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A substrate integrated differential cavity-backed dual-polarized dielectric resonator antenna (DPDRA) with a wide bandwidth, low profile, high isolation and improved gain is presented. The proposed substrate integrated technique, in which the electric and magnetic walls of the cross-shaped dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) are realized by arrays of metallic and nonmetallic vias respectively, provides the design with high level of integration and low profile. The substrate integrated DRA is differentially fed by microstrip lines through coupling slots exciting a pair of orthogonal modes for the dual polarizations. The differential feeding scheme offers a direct connection to differential systems, and greatly improve the isolation between polarizations. Benefitting from the differential coupling slots and the substrate integrated back cavity, the bandwidth is broadened and the realized gain is improved. For demonstration, a prototype is designed and fabricated. The simulated and measured results show a good agreement.

A compact filtering phase shifter is proposed using two quarter-wavelength coupled lines, two quarter-wavelength transmission lines and two face-to-face feed lines. With such circuit model, the proposed design has the advantage of compact size and simple structure when compared with the state-of-the-art designs. Multiple transmission zeros can be obtained. Constant passband for different phase shifts can be achieved by controlling the parameters of coupled lines and transmission lines. Theoretical analysis based on even-/odd-mode method guides the design. Two prototypes with the phase shifts of 45° and 90° are designed for verifying the theoretical analysis. It’s shown that the 45° (90°) phase shifter can obtain 45° ± 2.3° (90° ± 4.3°) for the 3-dB bandwidth of 51% (51%), the phase shift bandwidth of 57% (58%), and the size of 0.5 λg × 0.01 λg (0.7 λg × 0.01 λg), where λg is the guided wavelength at the center frequency.

This paper proposed a broadband circular waveguide rotary joint with substrate integrated coaxial line (SICL) feeder. The SICL feeder can effectively convert TEM mode in the SICL into TM210 and TM020 modes in the multi-mode substrate integrated circular cavity (SICC). The annular slot on the surface of SICC can provide strong coupling between the SICC with TM210 and TM020 modes and the circular waveguide cavity with TM010 and TM011 modes. All the modes show symmetric electric field distribution. Thus, a wide bandwidth can be obtained due to six modes and strong coupling, and stable performance can be achieved while rotating because of symmetric field distribution. Comparing with reported circular waveguide rotary joints, the proposed design has the advantages of wide bandwidth and planarization of feeder. A prototype centered at 9.35 GHz is fabricated with a 10-dB impedance matching bandwidth of 24.6% and the insertion loss is between 0.82 dB to1.65 dB.

Pneumonia is currently one of the leading causes of death in children. Increased susceptibility to pneumonia may be due to their decreased immunity. One of the reasons for the decrease in immunity is zinc deficiency. In children with pneumonia, on the other hand, some cytokines are secreted, resulting in inflammation that spreads, persists, and makes treatment difficult for specialists. In this study, we investigated the serum zinc level in children with pneumonia and healthy children. Also, we tried to find its relationship with IL-18 mRNA expression as an inflammatory cytokine. For this purpose, serum zinc levels and IL-18 mRNA expression were evaluated in 120 children aged 3-60 months with pneumonia and 120 healthy children. After taking 2ml of blood from children and measuring serum zinc level, the level of the IL-18 mRNA was measured by real-time PCR. Total RNA was extracted by bioZOL™-G RNA Isolation Reagent kit. The primary cDNA was amplified by the extracted RNA, and in the next step, 2µl of cDNA were amplified by specific primers to measure IL-18 mRNA. The Beta-actin gene was also used as internal control and housekeeping gene. Results showed that the level of zinc in the patient group was 412.625±28.87?M and in the control group was 514.40±49.67?M. This difference was statistically significant (P=0.0053). Also, the expression of the IL-18 gene was increased in children with pneumonia, significantly (P=0.0015). Therefore, from the results, it can be deduced that children with zinc deficiency were at higher risk for a lung infection. Inflammatory cytokines such as IL-18 also were increased in these children. Hence, it can be concluded that zinc levels can reduce the expression of IL-18 mRNA and play an important role in the prevention and treatment of children with pneumonia.

A compact differential tunable dual-band bandpass filter is achieved by using cascaded capacitor-loaded coupled microstrip lines and voltage-controlled varactors. Six differential-mode (DM) transmission zeros (TZs), four DM transmission poles (TPs), and four common-mode (CM) TZs can be obtained by controlling values and positions of capacitors and the even-odd mode impedances of coupled microstrip lines. What's more, the first three DM TZs, two TPs and three CM TZs will change with the capacitance of varactors. Thus, the proposed filter possesses a tunable lower passband and a fixed upper passband. Compared with the state-of-the-art differential tunable DBBFs, the proposed design has the advantages of wide tuning range, compact size, low number of control voltages, and simple structure. Theoretic analysis, parametric study and design procedure are carried out completely. A prototype with the size of 58.2 × 10.1 mm (1.13 λg × 0.20 λg , λg is the microstrip guided wavelength at the center frequency of the upper passband) is designed for demonstration, which exhibits the center frequency of the lower passband can be tuned from 1.55 to 2.42 GHz. Meanwhile, the center frequency and 3-dB bandwidth of the upper passband keep constant at 3.79 GHz and 8.5%, respectively.

In order to study the effects of wheel-rail impacts on the fatigue damage of the fastening clips at the rail joints of a high-speed railway, field tests were carried out on the wheel-rail impacts at the rail joints of a high-speed railway in China. On the basis of the track irregularities at the rail joints obtained from field measurements, a nonlinear vehicle-track coupling dynamics three-dimensional (3D) model with consideration of Timoshenko beam elements and a refined finite element model of WJ-8 fastening system were constructed. And combined with the theory of cumulative damage and the method of fatigue analysis, the effects of wheel-rail impact at the rail joints on the fatigue life of fastening clips were analyzed. The results showed that the impacts of the wheel-rail in the joint area caused high-frequency fluctuations in the stress-time curves of the clips, which significantly increased the amplitude of stress cycle and increased a lot of stress cycles, of which the amplitudes were reached at a large level; the clips in the area where a rail joint was located suffered the most serious fatigue damage and had the shortest fatigue life; in the actual operation line, besides the clips in the rail joint area, it is also necessary to be concerned about the fatigue performance of fastening clips near the rail joint area.

Hye Jin Shi, Jae Hee Wee, Joong Sik Eom Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Gil Medical Center, Gachon University College of Medicine, Incheon, KoreaCorrespondence: Joong Sik EomDivision of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Gil Medical Center, Gachon University College of Medicine, (21565) 774 Beon-gil 21, Namdongdae-ro, Namdong-gu, Incheon, KoreaTel +82-32-460-2630Fax +82-32-460-2631Email helppl@gachon.ac.krBackground: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing pathogens have increased and are treated with carbapenem in general. Carbapenem use is associated with prolonged hospitalization or daily outpatient visit. The aim of this study was to investigate patients with UTIs by ESBL-producing pathogens for early discharge using an old oral antibiotic, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), which is susceptible to ESBL-producing pathogens.Methods: Data on UTIs caused by ESBL-producing pathogens from a single tertiary hospital were collected retrospectively. Patients who had been treated with intravenous carbapenems or oral TMP/SMX were included. Patients’ clinical and microbiological outcomes were compared between oral TMP/SMX and ertapenem treatment groups.Results: A total of 103 patients were included, 21 of whom had been treated with TMP/SMX, whereas 82 with ertapenem. Clinical outcomes between the two groups were not significantly different (TMP/SMX: 90.5%; ertapenem: 84.1%, p = 0.73). The microbiological cure rate was higher in the TMP/SMX group than in the ertapenem group (90.5% vs 58.5%, respectively, p = 0.01). The mean duration of hospitalization was significantly shorter in the TMP/SMX group than in the ertapenem group (8.00 ± 10.50 days vs 14.00 ± 37.00 days, p = 0.07). The mean duration of antibiotic treatment was longer in the ertapenem group than in the TMP/SMX group (16.45 ± 4.77 vs 12.76 ± 5.37 days, p = 0.006).Conclusion: For susceptible pathogens, TMP/SMX may enable early discharge as an effective oral antibiotic treatment option for UTIs caused by ESBL-positive pathogens. Additionally, use of oral antibiotics can shorten hospital stays and reduce medical costs.Keywords: oral antibiotics, ESBL, UTI, TMP/SMX, outpatient treatment

A novel miniaturized wideband bandpass filter (BPF) using capacitor-loaded microstrip coupled line is proposed. The capacitors are loaded in parallel and series to the coupled line, which makes the filter just require one one-eighth wavelength coupled line and achieve filtering response with multiple transmission poles (TPs) and transmission zeros (TZs). Compared with the state-of-the-art microstrip wideband BPFs, the proposed filter has the advantages of compact size and simple structure. A prototype centered at 1.47 GHz with the 3-dB fractional bandwidth of 86.5% is demonstrated, which exhibits the compact size of 0.003λ2 g (λg is the guided wavelength at the center frequency) and the minimum insertion loss of 0.37 dB.

In electronic bipolar resistive switching (eBRS), the electron trapping and detrapping at the defect sites within the switching layer, such as the highly defective TiO1.7 in this study, constitute the switching mechanism. It is an appealing candidate solution to the nonuniformity issue of resistive switching memory. However, TiO1.7-based eBRS has suffered from a lack of endurance and retention. In this study, a 7 nm-thick stoichiometric TiO2 layer is interposed between an Al bottom electrode and a 50 nm-thick TiO1.7 layer, which is in contact with an Al top electrode. Despite the minimal structural modification, improvements in the electrical performance were substantial. The off-to-on state resistance ratio of 20 and the resistance values could be retained up to 30 000 direct current sweep cycles and 106 alternating current pulse switching cycles. Data retention also significantly improves. Moreover, the device is electroforming-free and shows fully area-type switching characteristics. Such notable improvements are attributed to the favorable energy band structure of the Al/TiO1.7/TiO2/Al structure. The device shows almost linear potentiation and depression characteristics after the repeated pulse voltage applications, which significantly improves the accuracy of the neural network, the synapses of which are composed of the Al/TiO1.7/TiO2/Al memory cells.

A millimeter-wave (mm-wave) substrate integrated waveguide (SIW)-fed endfire antenna is proposed by using double-faced multiple dielectric patch (DFMDP) resonator, named SIW-fed endfire DFMDP antenna. The DFMDP resonator consists of DFMDPs and the extend substrate of the SIW, where DFMDPs are a number of dielectric patches on both surfaces of the extend substrate of the SIW. The endfire radiation is supported by the DFMDP resonator as well as the open-ended SIW. Multiple TE yn 11 modes and low quality factor can be found in the DFMDP resonator to obtain wideband operation. Four antennas with different number of DFMDPs are studied and compared. The antenna using 3 × 3 DFMDPs is preferred considering both the antenna performance and process capability. A prototype operating at 33.5 GHz is designed, analyzed, and demonstrated. The measured results exhibit the 10 dB impedance matching bandwidth of 19.19 GHz (23.97–43.16 GHz) or 57.14% and the average gain of 9.45 dBi.

A differential filtering phase shifter is proposed utilizing two three-end folded coupled lines with three half-wavelength microstrip lines. Four differential-mode (DM) transmission zeros (TZs) can be obtained on both sides of the DM passband because of the cascaded two three-end folded coupled lines and one half-wavelength line. Thus, the frequency selectivity and out-of-band suppression can be enhanced. Wide CM suppression bandwidth can be obtained by the multiple common-mode (CM) TZs and the upper and lower half-wavelength lines. The phase shift bandwidth can cover the passband and the passband performance for different phase shifts can keep constant by controlling the parameters because all lines contribute to the control of phase shift deviation and 3-dB bandwidth. Compared with the reported differential filtering phase shifter, the proposed phase shifter obtains higher frequency selectivity and wider CM suppression. Complete theoretic odd- and even-mode analysis and design procedure are carried out. Two prototypes centered at 3.3 GHz are designed, which exhibit fractional bandwidth (FBW) for 45° ± 2.29° (90° ± 4°) of 42.7% (42.4%), the 3-dB FBW of 39.4% (39.4%) and the CM suppression FBW of 141% (145%).

The classical Pierce’s 1-D small-signal theory of backward-wave gain, generalized to allow axially varying the double-graded radius and pitch circuit characteristics, is applied. Numerical calculations demonstrate that the double gradient circuit can effectively suppress the backward-wave oscillation (BWO). Furthermore, the hot test experiment is carried out to predict the performance of the tube. The hot test results show that this helix traveling-wave tube (TWT) based on the double-graded pitch and radius circuit has achieved over 5.06 kW of output power, and the corresponding device gain achieves more than 34.1 dB in the frequency range of 8-18 GHz.

In optical metrological protocols to measure physical quantities, it is, in principle, always beneficial to increase photon number n to improve measurement precision. However, practical constraints prevent the arbitrary increase of n due to the imperfections of a practical detector, especially when the detector response is dominated by the saturation effect. In this work, we show that a modified weak measurement protocol, namely, biased weak measurement significantly improves the precision of optical metrology in the presence of saturation effect. This method detects an ultra-small fraction of photons while maintains a considerable amount of metrological information. The biased pre-coupling leads to an additional reduction of photons in the post-selection and generates an extinction point in the spectrum distribution, which is extremely sensitive to the estimated parameter and difficult to be saturated. Therefore, the Fisher information can be persistently enhanced by increasing the photon number. In our magnetic-sensing experiment, biased weak measurement achieves precision approximately one order of magnitude better than those of previously used methods. The proposed method can be applied in various optical measurement schemes to remarkably mitigate the detector saturation effect with low-cost apparatuses.

The railway companies have been beset by rail corrugation for many years, especially those subway companies. Therefore, the formation mechanism of rail corrugation has been paid much attention in t...

A millimeter-wave (mm-wave) dual-strip coupled dual-patch antenna is proposed, which is achieved by high density interconnect antenna-in-package process. The dual patches and dual strips are closely placed on the same layer and produce two resonances with broadside radiation and x -direction polarization. Compared with the state-of-the-art single-layer patch antennas, the proposed antenna can achieve both compact radiator size and wide bandwidth, which is useful to form mm-wave array. Furthermore, the antenna radiator and the feedline are separated by the antenna ground to decrease the interaction from radio frequency components in the active system. Characteristic mode analysis method is utilized to analyze the antenna element to reveal the modal behavior of the proposed antenna. For demonstration, a prototype of 2 × 4 array is fabricated, which has the antenna element size of 0.36 × 0.37 × 0.05 λ 03 ( λ 0 is the operating wavelength at 26 GHz in free space), the 10 dB impedance matching bandwidth of 20.6% (22.7–27.9 GHz), and the peak gain of 14.2 dBi.

To explore the epidemiological characteristics and prognosis of lung cancer in patients aged under 45 years old in northern China. The population-based database about lung cancer cases aged under 45y selected form the Hebei Provincial Cancer Registry Center from 2010–2015. Mortality data of young death from 1973 to 1975, 1990 to 1992, and 2004 to 2005 were extracted from the national retrospective survey of death. Mortality rates were calculated by the mortality database above in this analysis. Consecutive, 954 non-selected younger patients (P = 0.001). In the younger patients, Cox regression showed that a family history of cancer, symptoms at diagnosis, pathology, stage at diagnosis and surgery were confirmed as independent factors affecting the prognosis. Mortality rates among younger lung cancer patients showed an increasing trend in northern China. The younger account for small but have unique characteristics, with higher proportions of female, family history of cancer, adenocarcinoma and advanced stages than the older group and had a trend of worse OS.

Phase retrieval (PR) is an important component in modern computational imaging systems. Many algorithms have been developed over the past half-century. Recent advances in deep learning have introduced new possibilities for a robust and fast PR. An emerging technique called deep unfolding provides a systematic connection between conventional model-based iterative algorithms and modern data-based deep learning. Unfolded algorithms, which are powered by data learning, have shown remarkable performance and convergence speed improvement over original algorithms. Despite their potential, most existing unfolded algorithms are strictly confined to a fixed number of iterations when layer-dependent parameters are used. In this study, we develop a novel framework for deep unfolding to overcome existing limitations. Our development is based on an unfolded generalized expectation consistent signal recovery (GEC-SR) algorithm, wherein damping factors are left for data-driven learning. In particular, we introduce a hypernetwork to generate the damping factors for GEC-SR. Instead of learning a set of optimal damping factors directly, the hypernetwork learns how to generate the optimal damping factors according to the clinical settings, thereby ensuring its adaptivity to different scenarios. To enable the hypernetwork to adapt to varying layer numbers, we use a recurrent architecture to develop a dynamic hypernetwork that generates a damping factor that can vary online across layers. We also exploit a self-attention mechanism to enhance the robustness of the hypernetwork. Extensive experiments show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing ones in terms of convergence speed and accuracy and still works well under very harsh settings, even under which many classical PR algorithms are unstable., 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing

PurposeThis empirical study, from the international retailing perspective, examines the direction of retailers' further expansion after initial entry into overseas host market in the context of the luxury fashion retail market in China.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopts qualitative multiple case studies.FindingsAfter initial entry into China, luxury fashion retailers further expand their retail operations through three directional patterns: cautious, regional and countrywide expansions. The stepwise expansion from tier-1 to tier-2 and tier-3 cities remains popular; however, the importance of the tier system of Chinese cities has been weakened because tier-3 cities in affluent regions are perceived to have more potential than some tier-2 cities in less developed regions. The retailers assess a potential local market through interrelated criteria, including location and strategic importance, economic development, available store locations and staff, a high degree of urbanisation and tourism, debatable favourable policies and offers, and popularity of e- and m-commerce. There is a positive relationship between popularity of e- and m-commerce in a city and the potential of that city to run brick-and-mortar stores.Originality/valueThe paper offers an insight into the current international retailing literature by examining the direction of luxury fashion retailers' further expansion after their initial market entry. Particularly, the research considers a set of criteria which can be used to assess a potential local market, and the impact of e- and m-commerce on local market choices for brick-and-mortar stores.

This paper aims to examine internationalization strategies of emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) in luxury fashion retailing via their motives, direction, and entry modes. Through the case study of the Shandong Ruyi Group, data was collected using ten in-depth executive interviews between 2018-2019. The research finds that the internationalization of EMNCs in luxury fashion retailing is predominantly motivated by proactive factors, including the vision to develop to a global luxury fashion conglomerate, and the ambition to control the whole value chain from sourcing, to manufacturing and retailing. The international expansion direction in terms of production is strategic and driven by resource availability and production capability, and in terms of distribution was opportunist but is increasingly strategic. High cost entry modes are preferred, including internal organic growth, external expansion strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances with a majority of equity, because of the high degree of control.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease in the middle-aged and elderly populations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical value of lncRNA TUG1 in PD and its effect on the microglial inflammatory response. A total of 181 subjects were recruited for the study, including 97 patients with PD (male/female 50/47) and 84 healthy individuals (male/female 41/43). There was no significant difference for gender and age distribution between the groups. The expression of serum TUG1 was determined by qRT-PCR. The receiver operating curve (ROC) was applied for diagnostic value analysis. CCK-8 was used to detect the effect of TUG1 on the proliferation of BV2 cells. The motor coordination ability of mice was tested by the rotarod and pole tests. ELISA was used to detect serum pro-inflammatory factors. TUG1 was highly expressed in the serum of PD patients. Serum TUG1 can distinguish PD patients to form healthy controls with the AUC of 0.902. Serum TUG1 was positively correlated with the levels of UPDRS, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in PD patients. Cell experiment results showed that the downregulation of TUG1 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and the release of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β. Besides, animal experiments suggested that the downregulation of TUG1 significantly improved the motor coordination ability of the PD mice and inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors. lncRNA TUG1 is a latent biomarker of PD patients. TUG1 downregulation may inhibit the inflammatory response in the progression of PD. These findings provide a possible target for the early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of PD.

Purpose The incidences of carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacilli (CRGNB) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) have increased rapidly in South Korea since 2000. The mortality rate for CRGNB or VRE bacteremia cases is higher than that for non-resistant bacteremia cases. The factors associated with higher mortality are unclear. We investigated the factors associated with mortality from CRGNB or VRE bacteremia and compared the relative risk of these factors. Patients and methods We retrospectively collected data from adult patients with CRGNB or VRE bacteremia. Patients were grouped according to whether they survived or died. The data from both groups were compared. Results During the study period, 171 cases of CRGNB or VRE bacteremia were identified, of which 100 were CRGNB bacteremia cases and 71 were VRE bacteremia cases. Multivariate analysis revealed significant associations with Pitt bacteremia score (PBS) (odds ratio [OR] 1.329, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.049-1.684). In the multivariate analysis, negative conversion of follow-up blood culture (FUBC) was related with one-week mortality from CRGNB or VRE bacteremia (OR 17.623, 95% CI 5.726-54.244). In the multivariate analysis of risk factors for 28-day mortality for CRGNB or VRE bacteremia, the significant risk factors were bacteremia of respiratory origin (OR 4.491, 95% CI 1.622-12.435) and positive FUBC (OR 4.082, 95% CI 1.626-10.204). Conclusion Despite the high mortality rate in patients with CRGNB or VRE bacteremia, the related mortality could be predicted by independent risk factors of PBS, positive FUBC, and bacteremia of respiratory origin.

Background Lung cancer is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been determined to be the most lethal lung malignancy. Few studies have previously analyzed the epidemiological characteristics of SCLC in China. This study analyzed the epidemiological characteristics of SCLC aiming to provide a reference for the prevention of SCLC in Hebei Province. Methods The epidemiological characteristics of SCLC using lung cancer data based on population and hospital cancer registries in Hebei Province between 2008 and 2017 were analyzed. Results The proportion of both population- and hospital-based SCLC cases displayed a significant increasing trend. Moreover, the proportion of males was higher than that for female based on population- and hospital-based cases. The proportion of hospital-based SCLC cases in counties was higher than that in cities, whereas there were no significant regional differences between cities and counties based on population. The proportion of both population- and hospital-based SCLC cases decreased consistently with increasing age. There was a difference between population- and hospital-based distribution of subcategories of SCLC. Conclusions Significant increases in the proportion of both population- and hospital-based SCLC cases over recent years, particularly in males and in patients aged over 55 years, were observed. Research on the pathogenesis of SCLC in these patients and prevention is urgently required.

In order to solve the problems of data sharing security and policy conflict in multicloud storage systems (MCSS), this work designs an attribute mapping mechanism that extends ciphertext policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE), and proposes a multi-authority CP-ABE access control model that satisfies the need for multicloud storage access control. The mapping mechanism mainly involves the tree structure of CP-ABE and provides support for the types of attribute values. The framework and workflow of the model are described in detail. The effectiveness of the model is verified by building a simple prototype system, and the performance of the prototype system is analyzed. The results suggest that the proposed model is of theoretical and practical significance for access control research in MCSS. The CP-ABE has better performance in terms of computation time overhead than other models.

In this letter, the stacked dual-slotted substrate integrated cavities (SICs) are proposed to achieve a filtering antenna. The dual-slotted SIC shows dual-mode behavior (quasi-dual-slot mode and quasi-cavity mode), which can achieve multiorder response with fewer SICs. Furthermore, the antenna exists at two frequencies at which the electric field has opposite horizontal component ( $E_{x}$ ) near each slot. Thus, two radiation nulls can be obtained to enhance the frequency selectivity. The frequencies of the radiation nulls and the dual modes can both be controlled to some extent by the distance between the slots. For demonstration, a prototype at 9.65 GHz is designed with the fractional bandwidth of 9.1%, the gain of 7.2 dBi, and the frequency selectivity of 0.70.

The LM wheel profile and profile of Chinese 60 kg/m rail (LM&CHN60) are commonly used in the Chinese metro. However, the poor matching between wheel and rail profiles as well as the instability of the vehicle often occur on some curved sections due to wear. Therefore, it is necessary to design compatible rail profiles for the worn wheel profiles as a replacement for the old rail in these sections. This paper first presents the analysis of using the worn wheel and rail profiles as well as LM&CHN60 with a three-dimensional vehicle-track coupled model. Then, an optimization of the rail profiles for the worn wheel profiles is implemented in terms of both worn and unworn profiles, which is not only to improve the stability of the vehicle but also to minimize the rail wear by taking the curve performance into consideration. An inverse design method is proposed for rail profile design to improve the wheel–rail contact properties. Then, the wear of the optimized rail profiles is calculated with two types of track, which is the basis for selecting the optimal profile of a specific curve. Furthermore, the evaluation of the vehicle-track dynamic behavior with optimum rail profiles is also performed by comparison with the worn rail profiles. The entire design process is completed in a procedure programmed in MATLAB. The application of the optimized rail profiles significantly slows down the growth rate of rail wear. Additionally, the maintenance intervals for rail reprofiling have been doubled.

Purpose/aim of the study: Posterior circulation stroke (PCS) accounts for 20% of ischemic stroke, and vertebrobasilar stenosis is an important cause of PCS. Notably, not all patients with artery stenosis progress to ischemic stroke, and one of the important reason is that collateral circulation construction plays important protection role in this process.Clinical presentation: Here, we present the case of a 71-year-old male who presented with lightheadedness and three episodes of loss of consciousness after bilateral subclavian artery stenting. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) demonstrated severe stenosis of the left vertebral artery, and the bilateral subclavian artery was kept open. The patient was then given the left vertebral artery stenting in an effort to resolve the vascular stenosis. As expected, he achieved a complete remission after stenting. However, six months later the patient suffered from loss of consciousness again. Repeat DSA confirmed restenosis of the left vertebral artery, and revealed a collateral flow to the left vertebral artery which fed by external carotid collateral branches. Then DSA was performed after 12 months, and another collateral circulation involving thyrocervical trunk was also found supplying flow to the left vertebral artery. In this process, the frequency of loss of consciousness gradually decreased as the collateral circulation construction.Conclusion: Through this case, we observe the whole process of the collateral circulation construction. Moreover, this case serves as a testament to the variability and complexity of vertebrobasilar arteriopathies, suggesting promotion of collateral flow offers the opportunity for outcome improvement.

Objective:Here, we present an overview of how a tertiary hospital responded to maintain necessary activities and protect patients and staff from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.Methods:Gil Medical Center, a tertiary hospital in Incheon, has operated a special response team since January 21, 2020. All visitors were assessed for body temperature and respiratory symptoms, and screened for recent overseas travel. Suspected COVID-19 patients were taken to a screening clinic. All febrile patients with or without respiratory symptoms were taken to a respiratory safety clinic. An isolation ward, which consisted of 10 negative-pressure rooms, was used to treat confirmed cases. More than 120 beds were prepared for the outbreak, and patients with pneumonia were preemptively isolated.Results:By May 5, 480 960 visitors were assessed at the control station, 3350 patients visited the triage center, and 1794 were treated in the respiratory safety clinic. Seventeen confirmed cases were admitted to the negative isolation ward, and 350 patients with pneumonia were preemptively isolated. A total of 2977 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction tests were performed.Conclusions:While tertiary hospitals play an important role in treating both COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients, hospital staff have to protect themselves from unexpected in-hospital transmission. A multifaceted response must be undertaken to protect tertiary hospitals and their staff during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Robust single spin color centers in solid state systems with telecom wavelength emission are vital to quantum photonics and quantum networks. The nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in silicon carbide (S...

In the letter, a novel automatic modulation classification (AMC) method is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) visible light communication (VLC) system. For the proposed AMC method, the classification feature values are obtained by clustering and Gaussian model analysis. Then these classification feature values are used to classify the modulation format. In addition, the recognition accuracy at different optical signal-noise-ratio (OSNR) is investigated in OFDM-VLC system. The experimental results show that, for 4QAM, 16QAM, 32QAM, and 64QAM with the proposed method, it can be accurately recognized with 2000 symbols at OSNR of 4 dB, 11 dB, 13 dB, and 18 dB, respectively.

Neonatal purulent meningitis (NPM) leads to higher mortality and neurological sequelae rates. miR184 involves in inflammation and tumor, but the role of miR-184 in NPM remains unclear. NPM patients and non-intracranial infected neonates were collected and miR-184 expression in cerebrospinal fluid was assessed by real-time PCR. The Neuro-2a cell line was cultured and divided into control group, inflammation group (treated with LPS), and miR-184 inhibitor group, which was transfected with miR-184 inhibitor on the basis of inflammation followed by analysis of miR-184 and TLR4 expression by Real time PCR, Caspase 3 activity, cell proliferation by MTT assay, secretion of IL-1β and IL-6 by ELISA, NLRP3 expression by real time PCR and western blot, and Caspase-1 p20 and NF- B level by western blot. miR-184 expression level was significantly increased in cerebrospinal fluid of NPM group (P < 0 05) and also elevated in inflammation group along with significantly inhibited cell proliferation was inhibited, increased Caspase 3 activity, IL-1β and IL-6 secretion, and decreased TLR4, NLRP3, Caspase-1 p20 and NFκ- B expression (P < 0 05). miR-184 inhibitor significantly down-regulated miR-184 expression in the inflammation group, promoted cell proliferation, decreased Caspase 3 activity, IL-1β and IL-6 secretion, and increased TLR4, NLRP3, Caspase1 p20 and NF- κB expression (P < 0 05). miR-184 expression is increased in neonatal purulent meningitis and it can inhibit inflammation by targeting TLR4/NLRP3 signaling pathway, leading to amelioration of the progression of neonatal purulent meningitis.

In this paper, a real-time software-reconfigurable orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based non-orthogonal multiple access (OFDM-NOMA) scheme with dynamic power allocation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for hybrid in-house access over single-mode fiber (SMF) and visible light communication (VLC). Such hybrid access can provide both wired and wireless transmission, which can accommodate the increasingly heterogeneous in-home network and realize seamless coverage. The fiber link is used to provide high-speed and stable transmission for a wired user whilst the VLC link can support flexible and secured wireless access. With the help of power-domain multiplexing based NOMA, the power ratio between both the fiber user and the VLC user can be adjusted in a software-reconfigurable manner, which can satisfy various user demands and also ensure user fairness. Experimental results validate that an aggregate data rate of 1.84 Gbit/s can be achieved in a 1-GSa/s hybrid access system. In addition, it is demonstrated that the power ratio between the fiber user and the VLC user can be adjusted in real-time, facilitating the optimal overall system bit error rate (BER) performance and hence the balanced user fairness. The proposed real-time software-reconfigurable dynamic power allocation scheme for OFDM-NOMA is a promising scheme for the future heterogeneous in-house network, as it allows the flexible power allocation according to users' demands and enables better user fairness.

The task of wavefront sensing is to measure the phase of the optical field. Here, we demonstrate that the widely used Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor detects the weak value of transverse momentum, usually achieved by the method of quantum weak measurement. We extend its input states to partially coherent states and compare it with the weak measurement wavefront sensor, which has a higher spatial resolution but a smaller dynamic range. Since weak values are commonly used in investigating fundamental quantum physics and quantum metrology, our work would find essential applications in these fields., 3 pages, 2 figures

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most common malignant tumors with high degree of malignancy and early metastasis. A preoperative examination is undetectable when pleural dissemination of NSCLC occurs at an early stage, leading surgeons to detect pleural dissemination during surgery. However, there are few studies on the prognostic factors of NSCLC patients with pleural disseminated during surgery. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 54 patients with NSCLC with pleural dissemination found during video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery to investigate the effects of clinical-pathological features, serum characteristics, surgical methods, and postoperative treatment on their prognosis. Results and conclusion: We found that squamous cell carcinoma (p=0.008), high level of serum GGT (p=0.046) and CA199 (p=0.001) were significantly correlated with the poor prognosis of NSCLC with pleural dissemination. Resection of the primary tumor was not necessary for patients who could receive targeted therapy after surgery, while for patients who receive chemotherapy after surgery, resection of the primary tumor, especially lobectomy, could obtain a better prognosis. Targeted therapy is preferred if there is a driving gene mutation after the operation, and immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy can be selected if there is no mutation. These results can provide a clinical basis for prognosis judgment and treatment decision of NSCLC patients with pleural dissemination found during the operation.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an excellent industrially compatible material, which has been widely used in high power electronic devices. Recently, spin defects in SiC have been found to be a high-quality spin-to-photon interface with long spin coherence time and high spin-selective optical transition. Spin states can be initialized and readout with extremely high fidelity. The infrared and even telecom fluorescence is suited for fiber communication with less scatting loss. The bandwidth of intrinsic zero-phonon-line emission can be manipulated by classical electrical devices. The achieved near lifetime-limited optical linewidths greatly increase the indistinguishability of photon emission and facilitate the connection with other narrowband absorption quantum systems, such as cold atoms, trapped ions, and rare-earth dopants in crystals. Moreover, spin defects coupled with photonic nanocavities have been demonstrated, which can greatly enhance the photon emission in the zero-phonon-line. The realization of controllable electron-nuclear spin entanglement further extends the memory-based quantum applications. In this perspective, we will briefly discuss the most recent development of spin defects in SiC. These results show that spin defects in SiC are desirable quantum platforms for quantum networking applications. We also discuss some of the current challenges and possible future development.

Quantitative control of spatial indistinguishability of identical subsystems as a direct quantum resource at distant sites has not yet been experimentally proven. We design a setup capable of tuning remote spatial indistinguishability of two independent photons by individually adjusting their spatial distribution in two distant regions, leading to polarization entanglement from uncorrelated photons. This is achieved by spatially localized operations and classical communication on photons that meet only at the detectors. The amount of entanglement depends uniquely on the degree of spatial indistinguishability, quantified by an entropic measure I , which enables teleportation with fidelities above the classical threshold. The results open the way to viable indistinguishability-enhanced quantum information processing.

Under the environment of MATLAB, a closed-loop feedback laser tracking system was established based on the dynamic prediction with Kalman filter and some other filtering processes. Different motion states of the tracked target are simulated to test the tracking performance. The following conclusions are obtained through simulations. After adding the dynamic prediction with Kalman filter, the tracking hysteresis can effectively be avoided when tracking the dynamic object. Taking advantage of the high frequency of PSD, the coordinate value can be read for several times in a feedback loop and then filtered to obtain a more accurate spot coordinate. Under static condition, the instability due to noise can be reduced through segmenting the feedback coefficient by distinguishing between the dynamic and static state of the object. According to the above designs, the results of the laser tracking system simulations show that the dynamic tracking performance is better than 100°/s, and static stability has an order of magnitude improvement than before.

Background Freezing of gait (FOG) is a disabling paroxysmal gait disorder that prevents starting or resuming walking, which seriously negatively affects patients’ quality of life (QOL). The diagnosis and treatment of FOG remain a huge medical challenge. The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical characteristics and related factors of FOG in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods The motor and nonmotor symptoms of a total number of 77 PD patients were evaluated. Patients with or without FOG were defined as a score ≥1 in the new freezing of gait questionnaire (NFOG‐Q). A comparative study between patients with and without FOG was conducted. Results In this investigation, the prevalence of FOG was 48%. The patients with FOG had longer disease duration, higher Hoehn‐Yahr stage (H‐Y stage), higher dose of dopaminergic agents, and higher nonmotor and motor symptom scores. A significant positive correlation was found between the NFOG‐Q score and the H‐Y stage, PIGD subscore, PDQ‐39, and the attention/memory in the nonmotor symptoms assessment scale (NMSS) subitem (r > 0.5, p, The severity of FOG was significantly positively correlated with the H‐Y stage, PIGD subscore, PDQ‐39 score, and attention/memory score. Based on our findings, we conclude that the clinical characteristics of rigidity can be used as a potential predictor of FOG.

Background and Objective: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease. Nearly 10–30% of patients with MG are refractory to conventional therapy. Rituximab (RTX), a monoclonal antibody targeting CD20, is increasingly used in autoimmune disorders. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of RTX for refractory MG.Methods: Studies published between January 1, 2000 and January 17, 2021 were searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and ClincalTrails.gov. Primary outcomes included proportion of patients achieving minimal manifestation status (MMS) or better and quantitative MG (QMG) score change from baseline. Secondary outcomes were glucocorticoids (GC) doses change from baseline and proportion of patients discontinuing oral immunosuppressants.Results: A total of 24 studies involving 417 patients were included in the meta-analysis. An overall 64% (95% confidence interval, 49–77%) of patients achieved MMS or better. The estimated reduction of QMG score was 1.55 (95% confidence interval, 0.88–2.22). The mean reduction of GC doses was 1.46 (95% confidence interval, 1.10–1.82). The proportion of patients discontinuing oral immunosuppressants was 81% (95% confidence interval, 66–93%). Subgroup analyses showed that the proportion of patients achieving MMS or better and discontinuing oral immunosuppressants was higher in MuSK-MG group than those in AChR-MG group. Improvement was more pronounced in patients with mild to moderate MG compared to those with severe MG. Moreover, the efficacy appeared to be independent of the dose of RTX. 19.6% of patients experienced adverse events, most of which were mild to moderate. Only one patient developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.Conclusions: RTX can alleviate the symptom of weakness, decrease QMG score and reduce the doses of steroids and non-steroid immunosuppressive agents in refractory MG. It is well-tolerated with few severe adverse events. Randomized controlled trials are urgently needed to study the efficacy of RTX in treating refractory MG and to identify the characteristics of patients who might respond well to RTX.

Background: The neonatal period is a critical period for the establishment of the intestinal microbial community. Antibiotics can change the composition of gut microbiota.Methods: Fecal samples were collected from 14 patients with pneumonia and 14 patients with meningitis before and after antibiotic treatment, and fecal samples from five healthy neonates at the 14th and 21st days after birth were collected as well. DNA of fecal samples was extracted, and PCR amplification was performed targeting the V3–V4 variable region of 16S rDNA. After detection by high-throughput sequencing, OTU (operational taxonomic unit) clustering, species annotation, and α diversity analysis were calculated and analyzed statistically.Results: In the healthy control group, the abundance of Bifidobacterium increased significantly from 16.75 to 40.42%, becoming the most dominant bacteria. The results of α diversity analysis suggested that the Sobs indexes of the gut microbiota in the pneumonia and meningitis groups were significantly lower than that in the healthy control group (p < 0.05). PCoA analysis showed that the gut microbiota of pneumonia and meningitis groups clustered distinctly with the control group (Adonis p = 0.001, R2 = 0.565), and there was no significant change in the diversity of gut microbiota before and after the use of antibiotics.Conclusions: The gut microbiota of neonates with infectious diseases were mainly related to the disease conditions. The initial state of neonatal gut microbiome determines its state after 1-week antibiotic treatment. Antibiotic application with 7 days had little effect on the community richness and some effect on the composition of gut microbiota of neonates with pneumonia or meningitis.

Background and objective Compared with tissue biopsy, liquid biopsy is the most preferable non-invasive promising method in personalized medicine, although it has many limitations in isolating circulating tumor cells (CTC). Lung cancer associated mortality is drastically increased due to a shortfall of early-stage detection, which remains a challenge. Herein, we aimed to detect lung cancer at an early-stage using CellCollector device. Methods 39,627 volunteers underwent low-dose computed tomography; 2508 cases with pulmonary nodules and 7080 with no pulmonary nodules were chosen. After follow-up, 24 patients were diagnosed with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and subjected to CTC detection using CellCollector, along with 72 healthy volunteers. Immunofluorescence staining for EpCAM/CKs and CD45 were performed for CTC validation. Results Fifteen out of twenty-four (stage I, n = 18; stage II, n = 6) early-stage lung cancer patients were found to be CTC-positive, whereas no CTC was found in the control group. Genetic mutation of TP53, ERBB2, PDGFRA, CFS1R and FGFR1 in the CTC revealed 71.6% of the mutation sites similar to the tumor tissues of 13 patients. Molecular characterization revealed higher expression of protein PD-LI in CTC (40%) as compared to tumor tissue (26.7%). Moreover, CTC clusters were detected in 40% of patients. Conclusion CTC detection using the CellCollector in early-stage NSCLC had a relative high capture rate. Moreover, CTC analysis is a prospective setting for molecular diagnostic in cases when tumor tissue biopsy is not desirable.

With the rapid development of Internet technology, online academic communications are increasingly prevalent, the traditional ways of academic evaluation can’t comprehensively reflect the multi-dimensional impact of scientific publications, therefore altmetrics is widely concerned by scholars because of its objectivity, timeliness and openness. Based on Douban Reading platform, this paper uses descriptive statistical analysis, grouping analysis, correlation analysis and other statistical methods to conduct the altmetrics evaluation of 1000 highly-cited books in Chinese Book Citation Index. The results show that there is a weak correlation between citations and altmetrics indicators, suggesting that they reflect different aspects of books’ impact and they are complementary in the academic evaluation. What’s more, altmetrics indicators are different on discipline and year, the more applicable the discipline is, the higher the values of altmetrics indicators are. Meanwhile, compared with old books, new books published in recent years have an advantage in the altmetrics evaluation.

A single-layer balanced phase shifter with uniform reference line is proposed to achieve the advantages of compact size and wide bandwidth compared with state-of-art single-layer balanced phase shifters. The odd-mode equivalent circuit with one quarter-wavelength coupled line and two quarter-wavelength short-ended stubs makes wideband differential-mode (DM) impedance matching and phase shift. The even-mode equivalent circuit with two transmission paths provides wideband common-mode (CM) suppression without affecting the DM responses. The prototype of 45° (90°) phase shifter is designed with the operating bandwidth of 81% (82%), with the phase deviation of ±2.3° (±4.7°), with the minimum insertion loss of 0.29 dB (0.31 dB), and with the size of 0.27 λg2 (0.35 λg2, λg is the guided wavelength at the center frequency f0).

This paper proposes a novel hybrid secure method based on improved deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) encoding encryption and spiral scrambling in chaotic OFDM-PON for enhancing the physical-layer security. In the improved DNA encoding encryption, the odd-even cross-bit DNA encoding, base scrambling and base-level substitution are determined by chaotic sequences. For each binary and base, the selected encoding rules and base scrambling methods are dynamically changing, which enhances the robustness against malicious attacks by attackers. In the spiral scrambling process, the QAM symbol matrix is divided into several blocks, and these blocks are scrambled. In the scrambling of the plural matrix, the position where the spiral starts and the orientation and direction of the traversal are also controlled by the chaotic sequences. By employing DNA encoding encryption and spiral scrambling, a key space of $\sim \!{10^{135}}$ can be achieved in the multi-fold encryption of the proposed scheme, which can improve the physical-layer security. The encrypted 16-QAM OFDM data are successfully transmitted over a 60-km SSMF in OFDM-PON. The simulation results demonstrate that it has better BER performance at the BER of ${10^{ - 3}}$ than other schemes. The proposed encryption method can effectively protect data from attacks by eavesdroppers or illegal users.

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a novel and simple method to realize D-band millimeter-wave (mm-wave) single-sideband (SSB) vector signal generation using cascaded one single-drive Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) and one push-pull MZM. After the first MZM driven by a radio frequency (RF) signal of 20-GHz, an optical frequency comb (OFC) with six flat carriers was successfully generated. Using the subsequent push-pull MZM driven by 10-GHz SSB vector signals and a photodiode (PD) for detection, we finally generated D-band SSB vector mm-wave signals at frequencies of 130-GHz and 150-GHz, respectively. The experimental results are well consistent with theoretical and simulation analysis. Based on the proposed scheme, 4-Gbaud generated D-band quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) mm-wave signals were transmitted over 10-km/25-km single-mode-fiber (SMF) and 1-m wireless links. The bit-error-rate (BER) performance can reach less than 7% hard-decision forward-error-correction (FEC) threshold of 3.8 × 10-3.

African swine fever (ASF) is an acute and highly contagious disease that causes severe economic losses to the swine industry. ASF is caused by infection of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in domestic pigs, leading to almost 100% mortality. However, no effective vaccines and pharmacologic treatment against ASF are available. ASF poses a severe threat to the swine industry and the economy. Here we summarize potential virus-host cell interaction mechanisms involving the suppression of innate and adaptive immune responses to ASFV entry and infection. These mechanisms include modulation of apoptosis, inhibition of inflammatory responses, reduction of IFN production, inhibition of autophagy, and suppression of MHC-I expression. Insights into immunoevasion strategies by ASFV may shed light on the development of vaccines, as well as preventive and therapeutic drugs.

Background The thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) target volume for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been controversial for decades. In this report, the final results of a prospective randomized trial on the TRT target volume before and after induction chemotherapy are presented. Methods After 2 cycles of etoposide and cisplatin, patients arm were randomized to receive TRT to the postchemotherapy or prechemotherapy tumor volume in a study arm and a control arm. Involved-field radiotherapy was received in both arms. TRT consisted of 1.5 grays (Gy) twice daily in 30 fractions to up to a total dose of 45 Gy. Lymph node regions were contoured, and intentional and incidental radiation doses were recorded. Results The study was halted early because of slow accrual. Between 2002 and 2017, 159 and 150 patients were randomized to the study arm or the control arm, respectively; and 21.4% and 19.1% of patients, respectively, were staged using positron emission tomography/computed tomography (P = .31). With a median follow-up of 54.1 months (range, 19.9-165.0 months) in survivors, the 3-year local/regional progression-free probability was 58.2% and 65.5% in the study and control arms, respectively (P = .44), and the absolute difference was -7.3% (95% CI, -18.2%, 3.7%). In the study and control arms, the median overall survival was 21.9 months and 26.6 months, respectively, and the 5-year overall survival rate was 22.8% and 28.1%, respectively (P = .26). Grade 3 esophagitis was observed in 5.9% of patients in the study arm versus 15.5% of those in the control arm (P = .01). The isolated out-of-field failure rate was 2.6% in the study arm versus 4.1% in the control arm (P = .46), and all such failures were located in the supraclavicular fossa or contralateral hilum. The regions 7, 3P, 4L, 6, 4R, 5, and 2L received incidental radiation doses >30 Gy. Conclusions TRT could be limited to the postchemotherapy tumor volume, and involved-field radiotherapy could be routinely applied for limited-stage SCLC.