequency of TE301-mode can be brought close to that of TE201-mode. The two resonant modes are coupled to adjacent fundamental mode resonators by inductive irises. A doublet coupling topology can be used to model the physical configuration, and flexible filter responses with finite-position transmission zeros (TZs) can be realized. Four 4-pole filters with different TZ positions are designed and simulated. A seven-pole filter with two cascaded central-post resonators is fabricated and measured. In the seven-pole filter, each central-post resonator independently controls one TZ on the lower side and very close to the passband. The measurement results of the seven-pole filter agree with the simulated counterparts very well, thus validating this filter design technique.

Summary Background and aim CSN6, as a critical subunit of the constitutive photomorphogenesis 9 (COP9) signalosome (CSN), has been previously reported to be increased in various cancers; however, its effect in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown, which is the aim of present study, in terms of its explore the expression and role of CSN6 in HCC. Methods QRT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to examine the expression of CSN6. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were used to investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of CSN6 expression in HCC patients. Furthermore, the biological function of CSN6 on HCC cell proliferation and migration was investigated through CCK-8, transwell migration and invasion assays. Besides, the associations between CSN6 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were determined. Results CSN6 was increased in HCC tissues, and its overexpression was found to be associated with a poor prognoses for HCC patients. Overexpression of CSN6 promoted processes of HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while these processes were inhibited when CSN6 was silenced. Additionally, CSN6 was found to promote EMT by inhibiting E-cadherin, which were significantly mitigated via upregulation of Snail as a result of MEK/ERK pathway activation. Conclusions CSN6 up-regulation may play a contributory role in HCC metastasis and poor prognosis via activation of EMT, and may serve as an independent predictor for HCC prognosis.

In this article, a class of mode composite transmission line called mode composite sandwich slot line (MCSSL) is proposed, studied, and demonstrated. The MCSSL is composed of two substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs) and a sandwiched quasi-slot line. Structural parts of the two SIWs inherently serve as the two conductors of the quasi-slot line. The SIW supports the TE10 fundamental mode propagation, whereas the quasi-TEM mode is supported by the quasi-slot line. Two types of transition structures are proposed in this article, which enable an easier integration of the studied MCSSL with other transmission lines. An MCSSL-based antenna is designed and fabricated to theoretically and experimentally demonstrate its advantages and feasibility. It has been shown that the MCSSL features the physical and electrical characteristics of a joint structure (or structure sharing) in connection with a mode composite with planar structures, and it can find applications in broadband and multiband circuits and antenna developments.

In this paper, an ambient power harvester with a single-diode device is proposed for simultaneously scavenging both radiofrequency (RF) and thermal energy in a mixed and cooperative manner. This cooperative harvesting process is theoretically examined through a proposed model of the diode and then validated by simulation and measurement. In the proposed cooperative power harvester, the harvested dc voltage from a thermal source is used to bias the diode for improving the diode's RF-to-dc power conversion efficiency (PCE). An accurate analytical model of the Schottky diode is developed for specifying the constraining parameters of RF-to-dc PCE and accurately predicting diode's performances in a low RF power range $({ \leq - \text{25}\;{\text{dBm}}})$ , respectively. The calculated results are found to be in a good agreement with the simulated ones obtained by the harmonic balance simulator in the advanced design system. For demonstration and validation, the proposed mixed cooperative power harvester is designed and prototyped on the basis of diode SMS7630. A total measured output dc power around 0.8 μ W is obtained with an RF-to-dc PCE around 33.4%, when the two injecting power sources at the diode are both −30 dBm. In addition, rectennas with and without a matching network are both fabricated and tested. By eliminating the L matching network, the rectenna is found to offer a higher dc output power. The proposed mixed cooperative power harvester is hoped to find potential real-world applications in an ambient atmosphere with RF coverage and temperature gradient. It not only helps to produce a higher power but also provides a reliable way of improving the resilience of dc power production.