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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]

Background: Preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT) has been the standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. Serum biomarkers to stratify patients with respect to prognosis and response to nCRT are needed due to the diverse response to the therapy.Methods: Thirteen paired pre- and post-nCRT sera from rectal cancer patients were analyzed by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) method. Twenty-five proteins were selected for validation by parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) in ninety-one patients.Results: Totally, 310 proteins were identified and quantified in sera samples. Reactome pathway analysis showed that the immune activation-related pathways were enriched in response to nCRT. Twenty-five proteins were selected for further validation. PRM result showed that the level of PZP was higher in pathological complete response (pCR) patients than non-pCR patients. The Random Forest algorithm identified a prediction model composed of 10 protein markers, which allowed discrimination between pCR patients and non-pCR patients (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.886 on testing set). Higher HEP2 and GELS or lower S10A8 in baseline sera were associated with better prognosis. Higher APOA1 in post nCRT sera was associated with better disease-free survival (DFS).Conclusions: We identified and confirmed a 10-protein panel for nCRT response prediction and four potential biomarkers HEP2, GELS, S10A8 and APOA1 for prognosis of rectal cancer based on iTRAQ-based comparative proteomics screening and PRM-based targeted proteomic validation. [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]

• Current methods cannot generate compound expressions precisely and variously. • Generating various compound expressions is formulated into an optimization problem. • We propose EvoGAN, which EAs, GANs and facial expression recognizers. • EvoGAN models and generates expression for every input figure. The image synthesis technique is relatively well established which can generate facial images that are indistinguishable even by human beings. However, all of these approaches uses gradients to condition the output, resulting in the outputting the same image with the same input. Also, they can only generate images with basic expression or mimic an expression instead of generating compound expression. In real life, however, human expressions are of great diversity and complexity. In this paper, we propose an evolutionary algorithm (EA) assisted GAN, named EvoGAN, to generate various compound expressions with any accurate target compound expression. EvoGAN uses an EA to search target results in the data distribution learned by GAN. Specifically, we use the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) as the encoding of an EA and use a pre-trained GAN to generate human facial images, and then use a pre-trained classifier to recognize the expression composition of the synthesized images as the fitness function to guide the search of the EA. Combined random searching algorithm, various images with the target expression can be easily sythesized. Quantitative and Qualitative results are presented on several compound expressions, and the experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and the potential of EvoGAN. The source code is available at https://github.com/ECNU-Cross-Innovation-Lab/EvoGAN. [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]

A very compact wireless local area network (WLAN) antenna is presented for the design of hand‐held mobile devices. The antenna does not need metal clearance underneath the antenna and it has very low profile. Both simulated and measured results show that the antennas with very small antenna volume and height can operate as a triple‐band WLAN antenna with good bandwidth and radiation efficiency. [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]

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]

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]

In this paper, a novel six-mode loop antenna covering 660–1100, 1710–3020, 3370–3900, and 5150–5850 MHz has been proposed for the application of long-term evolution (LTE) including the coming LTE in unlicensed spectrum and LTE-Licensed Assisted Access. Loop antennas offer better user experience than conventional planar inverted-F antennas (PIFAs), inverted-F antennas (IFAs), and monopole antennas because of their unique balanced modes ( $1\lambda $ , $2\lambda , \ldots $ ). However, the bandwidth of loop antennas is usually narrower than that of PIFA/IFA and monopole antennas due to these balanced modes. To overcome this problem, a novel monopole/dipole parasitic element, which operates at an unbalanced monopole-like $0.25\lambda $ mode and a balanced dipole-like $0.5\lambda $ mode, is first proposed for loop antennas to cover more frequency bands. Benefiting from the balanced mode, the proposed parasitic element is promising to provide better user experience than conventional parasitic elements. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the balanced mode for a parasitic element is reported for the first time. The proposed antenna is able to provide excellent user experience while solving the problem of limited bandwidth in loop antennas. To validate the concept, one prototype antenna with a size of $75 \times 10\times 5$ mm3 is designed, fabricated, and measured. Both simulations and experimental results are presented and discussed. Good performance is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a dynamic multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (DMOEA) with an adaptive response mechanism selection strategy is proposed to address the shortcoming that a single response mechanism is suitable only for solving a certain type of dynamic multiobjective optimization problem. The proposed algorithm combines an adaptive response mechanism selection (ARMS) strategy and a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition (MOEA/D), and it is denoted as the MOEA/D-ARMS. Unlike the existing approaches, the ARMS strategy can adaptively select effective response mechanisms from the response mechanism pool based on the recent performance of each response mechanism. Four representative response mechanisms are selected to form the response mechanism pool. An overall evaluation strategy that assigns rewards to the response mechanism is adopted, and a probability-based method that is used to decide which response mechanism can be used to generate a new solution is employed. The proposed MOEA/D-ARMS algorithm is tested on two groups of test instances and compared with the decomposition-based and dominance-based DMOEAs. The results of the proposed MOEA/D-ARMS algorithm are superior to the compared algorithms, demonstrating its effectiveness. • This paper proposed an adaptive response mechanism selection (ARMS) framework and a dynamic MOEA. • The ARMS framework can adaptively select the most effective response mechanisms based on their recent performance. • An overall evaluation strategy that assigned rewards to the response mechanism was adopted. • The simple ARMS framework can easily incorporate more response mechanisms. • The statistical results clearly demonstrated that MOEA/D-ARMS were superior to the compared algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, a novel nanocomposite, zeolitic imidazolate framework/magnetic layered double hydroxide (Fe 3 O 4 @LDH/ZIF), was successfully fabricated through in situ synthetic method with Fe 3 O 4 as magnetic core and composite as shell. The resulting materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, FT-IR, VSM, TGA and nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis. The Fe 3 O 4 @LDH/ZIF was employed as a sorbent in dispersive micro-solid phase extraction (D-μ-SPE) for enrichment of four endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) from milk samples prior to ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) analysis. The synthesized nanocomposite showed bigger specific surface area and better absorption capacity than Fe 3 O 4 @LDH. The equilibrium adsorption capacities (Qe, mg/g) of EDCs on the Fe 3 O 4 @LDH/ZIF reached up to 47.4–138.8 mg/g, mainly resulting from hydrogen bonding, π-π interaction and electrostatic interaction between EDCs and nanocomposite. Several variables affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. The method displays low limits of detection (3–15 ng L−1), good linearity (10–5000 ng L−1), acceptable precision (RSD < 7.8%) and accuracy (RE < 5.2%). Satisfactory repeatability was obtained with RSD in the range of 1.2–7.8%. This work provides a promising approach for the development of new sorbent media in sample preparation for the improvement of analytical performance. [Display omitted] • A novel core-shell Fe 3 O 4 @LDH/ZIF adsorbent was successfully synthesized by in situ growth method. • The synthesized nanocomposite features large surface area, good magnetic responsibility and recyclability. • The Fe 3 O 4 @LDH/ZIF enriched four EDCs effectively in milk by multi-interactions. • Extraction parameters were optimized and enrichment mechanism was described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fold monopole/dipole/loop antenna offers unique advantages over a conventional Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA) and monopole antenna for a mobile cellular device. Perhaps the most significant benefit is the fact that up to three resonant modes could be generated in a single continuous loop structure. In this paper, a novel hexa-band internal folded monopole/dipole/loop antenna has been proposed. The proposed antenna has four resonances in which three of them are 0.5\lambda, 1\lambda and 1.5\lambda modes. The distinctive feature of the antenna is an extra 2\lambda folded dipole mode, which has not been reported so far, is excited and utilized. All these four modes can be employed to cover the Low LTE700/GSM850/900 Band (LB: 698–960 MHz) and the High GSM1850/1900/UMTS2100 Band (HB: 1710–2170 MHz). The proposed loop antenna has been simulated, prototyped and tested. It is shown that the numerically simulated results are in close agreement with the experimental prototype results and proved that the antenna operates as proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Input impedance-tuning methods are proposed for antenna designs of mobile communications devices. The proposed method can be applied to input impedance-tuning of single-band, dual-band, and multiband planar inverted-F antenna. The prominent feature of this impedance-tuning method is to use an inductive-tuning slot or a capacitive-tuning slot, rather than the width of the grounding and feeding strips and the gap between the grounding and feeding strips, to get desirable impedance matching and bandwidth. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 1464–1467, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22419 [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]

Addresses some of the perceived problems with high temperature superconducting microstrip antennas. Method of prediction of the center frequency; Analytical expression for the farfield radiation pattern of the H microstrip antenna; Flexibility and multifunctionality of the microstrip antenna.

Proposes and analyzes a thin-film superconducting meander patch antenna coupled by an H-shaped aperture. Principle of meander patch antennas; Discussion of the cavity model for analyzing meander patch; Computation of radiation patterns of copolarization for the meander patch; Evaluation of the radiation efficiencies of the antennas.

A direct moment method is employed to examine the electric field distortion, due to mutual coupling, for a longitudinal slot radiator in a linear slotted-waveguide array. A strict solution to the tangential field is obtained by employing a set of basis functions to simulate the field in the slots as a group. It is shown that while the mutual coupling between slots has significant influence on the amplitude of the slot aperture field, it has little impact on the shape of the field, even when the interfering slots are asymmetrically distributed in relation to the slot under examination. [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]

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]

The resonant properties of a longitudinal radiating slot in a planar slotted-waveguide array antenna are examined by employing an entire-domain moment method. Attention is focused on the interactions between the slot of interest and its nearest neighbors, and it is shown that if the slot offsets from the guide central line are small, which is usually the case for a large slot array, only one, or at most two, neighboring slot rings formed by the surrounding slots needs to be considered in the evaluations of resonant length and conductance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the design and testing of a multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO) antenna for metal-frame smartwatch applications. The antenna operates from 2.4 to 2.49 GHz, which can cover Bluetooth/WiFi band. The design procedure is based on the theory of characteristic modes and it is discussed thoroughly. By employing a pair of degenerated modes to design the MIMO antenna, a high port-to-port isolation can be achieved over the operating frequency band. Simulated and measured results are presented to verify the antenna design. Furthermore, the antenna has a low envelope correlation coefficient and a high effective diversity gain even when it is mounted on the human phantom. Hence, the proposed antenna proves to be a good candidate for smartwatch applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wideband antenna is designed by manipulating characteristic modes (CMs) of a metallic loop structure. It is shown that the resonant behavior of the CMs can be modified by inductive loading on the specific positions of the loop antenna. Therefore, it is possible to manipulate certain modes to ensure their resonant frequencies are close to each other. Then, a proper feeding scheme can be designed such that these modes are excited simultaneously and a multi‐mode wideband antenna can be obtained. It is found that by using the theory of characteristic modes (TCMs), the antenna design procedure becomes more intuitive. To validate the proposed approach, the wideband antenna was fabricated and tested. Simulation and measurement results indicate that it can achieve a wide impedance bandwidth of 51.6% with |S11| < −10 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title indolizines are obtained by highly regiocontrolled intermolecular C-3 arylation of imidazopyridines and subsequent intramolecular C-5 arylation. [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 this paper, a novel reconfigurable open slot antenna has been proposed for LTE smartphone applications to cover a wide bandwidth of 698–960 and 1710–2690 MHz. The antenna is located at the bottom portion of the mobile phone and is integrated with metal rim, thereby occupying a small space and providing mechanical stability to the mobile phone. Varactor diode is used to cover the lower band frequencies, so as to achieve a good frequency coverage and antenna miniaturization. The operational principles of the antenna are studied and the final design is optimized, fabricated, and tested. It has achieved the desired impedance bandwidth and the total efficiency of minimum 50% in free space throughout the required bands. The antenna performance with mobile phone components and human hand is also been studied. Furthermore, the SAR in a human head is investigated and is found to be within allowable SAR limits. Finally a multiple-input multiple-output antenna configuration with high isolation is proposed; it has an identical reconfigurable open slot antenna integrated at the top edge of the mobile phone acting as the secondary antenna for 698–960 and 1710–2690 MHz. Thus the proposed antenna is an excellent candidate for LTE smartphones and mobile devices. [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 communication, the design procedure of a wideband antenna with omnidirectional radiation pattern is demonstrated based on the theory of characteristic modes. Consisting of a dipole and a loop antenna, the antenna has a very simple structure. A wide impedance bandwidth is obtained because of the simultaneous excitation of the antenna’s first two modes. Meanwhile, due to the fact that these two modes share a similar omnidirectional radiation pattern, a stable radiation pattern is also achieved across the operating frequency band. In order to identify the antenna’s different modes, a characteristic mode analysis of the antenna is carried out first. Then, a feed configuration is specifically designed to excite the desired modes. To validate the antenna design, a prototype was fabricated and tested. Measured results agree well with the simulated ones. Measurement shows that a wide impedance bandwidth of 44.2% with \vert \textS11\vert < -10 dB (1.85–2.9 GHz) and stable radiation patterns at both E-plane and H-plane were achieved over the operating frequency band. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we investigated pollen assemblages of 92 lake center surface sediments of arid and semi-arid northern China to statistically disclose the pollen–vegetation relationships at the regional scale and explore considerations and limitations for lacustrine pollen-based reconstructions. As a result, the Principal component analysis (PCA), the Indicator species analysis, the Discriminate analysis (DA), the Random forest (RF), and the Supportive vector machine (SVM) generally reveal positive correlations between pollen assemblages and vegetation types or ecotones and suggests capabilities of pollen to represent regional vegetation and climate. However, the DA, RF, and SVM reveal that the samples of desert steppe, typical steppe, and meadow steppe cannot be differentiated by pollen assemblages, suggesting weaknesses to represent regional vegetation and climate. Mental test analyses of pollen assemblages and azonal vegetation of the dune desert and the Gobi desert yield better correlations than that of regional vegetation, suggesting that the pollen of azonal vegetation distort the regional pollen–vegetation relationships and thus weaken the capabilities to represent regional vegetation and climate. Our results present considerations and limitations for pollen-based past vegetation and climate reconstructions and provide references for interpretations of lacustrine fossil pollen records in arid and semi-arid northern China. • Lake surface sediment pollen–vegetation revealed general correlation relationships. • Azonal vegetation pollen bias regional pollen–vegetation relationships in desert. • Lake sediment pollen assemblages represent azonal vegetation better in desert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain size is commonly used as a proxy to reconstruct past lake hydrology; however, published research rarely links grain size with modern processes, and uncertainties exist for interpretation. In this paper, we decompose the grain size frequency distributions (GSFD) for 196 lake surface sediments from 61 lakes and 9 reservoirs across the Inner Mongolia Plateau and adjacent areas and divide them into five GSFD components. We statistically analyze the relationship between the GSFD components and influencing variables to determine the taphonomic dynamics and their environmental implications. Within individual lakes, we found that GSFD component 4 (74.00–209.30 μm) and GSFD component 5 (209.30–592.00 μm) dominate near the lake margin and reduce toward the lake center in proportions. By contrast, GSFD component 2 (2.75–15.56 μm) increases toward the lake center. Therefore, the proportions of GSFD component 2, 4, and 5 reflect the relative distance to the lakeshore and allow inferences about lake area changes. We apply this large modern dataset to a sediment core obtained from Lake Wulanhushao (WLHS) on the Inner Mongolia Plateau and link the lake surface sediment-based GSFD components to BEMMA end-members of grain size records to define their environmental implications over the last 18.59 cal. kyrs BP. We found that the Lake WLHS has responded to the orbital and suborbital climate changes since the last deglaciation. Specifically, maximum lake transgression prevailed during the early to middle Holocene (11.70–7.10 cal. kyr BP), medium lake transgression dominated during 17.05–15.80 cal. kyr BP, and weak transgression developed during 14.60–12.90 cal. kyr BP. Maximum lake regressions prevailed before 17.05 cal. kyr BP, during 15.80–14.60 cal. kyr BP and 12.90–11.70 cal. kyr BP. Our reconstructed early Holocene maximum lake area is consistent with regional abiotic proxy-based moisture records, but contrasts with the regional biotic proxy-based moisture records, which reconstruct increasing moisture conditions. Our new method to determine lake area changes will provide valuable data to understand the climate dynamics of northern China. • We numerically revealed the environmental implications of grain size components of lake surface sediment. • Linking lake surface sediment grain size component to core end members provide basis for interpretations. • Maximum lake transgression prevailed during the early Holocene in northern China. • Abiotic proxies-based early Holocene lake transgression is distinct with biotic proxies' reconstructions. [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]

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]

In this article, a novel self-decoupled multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna pair with a shared radiator is proposed for fifth-generation (5G) smartphones. In our approach, a radiator is directly excited by two feeding ports, and interestingly, the two ports are naturally isolated across a wide bandwidth without using any extra decoupling structures. To offer a deep physical insight of the self-decoupling mechanism, a mode-cancellation method based on the synthesis of common and differential modes is developed for the first time. The proposed self-decoupled antenna pair shows a good isolation of better than 11.5 dB across the 5G N77 band (3.3–4.2 GHz) with a radiation pattern diversity property. Based on the self-decoupled antenna pair, an $8 \times 8$ MIMO antenna system, constituted by four sets of antenna pairs, is simulated, fabricated, and measured to validate the concept. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed $8 \times 8$ MIMO system can offer an isolation of better than 10.5 dB between all ports and a high total efficiency of 63.1%–85.1% across 3.3–4.2 GHz. With the advantages of self-decoupling, shared radiator, simple structure, wide bandwidth, and high efficiency, the proposed design scheme exhibits promising potential for the future highly integrated MIMO antennas for 5G smartphones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploitation of efficient and stable photocatalyst for water splitting is pressing to solve the energy crisis. Four CdS@MoS2 nano‐heterojunctions were prepared by a single precursor thermal decomposition combined with one‐step hydrothermal method. The morphology of the prepared samples is spherical and has obvious core‐shell structure interface. The photocurrent of CdS@MoS2‐2 wt% is the largest, which is more over 40 times that of the pure CdS. In addition, CdS@MoS2‐2 wt% had superior photocatalytic H2 generation activity (20.23 mmol g−1 h−1) without any noble metal as a cocatalyst under visible light and show marked photocatalytic durability after a continuous test for 16 hours. This work provides a new insight for the design of core‐shell nano‐heterojunctions for other metal sulfide composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel concept of antenna design, termed differential mode/common mode (DM/CM) design, is proposed to achieve a highly integrated multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antenna unit in mobile terminals. The inspiration comes from a dipole fed by a differential line which can be considered a DM feed. What will happen if the DM feed is transformed into a CM feed? Some interesting features are provided in this article. By symmetrically placing one DM antenna and one CM antenna together, a DM/CM antenna can be achieved. Benefitting from the coupling cancellation of antiphase currents and the different distributions of the radiation currents, a DM/CM antenna can obtain high isolation and complementary patterns, even if the radiators of the DM and CM antennas are overlapped. Therefore, good MIMO performance can be realized in a very compact volume. To validate the concept, a miniaturized DM/CM antenna unit is designed for mobile phones. The 24.2 dB isolation and complementary patterns are achieved in the dimension of $0.330 \lambda _{0} \times 0.058\lambda _{0} \times 0.019 \lambda _{0}$ at 3.5 GHz. One $8 \times 8$ MIMO antenna array is constructed by using four DM/CM antenna units and shows good overall performance. The proposed concept of DM/CM design may also be promising for other applications that need high isolation between closely packed antenna elements and wide-angle pattern coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a polarization-orthogonal co-frequency dual antenna pair suitable for fifth-generation (5G) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) smartphone with metallic bezels. The proposed spatial-reuse dual antenna pair consists of a split on the metallic bezel and a slot on the mainboard ground, where the slot is centered on the split. Two orthogonal degenerate characteristic modes operating at half wavelength including in-phase current and slot modes can be excited on the same antenna structure. An end-shorted microstrip line that crosses the split is used to excite the in-phase current mode, producing $y$ -polarized radiation, while a symmetrical slot-centered Y-shaped feeding network with its shorted ends crossing the slot is adopted to excite the slot mode, producing $x$ -polarized radiation. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that a co-frequency dual antenna pair suitable for smartphone with metallic bezels is proposed. A sub-6 GHz dual antenna pair operating at 3.5 GHz that occupies a footprint of $25 \times 7 \times 1.5$ mm3 shows a simulated isolation better than −24.1 dB without any external decoupling measures and an envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) lower than 0.008. A four-antenna MIMO array is fabricated and measured to verify the feasibility. Across the operation band, the measured isolation of the antenna pair is better than −20.1 dB and other isolation levels are all better than −12.7 dB, the ECCs of any two antennas are lower than 0.13, and the total efficiency range of the four antennas is 35.2%~64.7%. The proposed dual antenna pair exhibits a great potential to be applied in future 5G MIMO smartphone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In , there are some mistakes in the antenna dimensions in on page 2672 and on page 2674. These two figures should be corrected as follows: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aberrant DNA methylation reduces the developmental competence of mammalian somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. Thus, hypomethylation-associated drugs are beneficial for improving reprogramming efficiency. Therefore, in the present study we investigated the effect of zebularine, a relatively novel DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, on the developmental potential of ovine SCNT embryos. First, reduced overall DNA methylation patterns and gene-specific DNA methylation levels at the promoter regions of pluripotency genes (octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4), SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2 (Sox2) and Nanog) were found in zebularine-treated cumulus cells. In addition, the DNA methylation levels in SCNT embryos derived from zebularine-treated cumulus cells were significantly reduced at the 2-, 4-, 8-cell, and blastocyst stages compared with their corresponding controls (P < 0.05). The blastocyst rate was significantly improved in SCNT embryos reconstructed by the cumulus donor cells treated with 5 nM zebularine for 12 h compared with the control group (25.4±1.6 vs 11.8±1.7%, P < 0.05). Moreover, the abundance of Oct4 and Sox2 mRNA was significantly increased during the preimplantation stages after zebularine treatment (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the results indicate that, in an ovine model, zebularine decreases overall DNA methylation levels in donor cumulus cells and reconstructed embryos, downregulates the DNA methylation profile in the promoter region of pluripotency genes in donor cells and ultimately elevates the expression of pluripotency genes in the reconstructed embryos, which can lead to improved development of SCNT embryos. Zebularine improves the efficiency of somatic cell nuclear transfer. This study used zebularine in ovine cloning and found that zebularine decreased DNA methylation levels overall and in the promoters of pluripotency genes in donor cells, leading to improved pluripotency gene expression and ultimately increasing the developmental potential of cloned embryos. Thus, zebularine is beneficial for ovine cloning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new miniature circular high-impedance surface (HIS) is used to design a compact and low-profile multi-in multi-out (MIMO) antenna for wearable applications. The antenna is designed to operate from 2.4 to 2.49 GHz for wireless local area network application. By employing a pair of degenerated characteristic modes of a circular loop antenna, the MIMO antenna can achieve a good port-to-port isolation (>15 dB) without increasing its geometric size. A four-element HIS is chosen to match the antenna profile, and a 2 dBi antenna gain improvement is observed. The design was optimized considering the effect of packaging and then a prototype with the optimal parameters was fabricated and tested. Measurement results are in good agreement with simulation results. Furthermore, the loading effect due to lossy human tissue is also considered and the results show that the antenna has a robust performance against the human phantom and a low specific absorption rate can also be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A small-size 40 mm × 10 mm coupled-fed antenna for hepta-band WWAN/LTE metal-ring-frame (MRF) smartphone applications is investigated. Unlike conventional solutions that remove the redundant resonances excited by the MRF, the proposed antenna makes full use of the MRF resonances. By meticulously co-design the antenna and MRF, multi-resonance frequencies are excited and integrated, which results in achieving hepta-band operation for an MRF smartphone antenna. Detail design considerations and experimental results of the proposed antenna are provided and analyzed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:633-639, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submarine pipelines that transport crude oil and natural gas are often in a complex marine geological environment and may become unstable and fail upon impact by submarine landslides. Previous research has mostly focused on the impact forces exerted by submarine landslides on suspended pipelines, but the impact of submarine landslides on pipelines laid on the seafloor at various impact angles, θ , have been relatively infrequently discussed, and the effects of suspended height, H , on the impact forces exerted by submarine landslides on pipelines have not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, based on the Herschel–Bulkley model, the impact forces exerted by a submarine landslide on laid-on or suspended pipelines at various impact angles θ were simulated using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. Equations for calculating the axial and normal drag coefficients of a submarine pipeline were proposed. The CFD numerical simulation results were rearranged based on the soil mechanics approach. By comparing the parameters, an essentially corresponding relationship was found between the soil mechanics and CFD approaches when the equations were used to calculate the impact forces exerted by a submarine landslide on a pipeline. In addition, a semi-analytical expression for the failure envelope was provided. Furthermore, the effects of H on the forces on a pipeline were discussed, and an equation for calculating the acting forces on a pipeline along the flow direction of a submarine landslide that comprehensively accounts for the effects of θ and H was proposed. The lift force was discussed preliminarily and the results provide a basis for further investigation. The achievement of this study is applicable for selecting locations of submarine pipeline routes and for designing submarine pipelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]