Search

The supercooling degree (SD), which refers to the difference between the ice nucleation temperature and freezing point of kimchi, varies depending on the type of kimchi, manufacturer, recipe, and manufacturing season. The aim of this study is to investigate the major influencing factors for the supercooled storage of kimchi and to analyze the possibility of supercooled storage for commercial kimchi. Pearson correlation analysis determined that, in commercial kimchi manufactured between March and July 2018, the SD of kimchi correlated to the number of aerobic bacteria (P

For the fabrication of next-generation flexible metal oxide devices, solution-based methods are considered as a promising approach because of their potential advantages, such as high-throughput, large-area scalability, low-cost processing, and easy control over the chemical composition. However, to obtain certain levels of electrical performance, a high process temperature is essential, which can significantly limit its application in flexible electronics. Therefore, this article discusses recent research conducted on developing low-temperature, solution-processed, flexible, metal oxide semiconductor devices, from a single thin-film transistor device to fully integrated circuits and systems. The main challenges of solution-processed metal oxide semiconductors are introduced. Recent advances in materials, processes, and semiconductor structures are then presented, followed by recent advances in electronic circuits and systems based on these semiconductors, including emerging flexible energy-harvesting devices for self-powered systems that integrate displays, sensors, data-storage units, and information processing functions.

Hypertension and diabetes mellitus (DM) are major risk factors for the cardiovascular disease. In this retrospective cohort study, we compared the long-term clinical outcomes between antecedent hypertension and DM in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients after stent implantation.A total of 32 938 eligible AMI patients were enrolled and divided into the four groups according to the presence or absence of hypertension and DM (hypertension -/DM -[group A, 13 773 patients], hypertension +/DM -[group B, 10 395 patients], hypertension -/DM + [group C, 3050 patients], and hypertension +/DM + [group D, 5720 patients]). The clinical endpoint was the cumulative incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) defined as all-cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction (Re-MI) and any repeat revascularization during the 2-year follow-up period.After adjustment, the cumulative incidence of MACEs (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.232; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.982-1.567; P = .071), all-cause death, and e-MI Re-MI were similar between the group B and C. However, the cumulative incidences of any repeat revascularization (aHR, 1.438; 95% CI, 1.062-1.997; P = .007), target lesion revascularization (TLR) (aHR, 2.467; 95% CI, 1.552-3.922; P .001), and target vessel revascularization (TVR) (aHR, 1.671; 95% CI, 1.256-2.222; P .001) were significantly higher in group C compared with group B.This large number of a nonrandomized and multicenter cohort study clearly demonstrated the detrimental impacts of the hypertension and diabetes on long-term clinical outcomes. Moreover, higher incidence of repeat revascularization after PCI in diabetic AMI patients a major concern until recently.背景: 高血压和糖尿病(diabetes mellitus, DM)是心血管疾病的主要危险因素。在这项回顾性队列研究中, 我们比较了高血压和DM患者在因急性心肌梗死(acute myocardial infarction, AMI)接受支架置入术后的长期临床结局。 方法: 共入选了32 938名符合条件的AMI患者, 根据有无高血压和DM分为4组(高血压−/DM−[A组, 13 773例患者]；高血压+/DM−[B组, 10 395例患者]；高血压−/DM+[C组, 3050例患者]；以及高血压+/DM+[D组, 5720例患者])。临床终点为2年随访期间的主要不良心血管事件[MACEs, 定义全因死亡、复发性心肌梗死(Re-MI)和任何再次血运重建术]的累计发生率。 结果: 经过校正后, 发现B组C组之间的MACEs(校正后风险比[aHR], 1.232；95%置信区间[CI], 0.982-1.567；P=0.071)、全因死亡和e-MI Re-MI的累积发生率均相似。然而, 与B组相比, C组的任何再次血运重建术(aHR, 1.438；95% CI, 1.062-1.997；P=0.007)、靶病变血运重建术(target lesion revascularization, TLR)(aHR, 2.467；95% CI, 1.552-3.922；P0.001)以及靶血管血运重建术(target vessel revascularization, TVR)(aHR, 1.671；95% CI, 1.256-2.222；P0.001)的累积发生率均显著更高。 结论: 这项大型的非随机、多中心队列研究明确显示了高血压和糖尿病对长期临床结局的不利影响。此外, 糖尿病AMI患者接受PCI术后需要再次血运重建术的可能性更高, 这一点直到最近才引起关注。.

Artificial photonic synapses are emerging as a promising implementation to emulate the human visual cognitive system by consolidating a series of processes for sensing and memorizing visual information into one system. In particular, mimicking retinal functions such as multispectral color perception and controllable nonvolatility is important for realizing artificial visual systems. However, many studies to date have focused on monochromatic-light-based photonic synapses, and thus, the emulation of color discrimination capability remains an important challenge for visual intelligence. Here, an artificial multispectral color recognition system by employing heterojunction photosynaptic transistors consisting of ratio-controllable mixed quantum dot (M-QD) photoabsorbers and metal-oxide semiconducting channels is proposed. The biological photoreceptor inspires M-QD photoabsorbers with a precisely designed red (R), green (G), and blue (B)-QD ratio, enabling full-range visible color recognition with high photo-to-electric conversion efficiency. In addition, adjustable synaptic plasticity by modulating gate bias allows multiple nonvolatile-to-volatile memory conversion, leading to chromatic control in the artificial photonic synapse. To ensure the viability of the developed proof of concept, a 7 × 7 pixelated photonic synapse array capable of performing outstanding color image recognition based on adjustable wavelength-dependent volatility conversion is demonstrated.

Background Limited studies focused on long-term outcomes of statin therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with or without dyslipidemia after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the era of new-generation drug-eluting stents (DES). We thought to investigate 2-year clinical outcomes of statin therapy in these patients. Methods A total of 18,137 eligible AMI patients (from the Korea AMI Registry [KAMIR]) were finally enrolled and divided into four groups according to the presence or absence of dyslipidemia and statin therapy (dyslipidemia+/statin- [group A, 309 patients], dyslipidemia+/statin+ [group B, 2094 patients], dyslipidemia-/statin- [group C, 672 patients], dyslipidemia-/statin+ [group D, 15062 patients]). The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac event (MACE) defined as all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI) and revascularization. Results During the 2-year follow-up period, the cumulative incidence of MACE in the group A was higher than the group B (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.207; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.098-3.743; p = .024) and the group D (adjusted HR, 2.110; 95% CI, 1.240-3.593, p = .006). This significantly increased incidence of MACE caused by the higher cumulative incidences of all-cause death and cardiac death (CD) in the group A compared with groups B and D. However, the cumulative incidences of MI and revascularization were not significantly different among these four groups. Conclusion Statin therapy demonstrated significantly reduced incidences of MACE, all-cause death and CD compared with non-users after PCI in AMI patients with or without dyslipidemia during 2-year follow-up period in the era of new-generation DES.

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response syndrome due to microbial infection. Growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible 45 beta (GADD45β) are induced by genotoxic stress and inflammatory cytokines. However, the role of GADD45β during bacterial infection remains unclear. This study was aimed at investigating the role of GADD45β in sepsis. We used GADD45β-knockout (KO) mice and C57BL/6J wild-type (WT) mice. Experimental sepsis was induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration or cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Sepsis-induced mortality was higher in GADD45β-KO mice than in WT mice. Histopathological data demonstrated LPS treatment markedly increased lung injury in GADD45β-KO mice as compared to that in WT mice; however, no significant difference was observed in the liver and kidney. Further, mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as Il-1β, Il-6, Il-10, and Tnf-α, were higher in the lungs of LPS-treated GADD45β-KO mice than in WT mice. Interestingly, plasma levels of these inflammatory cytokines were decreased in LPS-administered GADD45β-KO mice. A significant increase in lung cell apoptosis was observed at early time points in GADD45β-KO mice after administration of LPS as compared to that in WT mice. In line with LPS-induced apoptosis, JNK, and p38 activity was higher in the lung of GADD45β-KO mice at 3 hr after LPS treatment than that in WT mice. In summary, this study is the first to demonstrate the protective role of GADD45β in sepsis and the results suggest that GADD45β could be used as a novel therapeutic target to cure sepsis.

The complete hardware implementation of an optoelectronic neuromorphic computing system is considered as one of the most promising solutions to realize energy-efficient artificial intelligence. Here, a fully light-driven and scalable optoelectronic neuromorphic circuit with metal-chalcogenide/metal-oxide heterostructure phototransistor and photovoltaic divider is proposed. To achieve wavelength-selective neural operation and hardware-based pattern recognition, multispectral light modulated bidirectional synaptic circuits are utilized as an individual pixel for highly accurate and large-area neuromorphic computing system. The wavelength selective control of photo-generated charges at the heterostructure interface enables the bidirectional synaptic modulation behaviors including the excitatory and inhibitory modulations. More importantly, a 7 × 7 neuromorphic pixel circuit array is demonstrated to show the viability of implementing highly accurate hardware-based pattern training. In both the pixel training and pattern recognition simulation, the neuromorphic circuit array with the bidirectional synaptic modulation exhibits lower training errors and higher recognition rates, respectively.

Optogenetics refers to a technique that uses light to modulate neuronal activity with a high spatiotemporal resolution, which enables the manipulation of learning and memory functions in the human brain. This strategy of controlling neuronal activity using light can be applied for the development of intelligent systems, including neuromorphic and in-memory computing systems. Herein, a flexible van der Waals (vdW) optoelectronic synapse is reported, which is a core component of optogenetics-inspired intelligent systems. This synapse is fabricated on 2D vdW layered rhenium disulfide (ReS2 ) that features an inherent photosensitive memory nature derived from the persistent photoconductivity (PPC) effect, successfully mimicking the dynamics of biological synapses. Based on first-principles calculations, the PPC effect is identified to originate from sulfur vacancies in ReS2 that have an inherent tendency to form shallow defect states near the conduction band edges and under optical excitation lead to large lattice relaxation. Finally, the feasibility of applying the synapses in optogenetics-inspired intelligent systems is demonstrated via training and inference tasks for the CIFAR-10 dataset using a convolutional neural network composed of vdW optoelectronic synapse devices.

A hierarchical architecture fabricated by integrating ultrafine titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanocrystals with the binder-free macroporous graphene (PG) network foam for high-performance energy storage is demonstrated, where mesoporous open channels connected to the PG facilitate rapid ionic transfer during the Li-ion insertion/extraction process. Moreover, the binder-free conductive PG network in direct contact with a current collector provides ultrafast electronic transfer. This structure leads to unprecedented cycle stability, with the capacity preserved with nearly 100% Coulombic efficiency over 10 000 Li-ion insertion/extraction cycles. Moreover, it is proven to be very stable while cycling 10 to 100-fold longer compared to typical electrode structures for batteries. This facilitates ultrafast charge/discharge rate capability even at a high current rate giving a very short charge/discharge time of 40 s. Density functional theory calculations also clarify that Li ions migrate into the TiO2–PG interface then stabilizing its binder-free interface and that the Li ion diffusion occurs via a concerted mechanism, thus resulting in the ultrafast discharge/charge rate capability of the Li ions into ultrafine nanocrystals.

A WSe2 -based vertical graphene-transition metal dichalcogenide heterojunction barristor shows an unprecedented on-current increase with decreasing temperature and an extremely high on/off-current ratio of 5 × 10(7) at 180 K (3 × 10(4) at room temperature). These features originate from a trap-assisted tunneling process involving WSe2 defect states aligned near the graphene Dirac point.

An ultra-thin and large-area skin-compatible heterogeneous organic/metal-oxide photosensor array is demonstrated which is capable of sensing and boosting signals with high detectivity and signal-to-noise ratio. For the realization of ultra-flexible and high-sensitive heterogeneous photosensor arrays on a polyimide substrate having organic sensor arrays and metal-oxide boosting circuitry, solution-processing and room-temperature alternating photochemical conversion routes are applied.

Nanocrystalline ZnO (nc-ZnO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) exhibit inherent instability under bias/photo stresses, which originates from the oxygen molecules adsorbed on the surface of the crystal grains. The space charge region at nanocrystal surfaces that is induced by adsorbed oxygen molecules produces a high electrical potential barrier and significantly interrupts charge transport between the source and drain in nc-ZnO TFTs. In this article, we developed high-performance TFTs via the continuous deposition of an extremely thin Al2O3 layer on a nc-ZnO channel. These devices were fabricated by atomic layer deposition at an extremely low process temperature of 150°C, including both the deposition and postannealing temperatures. The nc-ZnO TFT with an extremely thin Al2O3 layer (1.8 nm) showed a significantly higher mobility (25 cm2/Vs) compared to devices without an Al2O3 layer (3.6 cm2/Vs). This dramatic difference was ascribed to the suppression of the chemisorption of oxygen molecules at the nanocrystal surface during thermal annealing (reducing the potential barrier width/height between adjacent nanocrystals). Furthermore, ultrathin Al2O3-covered nc-ZnO TFTs exhibited considerably enhanced electrical/photo stability due to the reduction in adsorption/desorption events of oxygen molecules on the nanocrystal surfaces (with no change in the depletion width after illumination) under gate bias or illumination stress.

Conventional von Neumann–based computing systems have inherent limitations such as high hardware complexity, relatively inferior energy efficiency, and low bandwidth. As an alternative, neuromorphic computation is emerging as a platform for next‐generation artificial intelligence computing systems due to their potential advantages such as highly energy‐efficient computing, robust learning, fault tolerance, and parallel processing. Moreover, to further enhance the energy efficiency and processing speed, photonic‐based neuromorphic systems have gathered significant interest in the past few years. Herein, the recent progress and development of optoelectronic and all‐optical neuromorphic devices is summarized, focusing on their structures, materials, and potential applications. Particularly, for optoelectronic neuromorphic devices, devices with planar and vertical structures are described along with their key strategies in materials and device structures. Next, all‐optical memory and neuromorphic devices for neuromorphic computing are reviewed. Finally, the applications of optoelectronic neuromorphic devices are discussed for their potential utilization in neuromorphic computing systems.

The increasing interest in flexible and wearable electronics has demanded a dramatic improvement of mechanical robustness in electronic devices along with high-resolution implemented architectures. In this study, a site-specific stress-diffusive manipulation is demonstrated to fulfill highly robust and ultraflexible amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) and integrated circuits. The photochemically activated combustion sol-gel a-IGZO TFTs on a mesa-structured polyimide show an average saturation mobility of 6.06 cm2 V-1 s-1 and a threshold voltage of -0.99 V with less than 9% variation, followed by 10 000 bending cycles with a radius of 125 μm. More importantly, the site-specific monolithic formation of mesa pillar-structured devices can provide fully integrated logic circuits such as seven-stage ring-oscillators, meeting the industrially needed device density and scalability. To exploit the underlying stress-diffusive mechanism, a physical model is provided by using a variety of chemical, structural, and electrical characterizations along with multidomain finite-element analysis simulation. The physical models reveal that a highly scalable and robust device can be achieved via the site-specific mesa architecture, by enabling generation of multineutral layers and fine-tuning the accumulated stresses on specific element of devices with their diffusion out into the boundary of the mesa regions.

Despite intensive research on photochemical activation of sol–gel metal oxide materials, the relatively long processing time and lack of deep understanding of the underlying chemical courses have limited their broader impact on diverse materials and applications such as thin-film electronics, photovoltaics, and catalysts. Here, in-depth studies on the rapid photochemical activation of diverse sol–gel oxide films using various spectroscopic and electrical investigations for the underlying physicochemical mechanism are reported. Based on the exhaustive chemical and physical analysis, it is noted that deep ultraviolet-promoted rapid film formation such as densification, polycondensation, and impurity decomposition is possible within 5 min via in situ radical-mediated reactions. Finally, the rapid fabrication of all-solution metal oxide thin-film-transistor circuitry, which exhibits stable and reliable electrical performance with a mobility of >12 cm2 V−1 s−1 and an oscillation frequency of >650 kHz in 7-stage ring oscillator even after bending at a radius of

Incorporation of Zr into an AlOx matrix generates an intrinsically activated ZAO surface enabling the formation of a stable semiconducting IGZO film and good interfacial properties. Photochemically annealed metal-oxide devices and circuits with the optimized sol-gel ZAO dielectric and IGZO semiconductor layers demonstrate the high performance and electrically/mechanically stable operation of flexible electronics fabricated via a low-temperature solution process.

Emulating the biological visual perception system typically requires a complex architecture including the integration of an artificial retina and optic nerves with various synaptic behaviors. However, self-adaptive synaptic behaviors, which are frequently translated into visual nerves to adjust environmental light intensities, have been one of the serious challenges for the artificial visual perception system. Here, an artificial optoelectronic neuromorphic device array to emulate the light-adaptable synaptic functions (photopic and scotopic adaptation) of the biological visual perception system is presented. By employing an artificial visual perception circuit including a metal chalcogenide photoreceptor transistor and a metal oxide synaptic transistor, the optoelectronic neuromorphic device successfully demonstrates diverse visual synaptic functions such as phototriggered short-term plasticity, long-term potentiation, and neural facilitation. More importantly, the environment-adaptable perception behaviors at various levels of the light illumination are well reproduced by adjusting load transistor in the circuit, exhibiting the acts of variable dynamic ranges of biological system. This development paves a new way to fabricate an environmental-adaptable artificial visual perception system with profound implications for the field of future neuromorphic electronics.

Carrying out first-principles calculations, we study N-doped capped carbon nanotube (CNT) electrodes applied to DNA sequencing. While we obtain for the face-on nucleobase junction configurations a conventional conductance ordering where the largest signal results from guanine according to its high highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level, we extract for the edge-on counterparts a distinct conductance ordering where the low-HOMO thymine provides the largest signal. The edge-on mode is shown to operate based on a novel molecular sensing mechanism that reflects the chemical connectivity between N-doped CNT caps that can act both as electron donors and electron acceptors and DNA functional groups that include the hyperconjugated thymine methyl group., * manuscript: 20 pages, 6 figures * table of contents entry: 1 page, 1 figure * supplementary information: 9 pages, 6 figures

Here, we report a general route to form high-performance and stable solution-processed metal-oxide TFTs and circuits at room-temperature by deep-ultraviolet (DUV) photochemical activation The photo-enhanced DUV annealing induces condensation and densification of amorphous metal-oxide semiconductor films via photochemical reactions and film microstructure modifications by energetic photons. It was found that the photochemical annealing is effective in fabricating most metal-oxide semiconductors and the metal-oxide TFTs typically demonstrate comparable or even better electrical performance and operational stability with high-temperature (≥350C) annealed devices. The room-temperature fabricated metal-oxide TFTs and circuits have shown field-effect mobilities of more than 14 and 7 cm2 V−1 s−1 on glass and polymeric substrates, respectively. The fabricated 7-stage ring oscillators on polymeric substrates indicate oscillation frequency of > 340 kHz corresponding to propagation delay of < 210 ns per stage.

The electrical characteristics such as threshold voltage, saturation mobility, and electrical reliability of low temperature (350 °C) solution-processed zinc tin oxide (ZTO) thin film transistors (TFTs) were improved considerably by employing O2 plasma treatment. O2 plasma treatment was performed by plasma asher and causes preferential dissociation of weak halide-related bonding such as Cl bonding by ion bombardment. After O2 plasma treatment, the threshold voltage decreased from 25.0 to 10.7 V because of an increase in electron concentration due to the reduction of Cl bonding and simultaneous composition of O-related bonding. The saturation mobility was increased from 0.09 to 0.58 cm2 V−1 s−1 because of the increase in electron concentration and reduction of the halide residues such as Cl atoms acting as trap states by employing O2 plasma treatment. Moreover, the electrical reliability such as threshold voltage shift was improved from 5.34 to 3.23 V for positive gate bias-stress because O2 plasma reduced the halide residues such as Cl atoms acting as trap states.

Purpose We determined whether poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles would be a useful reagent for the successful monitoring of isolated islets by magnetic resonance imaging and optical imaging systems, without clinically relevant toxicity in vitro or in vivo. Methods We used iron oxide for MR imaging and a cyanide dye approved by the Food and Drug Administration (indocyanine green) for optical imaging and estimated the in vivo detection of transplanted pancreatic islets. Results The poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles were associated with the islets in vitro and were successfully detected by 4.7 T (MR) and optical imaging, without other toxic effects. When labeled islets were transplanted under the mouse kidney capsule, in vivo T2/ -weighted scans with 4.7 T MR detected as few as 300 labeled islets by 4 weeks. Optical in vivo imaging revealed indocyanine green fluorescence by 2 and 4 days after transplantation of islets containing 250 and 500 µg/mL poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles, respectively. These results were further supported by the immunohistochemical results for insulin and iron in the recipient mouse kidney and pancreas. Conclusions Taken together, these data indicate that poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles may be used to label transplanted islets and may be imaged with in vivo MR and optical imaging systems. Magn Reson Med 71:1054–1063, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Background and objective: One of the clinical manifestations of refractory asthma (RA) in a certain group of patients is persistent airway obstruction (PAO), despite treatment with high doses of inhaled and/or systemic corticosteroids. Airway neutrophilic inflammation is frequently observed in RA; however, the relationship between neutrophilic inflammation and PAO has not been evaluated in this group of patients. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical parameters and patterns of inflammatory cells between patients with or without PAO due to RA, and to identify the factors associated with PAO. Methods: Seventy-seven patients with RA were recruited from a cohort of 2298 asthmatic patients. Sputum differential cell counts were performed at initial presentation. Clinical and physiological parameters were compared between patients with (n = 19) or without PAO (n = 58). Results: The group with PAO had a longer duration of asthma and a higher frequency of near-fatal asthma than the non-PAO group, although higher doses of inhaled corticosteroids were used in the PAO group (P = 0.037). Neutrophilic inflammation was predominant in the group with PAO, whereas eosinophilic inflammation was predominant in the non-PAO group (P = 0.003). When both groups were stratified according to smoking status, the non-smoking PAO group had the longest duration of asthma, with early onset of asthma (P

Objective This study was undertaken to generate and characterize human induced pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) from patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and to examine whether these cells can be developed into disease-relevant cell types for use in disease modeling and drug discovery. Methods Human synovial cells isolated from two 71-year-old women with advanced OA were characterized and reprogrammed into induced PSCs by ectopic expression of 4 transcription factors (Oct-4, SOX2, Klf4, and c-Myc). The pluripotency status of each induced PSC line was validated by comparison with human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Results We found that OA patient–derived human synovial cells had human mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)–like characteristics, as indicated by the expression of specific markers, including CD14−, CD19−, CD34−, CD45−, CD44+, CD51+, CD90+, CD105+, and CD147+. Microarray analysis of human MSCs and human synovial cells further determined their unique and overlapping gene expression patterns. The pluripotency of established human induced PSCs was confirmed by their human ESC–like morphology, expression of pluripotency markers, gene expression profiles, epigenetic status, normal karyotype, and in vitro and in vivo differentiation potential. The potential of human induced PSCs to differentiate into distinct mesenchymal cell lineages, such as osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes, was further confirmed by positive expression of markers for respective cell types and positive staining with alizarin red S (osteoblasts), oil red O (adipocytes), or Alcian blue (chondrocytes). Functional chondrocyte differentiation of induced PSCs in pellet culture and 3-dimensional polycaprolactone scaffold culture was assessed by chondrocyte self-assembly and histology. Conclusion Our findings indicate that patient-derived synovial cells are an attractive source of MSCs as well as induced PSCs and have the potential to advance cartilage tissue engineering and cell-based models of cartilage defects.

Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) of the liver is a benign condition with a good prognosis. However, it is difficult to distinguish clinical and radiological findings of IPT from those of malignancies. The aims of this study are to determine the clinical, radiological, and pathological characteristics, particularly relating to the role of the autoimmune mechanism in the development of inflammatory pseudotumours (IPTs) of the liver, and to suggest appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic strategy.The clinical, diagnostic, and pathological characteristics including IgG4 immunohistochemical stain and follow-up data of 22 IPT patients were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were 16 men and 6 women with a mean age of 59 years. Fifteen patients (68.2%) had associated biliary diseases. Of the 16 patients treated conservatively, the masses completely resolved in 10 patients, and reduced in size in 5 patients within the first 6 months. The remaining 6 patients were treated by surgical resection. IgG4 staining of 17 tissue samples from 22 patients were negative, most of the infiltrate being of fibrohistiocytic type, whereas 4 of 5 lymphoplasmacytic cells of dominant tumors show positive staining of IgG4. Although IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis was mostly of lymphoplasmacytic type, other histological and clinical characteristics were similar in both types of IPTs.IPTs of the liver can be diagnosed based on radiological and pathological findings by needle biopsy. Although the lymphoplasmacytic type of IPTs seems to correspond to IgG4-related disease, as assessed by IgG4 immunohistochemical stain, its clinical significance is unknown. Although most IPTs can be resolved with conservative therapy, surgical resection should be considered in cases of uncertain biopsy result, presumed malignant lesion, combination with other pathology, or lack of response to conservative management.

This article presents the planar ultra-wide band (UWB) monopole antenna design and its impedance bandwidth improvement.Intially, a planar rectangualr monopole antenna is designed for UWB application. To enhance the impedance bandwidth of the antenna, the planar structure is modified by including a half circle at the right side edge of the rectangular patch and further notched at the other edge. Hence, the three planar monopole antenna designs are introduced namely, rectangular, rectangular plus half circle, and finally rectangular half circled including notch. The finally designed notch-circled planar antenna has the capability of operating between 3.8 and 10.2 GHz compared to conventionally designed rectangular antenna that performs between 4.6 and 9.9 GHz. It shows about 1 GHz impedance bandwidth improvement. The simulations of the all three antennas have been performed using EM simulators, CST and HFSS. Further, the simulated antenna return losses are compared with the measurements. Also the E- and H-plane radiation patterns of the antenna are measured for the frequencies of 3.9, 6.3, and 10.2 GHz. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26194