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Chest and sinus CT imaging among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant in the setting of neutropenic fever is not uncommon, yet the utility of routine imaging surveillance remains unclear. We aim to compare the rates of acute infection detected on CT chest and CT sinus exams performed in this clinical setting.Reports of 1059 consecutive CT chest and sinus examinations for the clinical indication of neutropenic fever on 262 patients performed between January through June 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Infection as reported was characterized as acute or worsening, improving, stable, indeterminate or negative. Results were tabulated and Pearson's chi-square test was used for comparison analysis.Absence of infection on CT sinus was significantly higher than CT chest (86.1% vs. 58.5%; P0.001). Conversely, CT chest had significantly higher incidence of acute or worsening infection than CT sinus (28.7% vs. 11.6%; P0.001). CT chest also showed significantly higher incidence of improving infection compared to CT sinus (6.2% vs. 1.1%; P0.001). There was no significant difference between incidence of stable infection on CT chest and CT sinus (1.1% vs. 0.2%; P=0.059). Infection was indeterminate in 5.5% of CT chest vs. 1% on CT sinus (P0.001).CT chest showed significantly higher diagnostic yield for acute infection than CT sinus, suggesting that sinusitis is less likely to be the source of fever than chest infections in febrile neutropenic patients. The majority of CT studies showed absence of infection, raising the question of the overall utility of routine surveillance CT imaging among this subset of patients.

Anterolateral open thoracotomy still remains the gold standard by which all other approaches are compared. Excellent direct visualization of neural elements and multilevel access are clear advantages, although morbidity and need for access surgeons are the major disadvantages. Nearly all patients demonstrate good neurologic outcomes.

OBJECTIVES Collaboration and diversity of expertise are increasingly emphasized in the production of successful research. However, the degree of cross-disciplinary collaboration in otolaryngology research is unknown. In this study, we quantify cross-disciplinary collaboration in otolaryngology publications. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed authorship and study characteristics for all original articles published from January 2014 to December 2016 in three key peer-reviewed otolaryngology journals: Laryngoscope, Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, and JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Author affiliations and online searches were used to determine author's primary discipline. Subspecialty topic of article, study design, and funding sources were also recorded. Fisher exact test was used to compare characteristics of articles with and without cross-disciplinary authorship. RESULTS A total of 2,378 articles were reviewed, of which 1,312 (55%) articles had one or more cross-disciplinary collaborators. Among articles with cross-disciplinary collaboration, the greatest representation of disciplines was from other medical specialties (1,109, 50.9%), epidemiology/biostatistics (266, 12.2%), pathology/histology (175, 8.0%), biologic sciences (168, 7.7%), and radiology/imaging (144, 6.6%). Cross-disciplinary studies had a significantly greater proportion of articles on the topic of head and neck compared to studies without collaboration (P < 0.0001). The proportion of funded studies was significantly greater among articles with collaboration compared to articles without collaboration (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION The majority of articles published during a 3-year period in three influential otolaryngology journals had cross-disciplinary collaboration. There is potential opportunity for further leveraging expertise, funding opportunities, and dissemination of key findings through collaborative research. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA Laryngoscope, 129:1800-1805, 2019.

On nonradiative wireless power transfer (WPT) using a pair of magnetically coupled resonators, we investigate the achievable transmission efficiency for a different set of resonators. Using a simplified equivalent circuit model, we analyze the phenomenon of frequency splitting mathematically in the overcoupled region ( $k > k_{\rm {ref}}$ ). Even though the transmission efficiency tends to gradually decrease as the distance between the two resonators gets closer and closer in the overcoupled region, the transmission efficiency can be improved by tracking one of two separated frequency modes. Based on this observation, we prove mathematically that the achievable transmission efficiency at $k_{\rm {ref}}$ is maintained almost constantly even when $k > k_{\rm {ref}}$ if the identical resonators are used. In order to validate the accuracy of the analysis, we design and fabricate two types of magnetically coupled resonators: one is the set of identical resonators and the other is the set of nonidentical resonators. Through experiments in various environments, we show that the analytical results are in good agreement with the measured ones. Our work can provide an insight into design resonators for short-range WPT systems, in order to ensure better and stable performance.

To describe our institutional experience with MVP™ micro vascular plug systems for the treatment of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs). We performed a retrospective medical record review of 52 patients with 119 PAVMs treated exclusively with MVP™ systems (69 procedures/153 MVP™ systems) between July 2014 and July 2018. All patients had PAVMs with feeding artery diameters ≥ 2 mm. MVP™ systems were deployed according to physician preference. We collected patient demographic information; procedural data (including size of feeding artery, size and number of embolics used per PAVM, fluoroscopy time, contrast administration), technical success rates, complications, and persistence. Persistence was assessed using computed tomography angiography (CTA) performed 1–3 months and 3–5 years after embolization per clinical protocol. All procedures were technically successful without major complications. Mean feeding artery diameter was 3.3 ± 1.2 mm. Mean fluoroscopy time per procedure and contrast volume administered per procedure were 35 ± 16 min and 217 ± 101 mL, respectively. A mean of 1.3 ± 0.8 MVP™ systems was used per PAVM. There were no instances of persistence during a mean follow-up time of 328 ± 258 days (range 26 to 914 days). For PAVMs with feeding artery diameters of 2 to 7.9 mm (mean 3.3 ± 1.2 mm), MVP™ systems are safe and effective given their high technical success rates and lack of persistence. Further prospective work will be required to elucidate the advantages and disadvantages of these MVP™ systems for PAVM embolization. Level III.

This study documents the design of an electromagnetic energy transducer, which is used to convert ambient vibration into electrical energy. The response of the designed energy transducer is theoretically and experimentally analysed using a simple equivalent circuit model and magnetic field simulator in low-acceleration environments. For an electromagnetic energy transducer in ambient vibration, an approximate analytical expression is derived for the extracted power across a load. The energy transducer consists of four magnets (NdFeB, N35), two I-shaped magnetic cores, two U-shaped cores made of soft ferrite material, and a coil for induced voltage. The two U-shaped magnetic cores are surrounded by a coil with an approximate 3000 turn. The energy transducer is theoretically modelled using the commercial tool, COMSOL, and is experimentally validated through electrical measurements. The relation between the acceleration of vibration and the maximum average power that can be extracted at the optimal load was also studied. The size of the electromagnetic energy transducer is 43 × 37 × 80 mm 3 . The energy transducer has a maximum average power of 3.24 mW at a frequency of 28 Hz and an acceleration of 0.4 g , and has a maximum average power of 3.83 mW at a frequency of 31 Hz and an acceleration of 0.5 g .

Low-flow vascular malformations are congenital lesions that can occur throughout the body. Treatment of these lesions is indicated to ameliorate pain, cosmetic disfigurement, and functional impairment. The first-line treatment of low-flow vascular malformations is percutaneous sclerotherapy. Traditionally, sclerotherapy is performed with a combination of ultrasound and fluoroscopy. However, malformations that are deep in the abdomen and pelvis or are obscured by overlying fascia or scar may be difficult to be visualized with ultrasound and fluoroscopy. MR-guided sclerotherapy has emerged as an alternative modality that can be used to needle guidance and sclerosant monitoring. In this review, we discuss the historical and current use of MR-guided sclerotherapy for the treatment of low-flow vascular malformations.

The discovery of powerful genetic targets has spurred clinical development of gene therapy approaches to treat patients with malignant brain tumors. However, lack of success in the clinic has been attributed to the inability of conventional gene vectors to achieve gene transfer throughout highly disseminated primary brain tumors. Here, we demonstrate ex vivo that small nanocomplexes composed of DNA condensed by a blend of biodegradable polymer, poly(β-amino ester) (PBAE), with PBAE conjugated with 5 kDa polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules (PBAE-PEG) rapidly penetrate healthy brain parenchyma and orthotopic brain tumor tissues in rats. Rapid diffusion of these DNA-loaded nanocomplexes observed in fresh tissues ex vivo demonstrated that they avoided adhesive trapping in the brain owing to their dense PEG coating, which was critical to achieving widespread transgene expression throughout orthotopic rat brain tumors in vivo following administration by convection enhanced delivery. Transgene expression with the PBAE/PBAE-PEG blended nanocomplexes (DNA-loaded brain-penetrating nanocomplexes, or DNA-BPN) was uniform throughout the tumor core compared to nanocomplexes composed of DNA with PBAE only (DNA-loaded conventional nanocomplexes, or DNA-CN), and transgene expression reached beyond the tumor edge, where infiltrative cancer cells are found, only for the DNA-BPN formulation. Finally, DNA-BPN loaded with anti-cancer plasmid DNA provided significantly enhanced survival compared to the same plasmid DNA loaded in DNA-CN in two aggressive orthotopic brain tumor models in rats. These findings underscore the importance of achieving widespread delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids within brain tumors and provide a promising new delivery platform for localized gene therapy in the brain.

Rationale: We present the case of a patient with autoimmune hepatitis who suffered fatal intracardiac and pulmonary arterial thromboembolic complications after ABO-incompatible living donor liver transplantation (ABOi LDLT) with splenectomy. Patient concerns: A 46-year-old female (blood type B+) with autoimmune hepatitis and hepatitis B carrier status underwent elective ABOi LDLT. The donor liver was from a 51-year-old male living donor (blood type A+). A splenectomy was performed without bleeding complications. Intraoperatively, the patients hemodynamic condition was acceptable, with no evidence of thromboembolism on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Diagnosis: Postoperatively, her platelet count increased from 15.0 to 263.0 (× 109/L) and thromboelastographic parameters indicated hypercoagulable state. She suffered acute circulatory collapse, respiratory distress and, eventually, a decline in mental status. The attending physicians in the intensive care unit (ICU) immediately performed resuscitation. Interventions: The patient underwent emergency exploratory surgery. Intraoperatively, hypotension, bradycardia and arrhythmia developed, together with high central venous pressure. Assessment of cardiac structure and function using rescue TEE incidentally identified multiple, huge thromboembolic clots in the cardiac chambers; therefore, the patient underwent cardiac thromboembolectomy, including cardiopulmonary bypass with hypothermia therapy. Outcomes: Due to severe cardiac and respiratory distress, the patient required venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VAECMO) in the operating room and ICU. Despite continuous resuscitation in the ICU and maintenance of VAECMO, she suffered severe hypotension and massive bleeding that eventually led to death. Lessons: In patients with autoimmune hepatitis, risk factors for thromboembolism should be rigorously controlled during the peak period of reactive thrombocytosis after ABOi LDLT with splenectomy.

Collaboration and diversity of expertise are increasingly emphasized in the production of successful research. However, the degree of cross-disciplinary collaboration in otolaryngology research is unknown. In this study, we quantify cross-disciplinary collaboration in otolaryngology publications.We retrospectively analyzed authorship and study characteristics for all original articles published from January 2014 to December 2016 in three key peer-reviewed otolaryngology journals: Laryngoscope, Otolaryngology-HeadNeck Surgery, and JAMA Otolaryngology-HeadNeck Surgery. Author affiliations and online searches were used to determine author's primary discipline. Subspecialty topic of article, study design, and funding sources were also recorded. Fisher exact test was used to compare characteristics of articles with and without cross-disciplinary authorship.A total of 2,378 articles were reviewed, of which 1,312 (55%) articles had one or more cross-disciplinary collaborators. Among articles with cross-disciplinary collaboration, the greatest representation of disciplines was from other medical specialties (1,109, 50.9%), epidemiology/biostatistics (266, 12.2%), pathology/histology (175, 8.0%), biologic sciences (168, 7.7%), and radiology/imaging (144, 6.6%). Cross-disciplinary studies had a significantly greater proportion of articles on the topic of head and neck compared to studies without collaboration (P0.0001). The proportion of funded studies was significantly greater among articles with collaboration compared to articles without collaboration (P0.0001).The majority of articles published during a 3-year period in three influential otolaryngology journals had cross-disciplinary collaboration. There is potential opportunity for further leveraging expertise, funding opportunities, and dissemination of key findings through collaborative research.NA Laryngoscope, 129:1800-1805, 2019.

Background The ratio of T helper 1 (Th1) to T helper 2 (Th2) as well as T helper 17 (Th17) to regulatory T cells (Treg) represents the state and direction of immune response. Recent studies demonstrated that dexmedetomidine reduced the secretion of inflammatory cytokines. We performed this study to investigate the effect of different doses of intraoperative dexmedetomidine on the expression of Th1, Th2, T17 and Treg cytokines and their ratios. Methods Seventy-five patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly separated into one of three groups: the full dose group (n = 25), in which dexmedetomidine was infused with a 1.0 μg/kg loading followed by an infusion of 0.5 μg/kg/min after anaesthetic induction, or the half dose group (n = 26), in which the dose was half of that of full dose group, or the saline group (n = 24) which was control. T cell cytokines were quantified by sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay for blood samples taken after anaesthetic induction (T0), at the end of surgery (T1), and 60 min after surgery (T2). IFN-gamma/IL-4 and IL-17/IL-10, which represent the ratio of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg cytokines, respectively, were calculated as indices of immune cell levels based upon serum cytokines levels in place of direct measurements. C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were measured on the next day following surgery. Results The full dose group was associated with higher ratios of IFN-gamma/IL-4 than those of half dose group and control [10.1 vs. 1.9 at T1 (P = 0.041) compared with half dose group, and 10.1 vs. 0.2 at T1 (P = 0.031), 7.4 vs. 0.1 at T2 (P = 0.025) compared with control]. IL-17/IL-10 ratios were higher in the full dose group than those in control [4.2 vs. 0.6 at T1 (P = 0.013), 3.0 vs. 0.3 at T2 (P = 0.011)]. The CRP levels were lower in the dexmedetomidine-treated groups in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions Dexmedetomidine exhibits immunomodulatory effects, shifting the Th1/Th2 and T17/Treg cytokine balance toward Th1 and T17, respectively, in a dose-dependent pattern in patients with surgical and anaesthetic stress. Trial registration Clinical Research Information Service, Republic of Korea (CRIS); KCT0000503; Registration date: Aug 13, 2012.

This article presents a linearly polarized slot-array antenna that consists of a slot series-fed by a microstrip line for radio frequency identification (RFID) shelf applications in the ultra-high frequency band in which the end of the microstrip line is shorted to the ground plane by a via-hole. The radiating element is a U-shaped slot etched in the ground plane on one side of a substrate and the microstrip line for feeding is etched on the other. The designed 6 × 3 array antenna has the near-field distribution of electric field intensity from 0.5 to 3.36 V/m for RFID shelf applications. The fractional bandwidth for a reflection coefficient of less than −10 dB is approximately 5.5% at 920 MHz, ranging from 892 to 943 MHz. The antenna installed in the RFID shelf stably reads pharmaceutical products with various package options on the shelf. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:1511–1515, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27653

Family dissolution and economic difficulties of the grandchild's parents are the most prevailing reason for an increase of grandparent-headed families in rural Korea. However, there is a lack of empirical research looking at the experiences of custodial grandmothers, social support, and their psychological well-being. In this regard, this study examined the effect of social support (formal & informal) on the psychological well-being of custodial grandmothers in rural Korea. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative research methods were conducted. Quantitative data were gathered, using structured questionnaire, from 311 grandmothers who were raising their grandchildren in rural Korea as primary care-givers. Statistical methods used for data analysis were descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS WIN 19.0 programs. Qualitative data were collected by in-depth interviews to 10 custodial grandmothers in rural area. The results of this study are as follows. First, almost half of the parents of the grandchild didn't visit and didn't call anymore. Some relatives -aunt, uncle, etc.- support the grandparent-headed family economically and emotionally. 3/4 of the grandparent-headed families were supported by the government and community. This was not small numbers, but the amount of economic support was low. Second, grandmothers in the study showed quite a high level of depression while their happiness level was relatively low. There were differences in the factors influencing the level of happiness/depression of these rural grandmothers. Overall, the study's results showed the importance of formal & informal support for psychological well-being of the custodial grandmothers in rural Korea. Policy and theoretical implications are discussed.

In this paper, we present a demodulation structure suitable for a reader baseband receiver in a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) environment. In a passive RFID configuration, an undesirable DC-offset phenomenon may appear in the baseband of the reader receiver, which can severely degrade the performance of the extraction of valid information from the received tag signal. To eliminate this DC-offset phenomenon, the primary feature of the proposed demodulation structures for the received FM0 and Miller subcarrier signals is to reconstruct the signal corrupted by the DC-offset phenomenon by creating peak signals from the corrupted signal. It is shown that the proposed method can successfully detect valid data, even when the received baseband signal is distorted by the DC-offset phenomenon.

The characteristics of high heat input (342kJ/cm) EG (Electro Gas Arc) welded joint of EH36-TM steel has been investigated. The weld metal microstructure consisted of fine acicular ferrite (AF), a little volume of polygonal ferrite (PF) and grain boundary ferrite (GBF). Charpy impact test results of the weld metal and heat affected zone (HAZ) met the requirement of classification rule (Min. 34J at -20 ℃). In order to evaluate the relationship between the impact toughness property and the grain size of HAZ, the austenite grain size of HAZ was measured. The prior austenite grain size in Fusion line (F.L+0.1 mm) was about 350 ㎛. The grain size in F.L+1.5 mm was measured to be less than 30 ㎛ and this region was identified as being included in FGHAZ(Fine Grain HAZ). It is seen that as the austenite grain size decreases, the size of GBF, FSP (Ferrite Side Plate) become smaller and the impact toughness of HAZ increases. Therefore, the CGHAZ was considered to be area up to 1.3mm away from the fusion line. Results of TEM replica analysis for a welded joint implied that very small size (0.8~1.2㎛) oxygen inclusions played a role of forming fine acicular ferrite in the weld metal. A large amount of (Ti, Mn, Al)xOy oxygen inclusions dispersed, and oxides density was measured to be 4,600-5,300 (ea/mm2). During the welding thermal cycle, the area near a fusion line was reheated to temperature exceeding 1400℃. However, the nitrides and carbides were not completely dissolved near the fusion line because of rapid heating and cooling rate. Instead, they might grow during the cooling process. TiC precipitates of about 50 ~100nm size dispersed near the fusion line.Key Words : EH36-TM steel, High heat input, EGW, Grain boundary ferrite, Acicular ferrite, Polygonal ferrite, Prior Austenite Grain Size, Oxygen inclusions

In this article, we present a subcarrier demodulation structure to eliminate an undesirable DC-offset phenomenon, which may appear in the baseband of the reader receiver under passive radio frequency identification environment.To achieve the requirement, the primary feature of the proposed demodulation structure is to reconstruct the signal corrupted by the DC-offset phenomenon by creating peak signals from the corrupted signal. In the case of the Miller subcarrier signal, the phase inversion information in the symbol duration is used for generating the peak signal. It is shown that the proposed method can successfully detect valid data from the received signal, even when the received baseband signal is distorted by the DC-offset phenomenon. In addition, the performance of the proposed method is slightly better than or comparable to that of the well-known-matched filter-type baseband receiver in the band-limited channel environments. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:1264–1272, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25995

Rationale:Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a rare life-threatening condition that accompanies general anesthesia. Negative-pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) is a rare cause of DAH.Patient concerns:A 25-year-old male patient developed hemoptysis following remifentanil administration by bolu

A UHF band near-field antenna using microstrip lines and stubs for tagging stacked tags in a smart table is presented. It is shown that a suitable near-field reader antenna can be designed from signal lines, ground lines, and several stubs to generate coupled electric and magnetic fields. The proposed near-field reader antenna satisfactorily operates in a UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) smart table, and the measurements show that the antenna is capable of detecting 200 stacked tags in a reading area of 200 mm × 190 mm and achieves a detection rate of 97% when the tags are stacked in a smart table. The proposed UHF RFID smart table is successfully implemented for casino chip management. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 52: 1116–1119, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.25115

In this paper, we present a demodulation structure suitable for a reader receiver in a passive Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) environment. In a passive RFID configuration, undesirable DC-offset phenomenon may appear in the baseband of the reader receiver. As a result, this DC-offset phenomenon can severely degrade the performance of the extraction of valid information from a received signal in the reader receiver. To mitigate the DC-offset phenomenon, we propose a demodulation structure to reconstruct a corrupted signal with the DC-offset phenomenon, by extracting useful transition information from the corrupted signal. It is shown that the proposed method can successfully detect valid data from a received signal, even when the received baseband signal is distorted with the DC-offset phenomenon.

In this paper, we propose a new antenna design method for RFID tass on metallic surfaces using a low-cost, high-loss substrate such as FR4. The proposed design method highly reduces the substrate loss due to its dielectric loss, and so improves the radiation efficiency of the tag antenna more than double compared with a conventional PIFA(planar inverted-F antenna). The equivalent circuit model of the antenna according to the proposed method was established and its characteristics were analyzed systematically in this paper. The excellency of the proposed design method was verified by the fabrication and measurement of a prototype antenna.

This article presents the design of a small- and low-profile radio frequency identification tag antenna in the UHF band that can be stuck to metallic objects. The designed tag antenna, which uses a ceramic material as an antenna substrate, consists of a radiating patch and microstrip lines for a proximity-coupled feeding structure. Impedance matching can be simply obtained between the antenna and tag chip without any matching network using the antenna structure. The return-loss bandwidth for S11 < 10 dB and radiation efficiency are about 9.5 MHz and 40% at 911 MHz, respectively. The read range is approximately from 3 to 3.5 m when the tag antenna is mounted on a metallic surface. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 2978–2981, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23831

UHF RFID systems are exposed to multipath fading inherent to the wireless channel. Due to fading, the reliability of RFID systems is significantly reduced, which hampers their widespread introduction into the market. Recently, some researchers report that the RFID readers employing the receive diversity can deal with the multipath fading problem.

Gene therapy has emerged as an alternative for the treatment of diseases refractory to conventional therapeutics. Synthetic nanoparticle-based gene delivery systems offer highly tunable platforms for the delivery of therapeutic genes. However, the inability to achieve sustained, high-level transgene expression in vivo presents a significant hurdle. The respiratory system, although readily accessible, remains a challenging target, as effective gene therapy mandates colloidal stability in physiological fluids and the ability to overcome biological barriers found in the lung. We formulated highly stable DNA nanoparticles based on state-of-the-art biodegradable polymers, poly(β-amino esters) (PBAEs), possessing a dense corona of polyethylene glycol. We found that these nanoparticles efficiently penetrated the nanoporous and highly adhesive human mucus gel layer that constitutes a primary barrier to reaching the underlying epithelium. We also discovered that these PBAE-based mucus-penetrating DNA nanoparticles (PBAE-MPPs) provided uniform and high-level transgene expression throughout the mouse lungs, superior to several gold standard gene delivery systems. PBAE-MPPs achieved robust transgene expression over at least 4 mo following a single administration, and their transfection efficiency was not attenuated by repeated administrations, underscoring their clinical relevance. Importantly, PBAE-MPPs demonstrated a favorable safety profile with no signs of toxicity following intratracheal administration.

Novel slot-shaped defected ground structures (DGSs) on the microstrip line are presented to provide a band-rejection property with an improved Q factor. Two different geometries (U-slot and V-slot) are investigated. U-slot and V-slot DGSs have simple shapes compared to the conventional DGSs, however, they provide more steep rejection characteristics. The Q factor of the band-rejection property for the U-slot DGS increases when the distance between two slots in the U-shape decreases. Similarly, the V-slot DGS provides a higher Q characteristic when the slot angle is reduced. Two bandstop filters are designed and fabricated employing three cascaded U-slot DGSs and V-slot DGSs, respectively. Experimental result shows that the high-Q band-rejection filter with three U-slot DGSs provides Q of 38.6. A fabricated filter with three cascaded V-slot DGSs also rejects the signals at the frequencies from 3.5 to 4.3 GHz with more than 20-dB suppression

An orthogonal antenna is presented for reader applications of radio frequency identification (RFID) at 433 MHz. The antenna is composed of two 1 times 2 subarrays orthogonally placed on a ground plane. Two different feeding networks are introduced to control horizontal and vertical radiation current flows for each subarray, respectively. An inverted-F structure is used as a radiation element with vertical and horizontal currents flowing on the radiator, thereby obtaining two linear polarizations. Antenna gains are 3.71 and 3.43 dBi and isolation between the two input ports is less than 25 dB

The effect of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CyD) on the aqueous solubility and chemical stability of O-(4-Dimethylaminoethoxycinnamoyl)fumagillol (CKD-732), a new angiogenesis inhibitor, was investigated with an aim of preparing a stable and effective parenteral formulation. The CKD-732/HP-beta-CyD inclusion complex was obtained in solid state by freeze-drying and characterized in solution by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). Then, the pharmacokinetic profile in rats and the in vivo tumor growth inhibitory activity in mice following the parenteral administration of aqueous CKD-732/HP-beta-CyD complex were compared to those of CKD-732.hemioxalate solution having an equivalent concentration. The aqueous solubility of CKD-732 was markedly increased by the combination of pH adjustment and HP-beta-CyD complexation through a soluble 1:1 inclusion complex formation, which was supported by NMR spectroscopy. The hydrolysis of CKD-732 following pseudo first-order kinetics was decelerated moderately but significantly in acidic and basic solutions in the presence of HP-beta-CyD. The stability of lyophilized CKD-732/HP-beta-CyD complex was also drastically improved after storage in various conditions. The intravenous pharmacokinetic profile and the subcutaneous in vivo tumor growth inhibitory activity of aqueous CKD-732/HP-beta-CyD complex were not significantly different from those of CKD-732.hemioxalate solution with the favorable reduction of irritation. These results demonstrate that the CKD-732/HP-beta-CyD complex is an attractive formulation for use in the parenteral delivery of CKD-732.

The pharmacokinetics of CKD-732 (6-O-4-[dimethyl-aminoethoxy)cinnamoyl]-fumagillol x hemioxalate) was investigated in male SD rats and beagle dogs after bolus intravenous administration. The parent compound and metabolites obtained from in vitro and in vivo samples were determined by LC/MS. The main metabolite was isolated and identified as an N-oxide form of CKD-732 by NMR and LC/MS/MS. CKD-732 was metabolized into either M11 or others by rapid hydroxylation, demethylation, and hydrolysis. The blood level following the intravenous route declined in first-order kinetics with T(1/2)beta values of 0.72 to approximately 0.78 h for CKD-732 and 0.92 to approximately 1.09 h for M11 in rats at a dose of 7.5 to approximately 30 mg/kg. In dogs, T(1/2)beta values of CKD-732 and M11 were 1.54 and 1.79 h, respectively. Moreover, AUC values increased dose dependently for CKD-732 and M11 in rats and dogs. The CLtot and Vdss did not change significantly with increasing dose, indicating linear pharmacokinetic patterns. The excretion patterns through the urine, bile, and feces were also examined in the animals. The total amount excreted in urine, bile, and feces was 2.13% for CKD-732 and 1.29% for M11 in rats, and 1.58% for CKD-732 and 2.28% for M11 in dogs.

A dielectric superstrate layer above a microstrip patch antenna has remarkable effects on its gain and resonant characteristics. This paper experimentally investigates the effect of a superstrate layer for high gain on microstrip patch antennas. We measured the gain of antennas with and without a superstrate and found that the gain of a single patch with a superstrate was enhanced by about 4 dBi over the one without a superstrate at 12 GHz. The impedance bandwidths of a single patch with and without a superstrate for VSWR < 2 were above 11%. The designed 2 ×8 array antenna using a superstrate had a high gain of over 22.5 dB and a wide impedance bandwidth of over 17%.

We have isolated two novel a-glucosidase inhibitors, O-[4-deoxy-4-(2,3-epoxy-3-hydroxymethyl-4,5,6-trihydroxycyclohexane-1-yl-amino)-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl]-(1-->4)-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-alpha-D-glucopyranose (named CKD-711) and its hexameric analog CKD-711a, from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces sp. CK-4416. HRFAB-MS and NMR analyses reveal that molecular formulae of CKD-711 and CKD-711a are C25H43NO20 and C37H63NO30, respectively with the latter containing two more glucose moieties than the former. Detailed chemical structures of both compounds have been characterized by high-resolution two-dimensional NMR methods.

4 very small patch-type RFID tag antenna (UHF band) using ceramic material mountable on metallic surfaces is presented. The size of the proposed tag is 25 mm x25 mm x3 mm. The impedance of the antenna can be easily matched to the tag chip impedance by adjusting the size of the shorting plate of the patch and the size of the feeding loop. The measured maximum reading distance of the tag at 910 MHz was 5 m when it was mounted on a 400 mm x 400 mm metallic surface. The proposed design is verified by simulation and measurements which show good agreement.

This letter presents the design of a small and low-profile RFID tag antenna in the UHF band that can be mounted on metallic objects. The designed tag antenna, which uses a ceramic material as a substrate, consists of a radiating patch and a microstrip line with two shorting pins for a proximity-coupled feeding structure. Using this structure, impedance matching can be simply obtained between the antenna and tag chip without a matching network. The fractional impedance bandwidth for S 11