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The development of artificial intelligence (AI) made human feel the pressure of machine competition. The architectural industry focuses on whether the AI will replace manpower. This study is an exp...

Recently oxide-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) are investigated for emerging applications of the next generation display devices and other electronic circuits (Fortunato, E., et al., 2012. Oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors: A review of recent advances. Advanced Materials, 24, pp.2945–2986). Despite of the great success in n-type oxide semiconductors with high transparency and high field-effect mobility, high performance P-type oxide TFTs are so highly desired that complementary circuits can be realized with low power and high performance (Ou, W.C., et al., 2008. Anomalous P-channel amorphous oxide transistors based on tin oxide and their complementary circuits. Applied Physics Letters, 92, p.122113). There are some oxides such as SnO, CuO, Cu2O and NiO are regarded as promising P-type semiconductor materials. In this investigation, tin oxide SnOx is fabricated to be active layer for TFTs device, and furnace annealing with several combinations of nitrogen and oxygen ambient is compared to enhance the electrical characteristics of P-type SnOx TFTs (Park, K.S., et al., 2009. High performance solution-processed and lithographically patterned zinc-tin oxide thin-film transistors with good operational stability. Electrochemical and Solid-State Lett., 12, pp.H256–H258). The results show that with N2+O2 ambient, 30 minutes furnace annealing, the P-type SnOx TFTs device shows better performance with mobility (μFE) 0.883 cm2/V · S, threshold voltage (VT) −4.63 V, subthreshold swing (SS) 1.15 V/decade, and Ion/Ioff ratio 1.01×103.

Recently resistive random access memory (RRAM) is considered to be the most promising one to become the next generation memory since its simple Metal/Insulator/Metal (MIM) structure, lower power consumption and fabrication cost (Meena, J.S., et al., 2014. Overview of emerging nonvolatile memory technologies. Nanoscale Research Letters, 9(1), p.526). Due to some bottlenecks for current flash memory, such as high operation voltage, low operation speed, poor retention time and endurance, RRAM device is regarded as an alternative solution (Fuh, C.S., et al., 2011. Role of environmental and annealing conditions on the passivation-free In–Ga–Zn–O TFT. Thin Solid Films, 520, pp.1489–1494). In this investigation, the memory layer of RRAM device is IGZO, and it is deposited with AP-PECVD technique which can operate under atmosphere, reduce cost of the process. Microwave annealing (MWA) is used to enhance the RRAM device reliability (Fuh, C.S., et al., 2011. Role of environmental and annealing conditions on the passivation-free In–Ga–Zn–O TFT. Thin Solid Films, 520, pp.1489–1494). Experiment shows that with appropriate MWA treatment, the IGZO RRAM device exhibits better electrical characteristics, reliability issues such as numbers of switching cycle and data retention time are also improved (Teng, L.F., et al., 2012. Effects of microwave annealing on electrical enhancement of amorphous oxide semiconductor thin film transistor. Applied Physics Letters, 101, p.132901).

Objectives Circadian rhythm disruption is commonly reported in patients with bipolar disorder. Lithium has been suggested to have effects on the circadian clock, the biological basis of the circadian rhythm. The objective of the current review was to review systematically the existing studies on the effect of lithium on circadian rhythm in patients with bipolar disorder. Methods We systematically searched the scientific literature up to September 2020 for experimental or observational studies which measured circadian rhythm in bipolar patients taking lithium (in comparison with placebo or other active treatments) and carried out a meta-analysis. Circadian rest-activity was our primary outcome, but we also collected data about sleep quality and chronotype (Morningness-Eveningness). The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018109790) RESULTS: Four observational studies (n = 668) and one experimental study (n = 29) were included. Results from the meta-analysis suggest a potential association between lithium and shifts toward morningness (standardised mean difference [SMD]: 0.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.05 to 0.90). One cohort study with 21 days of follow-up found that patients treated with lithium had significantly larger amplitude (0.68, 0.01 to 1.36) when compared to anticonvulsants. Conclusion This review highlights the insufficient evidence to inform us about the effect of lithium on circadian rhythm. However, we found that chronotype can be a potential target for further exploration of biomarkers or biosignatures of lithium treatment in patients with bipolar disorder. Further studies with prospective and longitudinal study design, adopting actigraphy to monitor daily circadian rest-activity changes are needed.

Major League Baseball is one of the most watched sports in the world. In recent years, in addition to focusing on the performance of a player and his team, a player’s salary has also been a focus of fan discussion, always generating discussion and beginning to examine whether a player’s performance really matches his worth. Therefore, how to evaluate the salary of players has always been a hot topic. The most direct basis is the performance of players in the game. In addition to the statistical performance of players on the field, many scholars have also proposed some new variables that may affect the salary of players. At present, there have been many studies on the salary of major league baseball, and there are many reasons for the influence of salary. Some scholars even divide the players into pitcher and hitter for analysis. Therefore, this study focused on the players into the compensation to the annual salary increase do interval, using machine learning methods, such as limit gradient (XGBoost) to do a classification prediction model, From the research results, it can be concluded that the new variables are helpful for the increase of accuracy.

Non-volatile memory (NVM) is essential in almost every consumer electronic products. The most prevalent NVM used nowadays is flash memory (Meena, J.S., et al., 2014. Overview of emerging nonvolatile memory technologies. Nanoscale Res. Letters, 9(1), p.526). However, some bottlenecks of flash memory have been identified, such as high operation voltage, low operation speed, and poor retention time. Resistive random access memory (RRAM) is considered to be the most promising one to become the next generation NVM device since its simple structure, fast program/erase speed, and low power consumption. In this experiment, the RRAM device is fabricated, and its IGZO (memory) layer is deposited with AP-PECVD technique which can reduce cost of the process. Microwave annealing (MWA) is used to enhance electrical characteristics of the RRAM device (Fuh, C.S., et al., 2011. Role of environmental and annealing conditions on the passivation-free In–Ga– Zn–O TFT. Thin Solid Films, 520, pp.1489–1494). Experiment results show that with appropriate MWA treatment, the IGZO RRAM device exhibits better electrical characteristics under bipolar operation, all forming/set/reset voltage for RRAM device is simultaneously lowered.

Too much tightening torque of the bottle cap can cause the user difficulty in opening the bottle. The purpose of this paper was to explore factors affecting the tightening torque of the bottle cap. The test scenario of tightening operation of bottle cap was established. The tightening torques of sixteen young subjects (8 male/8 female) were measured at four operating distances, two working postures and three types of bottle cap diameters (30 mm, 36 mm and 60 mm). The results showed the larger the bottle cap diameter, the greater the tightening torque required of bottle cap. Gender, height, weight and hand length had significant influence on the tightening torque, and the tightening torque of men was larger than that of women when opening the bottle cap. However, the working posture and distance had no significant impact on the tightening torque. The research results could have some practical reference value for the ergonomic design and evaluation of manual knob torque.

Bipolar disorder is an illness characterised by periods of elated and depressed mood. These mood episodes are associated with changes in cognitive function and there is evidence to suggest that cognitive dysfunction persists during euthymia. The extent to which this is a function of the illness or a result of treatment is less clear. In this narrative review, we explore the impact of commonly used medications for bipolar disorder on cognitive function. Specific impairments in executive function and verbal memory have been noted in bipolar disorder. The impact of pharmacological treatments upon cognitive function is mixed with a number of studies reporting conflicting results. Interpretation of the data is further complicated by the variety of cognitive tests employed, study design, the relatively small numbers of patients included and confounding by indication. Overall, there is some evidence that while lithium improves some cognitive domains, it impedes others. Antipsychotics may be deleterious to cognition, although this may relate to the patient population in which they are prescribed. Sodium valproate is also associated with worse cognitive outcomes, while the impact of other antiepileptics is unclear. Overall the quality of evidence is poor and is derived from a relatively small number of studies that often do not account for the significant heterogeneity of the disorder or common comorbidities. The use of consistent methodologies and measures of cognition across studies, as well as in naturalistic settings, would enable more certain conclusions to be drawn.

Phenanthrocarbazole (PC)-based organic dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been recently reported in experiments with an impressive high power conversion efficiency of over 12%. In this paper we report a computational study of the electronic structures, optical parameters and electron injection properties of a series of five PC dyes and the dye-TiO2 interfaces. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) approaches were employed. We show that the incorporation of additional building blocks (indoline, carbazole, triphenylamine, or coumarin) to the PC donor moiety leads to obvious influence on the electronic structures and properties, compared to unitary electron donor PC dye. The binary electron-donor PC based dyes demonstrate better electronic properties and spectroscopic parameters. The calculated injection time of electrons from the excited state of dye to the conduction band of TiO2 is ideal for DSSC applications. The newly designed coumarin-PC and indoline-PC dyes show desirable energetic, electronic, and spectroscopic parameters for DSSCs. Our results are useful for a better understanding on the design rule of PC based organic dyes for future DSSCs.

To compare the addition of targeted agents to fulvestrant with fulvestrant alone in hormone-receptor positive advanced breast cancer progressed on previous endocrine therapy; a meta-analysis of all relevant randomized controlled trials was performed. The PubMed, Embase databases and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for relevant publications reporting randomized controlled trials between January 2000 and June 2016. Progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and toxicity were assessed. Eight trials with a total of 2,470 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with fulvestrant alone, combination therapy improved PFS (HR = 0.79; 95% CI 0.72-0.87; P = 0.00), increased ORR (RR = 1.70; 95% CI 1.30-2.21; P = 0.00), and showed a trend of increase in DCR (RR = 1.27; 95% CI 0.96-1.69, P = 0.09). In network analysis, only CD4/6 and PI3K/m-TOR inhibitors showed significant treatment effects with a P-score of 0.9999 and 0.7615, respectively. Patients treated with combination therapy developed more grade 3 or greater toxic effects (RR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.13-1.36; P = 0.00). Combining targeted agents with fulvestrant showed benefit but with increased toxicity in patients with advanced breast cancer compared with fulvestrant alone. Biomarkers for treatment optimization are lacking. The CD4/6 and PI3K/m-TOR pathways merit further investigation.

Background We report a case of macular hole (MH) formation and retinal detachment after intravitreal conbercept injection for the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to degenerative myopia. Case presentation A 60-year-old woman presented with blurred vision in her left eye was diagnosed as CNV secondary to degenerative myopia. Intravitreal injection of conbercept, an anti -vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agent, was uneventfully performed in the left eye. Unfortunately, a full thickness MH and retinal detachment was found three weeks postoperatively by ophthalmoscopy and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Vitrectomy, internal limiting membrane peeling and silicone oil tamponade were then performed, and macular retina was reattached soon after surgery. However, MH still kept open during three months’ follow-up. Conclusion MH is a quite rare complication of intravitreal anti- VEGF agent injection, tangential contraction secondary to CNV shrinkage and regression caused by anti-VEGF agent is proposed to be the major pathogenesis of MH formation.

Definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) is a treatment option for patients with localized esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We investigated consolidation chemotherapy (CCT) in patients with ESCC who attained clinical complete response after dCRT. Between January 2009 and December 2012, medical records of ESCC patients treated with dCRT were retrospectively reviewed, and those who attained CCR were identified. Progression-free survival and overall survival rates were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox regression model was used to determine prognostic factors. Of the 522 patients treated with dCRT, 209 patients achieved CCR, with 67 receiving consolidation chemotherapy (the CCT group) and 142 receiving dCRT alone (the control group). CCT did not prolong progression-free survival (33.0 vs 18.0 months, P = 0.07, HR = 0.70, 95% CI, 0.48–1.04); however, CCT improved the median overall survival (53.4 vs 27.0 months, P = 0.04, HR = 0.67, 95% CI, 0.44–0.99) compared with dCRT alone. CCT remained a favorable prognostic factor for overall survival in a multivariate analysis (HR = 0.59, P = 0.02); however, a propensity score analysis failed to show an additional overall survival benefit with CCT. In the present analysis, CCT did not improve progression-free survival but may have extended overall survival in ESCC patients who achieved complete clinical response after dCRT.

In order to achieve higher speed and better efficiency of the plastic buckle molding, Imageware, the reverse design software, was adopted in this paper to process the point cloud data of the plastic buckle, mesh feature lines and reconstruct the surface,and then the reconstructed plastic buckle model was imported into UG and saved in STL format with the powerful surface repair function of UG to suture discontinuous surfaces. Mold Wizards of UG, the mold design module, was used to create mold assembly model, design parting surface, generate three-dimensional solid model of molding parts according to STL format saved previously and eventually the injection-molded plastic buckle was analyzed with Moldflow / MPI. As was indicated, the optimized design parameters tally with the experimental results basically.

To compare the effects of adding targeted agents to standard second-line chemotherapy with a single agent (pemetrexed or docetaxel) in patients with advanced NSCLC, a meta-analysis of all relevant randomized controlled trials was performed and overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR) were assessed.The PubMed and Embase databases, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for relevant publications reporting randomized controlled trials between January 2000 and December 2013. Hazard ratios (HRs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), or data for calculating HRs with 95% CIs were derived.Fourteen trials with a total of 6922 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with chemotherapy, combination therapy did not improve OS (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.90-1.01; P = 0.081) but improved PFS (HR = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.78-0.87; P = 0.000). Survival outcomes did not differ significantly among trials. Combination therapy significantly increased ORR (RR = 1.83; 95% CI, 1.59-2.127; P = 0.000) and DCR (RR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.13-1.23, P = 0.000). Sub-analysis indicated that adding targeted therapy to chemotherapy significantly prolonged OS in patients with non-squamous NSCLC (HR = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.87-0.97; P = 0.009). Patients treated with combination therapy had an increased incidence of grade 3 or greater diarrhea (RR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.37-2.81; P = 0.000), neutropenia (RR = 1.27, 95% CI, 1.14-1.61; P = 0.000) and thrombocytopenia (RR = 4.21, 95% CI, 1.87-9.51; P = 0.001). This meta-analysis has the limitations of heterogeneity among the included trials and not using individual patient data.In the second-line treatment of advanced NSCLC, the combination of targeted therapy and chemotherapy significantly increased response rates and progression-free survival, but did not improve overall survival and was more toxic.

Background Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors (palbociclib and abemaciclib) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors (everolimus) are effective agents for restoring endocrine sensitivity in patients with advanced breast cancer progression on prior aromatase inhibitors. We conducted a network meta-analysis to compare these treatments in terms of progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and clinical benefit rate (CBR). Methods The PubMed and Embase databases were searched for relevant publications between January 2000 and June 2018. Treatments were ranked based on a network meta-analysis. Ranking was determined by P-score. A random-effect model was used when heterogeneity was detected; otherwise, a fixed-effect model was used. Results Six trials comprising 4063 patients formed the comparison network. Compared with everolimus plus exemestane, the combinations of palbociclib or abemaciclib with fulvestrant showed similar efficacies in PFS and no differences in ORR. For the CBR, palbociclib demonstrated improvement, while abemaciclib did not. Incidences of severe adverse events did not significantly differ. A total of 29%, 15.9%, and 4% of patients discontinued everolimus, abemaciclib, and palbociclib, respectively, due to toxicity. Conclusion These results suggest similar efficacies between CDK4/6 inhibition and mTOR blockade; however, CDK4/6 inhibitors were associated with favorable toxicity profiles.

A 2 GHz two-point modulator which has a separate high-pass control for DCO modulation is implemented in 0.18 $\mu$ m CMOS. The proposed modulator with the two-path DCO modulation enables a flexible gain partition for the high-pass and low-pass modulation paths within the DCO and relaxes the DCO nonlinearity with 1-b $\Delta\Sigma$ modulation and embedded finite-impulse response (FIR) filtering. A semi-digital $\Delta\Sigma$ PLL with another FIR filtering in the low-pass modulation enhances PLL linearity with a hybrid loop control. The proposed semi-digital modulator achieves 2.03% RMS EVM with 2 Mb/s GFSK modulation, ${-}132$ dBc/Hz phase noise at 3 MHz offset, and ${-}80$ dBc reference spur.

This paper gives an overview of fractional-N phase-locked loops (PLLs) with practical design perspectives focusing on a △Σ modulation technique and a finite-impulse response (FIR) filtering method. Spur generation and nonlinearity issues in the △Σ fractional-N PLLs are discussed with simulation and hardware results. High-order △Σ modulation with FIR-embedded filtering is considered for low noise frequency generation. Also, various architectures of finite-modulo fractional-N PLLs are reviewed for alternative low cost design, and the FIR filtering technique is shown to be useful for spur reduction in the finite-modulo fractional-N PLL design.

The digital phase-locked loop (DPLL) enables robust clock generation with advanced CMOS technology but suffers from nonlinearity and resolution problems of the time-to-digital converter (TDC). In the DPLL based two-point modulator, the nonlinearity of the digitally-controlled oscillator (DCO) is also critical. DPLL architectures that utilize a 1-bit conversion or a 1-bit ΔΣ modulation method are recently proposed to relax the nonlinearity problem. This paper discusses TDC design issues and gives an overview of some useful techniques in the design of the DPLL which performs clock/frequency generation and modulation with the 1-bit TDC or the 1-bit DCO modulation.

Neuropathic pain, often caused by nerve injury, is a major clinical challenge. Mechanisms that underlie neuropathic pain remain elusive and effective medications are limited. Numerous investigations of pain mechanisms have focused on alterations and phenotypic switches of the nociceptive transmitters and modulators, as well as on their receptors and downstream signaling pathways that have already exerted roles in the pain processes of mature nervous systems. We have demonstrated recently that nerve injury may elicit neuronal alterations that recapitulate events occurring during development. Signaling of the representative activated molecule Wnt thus becomes a trigger for the development of neuropathic pain and is a potential therapeutic target. We report that the transcriptional regulators YAP and TAZ, which orchestrate Wnt response via incorporation in the β-catenin destruction complex, are key in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and may serve as an “ON–OFF” switch for neuropathic pain status in rats. Peripheral nerve injury causes rapid-onset and long-lasting nuclear accumulation of YAP/TAZ/β-catenin in the spinal dorsal horn. Spinal inhibition or knock-down of either YAP or TAZ suppresses mechanical allodynia induced by nerve injury or the pain initiators lysophosphatidic acid and Wnt3a. Promoting the nuclear accumulation of YAP/TAZ leads to mechanical hypersensitivity in naive animals. Further, we discovered a new small molecule, dCTB, which targets YAP/TAZ/β-catenin and can greatly suppress neuropathic pain and the associated neurochemical alterations. Our study reveals that YAP and TAZ are core mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and are targets in the screening for potent analgesics for the treatment of neuropathic pain.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTMechanisms that underlie neuropathic pain remain elusive. We have demonstrated recently that nerve injury can activate Wnt signaling, which becomes a trigger for the development of neuropathic pain. We report that the transcriptional regulators YAP and TAZ, which orchestrate Wnt response via incorporation in the β-catenin destruction complex, are key in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and may serve as an “ON–OFF” switch for neuropathic pain status. Further, we discovered a new small molecule, dCTB, which targets YAP/TAZ/β-catenin and can greatly suppress neuropathic pain. Our study reveals that YAP and TAZ are core mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and are targets in the screening of potent analgesics for the treatment of neuropathic pain.

To compare the effects of an erlotinib-based targeted dual agent with erlotinib alone in previously treated patients with advanced non-small lung cancer (NSCLC).The PubMed and Embase databases and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for publications between January 2005 and March 2016. Hazard ratios (HRs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), or data for calculating HRs with 95% CIs were derived. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and toxicity were assessed.Thirteen trials with a total of 4509 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared with erlotinib alone, combination therapy showed no improvement in OS (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.89-1.02; P = .132) though significantly prolonged PFS (HR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.75-0.90; P .001). Combination therapy significantly increased ORR (RR = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.09-1.60; P = .005) and DCR (RR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.17-1.36, P .001). Sub-analysis assessment failed to identify any sub-groups which could benefit from combination therapy in terms of OS. Combination therapy was associated with more grade 3 or higher toxic effects (RR = 1.54; 95% CI, 1.22-1.95; P .001). Patients treated with combination therapy had more grade 3 or greater fatigue (RR = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.16-1.91; P = .002), but did not develop more diarrhea (RR = 2.02; 95% CI, 0.86-4.77; P = .107) or rash (RR = 1.29, 95% CI, 0.90-1.85; P = .172). This study had limitations about heterogeneities among the included trials, and the analysis was not based on individual patient data.Compared with erlotinib alone, the erlotinib-based targeted dual agent showed a minimal magnitude of improvement in PFS but did not improve OS. The role of erlotinib-based combinations in previously treated patients with NSCLC seemed insignificant.

With the development of Electronic Science and technology, the available measuring instrument has been able to meet the requirements of the measurement work, but its measurement range is relatively small. To solve this problem, we design a current measurement circuit, based on SCM(single-chip microcomputer) STC89C52, that can automatically transform the current meter range. The system uses three digital ammeters which have different ranges, then the peripheral circuit consisting of a relay switch circuit, a two-stage amplification circuit and a binary conversion circuit is designed. By programming, the system finally realizes the automatic switch of range and expands its measurement. The whole circuit has a certain practical significance and a strong expansibility.

// Sujing Yuan 1 , Xianlong Fang 1 , Yanni Xu 2 , Aimin Ni 1 , Xin-Yuan Liu 1 , Liang Chu 1, 3 1 State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, P. R. China 2 College of Life Sciences, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Yangling 712100, P. R. China 3 Jiangsu Center for the Collaboration and Innovation of Cancer Biotherapy, Cancer Institute, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou 221002, P. R. China Correspondence to: Xin-Yuan Liu, email: xyliu@sibcb.ac.cn Liang Chu, email: lchu@sibcb.ac.cn Keywords: oncolytic adenovirus, HAb18, CD147, interleukin 24, hepatocellular carcinoma Received: January 18, 2016 Accepted: July 26, 2016 Published: August 09, 2016 ABSTRACT Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by alterations in multiple genes. High expression of CD147 on the surface of HCC cells promotes proliferation. The monoclonal antibody HAb18 recognizes CD147. We constructed an oncolytic adenoviral vector to express HAb18 (ZD55-HAb18) in HCC cells. Interleukin 24 (IL24) was co-expressed through the use of an F2A linker. ZD55-HAb18-IL24 decreased HCC cell viability to a greater degree than either ZD55-HAb18 or ZD55-IL24 alone. ZD55-HAb18-IL24 also induced apoptosis and autophagy in PLC/PRF/5 HCC cells. Intratumoral injection of ZD55-HAb18-IL24 repressed tumor growth in a PLC/PRF/5 xenograft model. Our results suggest that antibody-antitumor gene conjugation elicited a stronger antitumor effect than the antibody alone, and that this strategy could broaden the applications of antibody-based therapies in HCC.

A fully integrated dual-channel reconfigurable GNSS receiver supporting Compass/GPS/GLONASS/Galileo systems is implemented in 65 nm CMOS. The receiver incorporates two independent channels to receive dual-frequency signals simultaneously. GNSS signals located at the 1.2 GHz or 1.6 GHz bands are supported, with their bandwidths programmable among 2.2 MHz, 4.2 MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, and 18 MHz. By implementing a flexible frequency plan with a low/zero-IF architecture and reconfigurable analog baseband circuits, only one frequency synthesizer is required to provide the local oscillator (LO) frequency for two channels, thereby avoiding any LO crosstalk. Analog baseband circuits employ operational amplifiers that are capable of power scaling, in order to minimize power consumption across different operating modes. An I/Q mismatch calibration module placed prior to the complex-IF bandpass filter is implemented to improve the image rejection ratio. The receiver achieves a minimum 1.88 dB noise figure, an average 50 dB image rejection ratio, and a 64 dB dynamic range with 1 dB steps of gain-adjustment, with a total power consumption of 31-44 mW. Finally, experimental verification combining both the receiver and a digital baseband shows a positioning result comparable to commercial chips.

This paper introduces the design and implementation of LCoS field-sequential-colour(FSC) display driver system.The driver system uses FPGA as main controller,and uses two high speed DDR2 SDRAM to store image data.By means of regarding one frame image as a process unit,the driver system convert parallel input RGB signal into three series output homochromy image.By coordinating the driver system with the optical projector,FSC display on LCoS with the resolution of 800×600 is realized.

This paper describes a spread-spectrum clock generation method by utilizing a ΔΣ digital PLL (DPLL) which is solely based on binary phase detection and does not require a linear time-to-digital converter (TDC) or other linear digital-to-time converter (DTC) circuitry. A 1-bit high-order ΔΣ modulator and a hybrid finite-impulse response (FIR) filter are employed to mitigate the phase-folding problem caused by nonlinearity of the bang-bang phase detector (BBPD). The ΔΣ DPLL employs a two-point modulation technique to further enhance linearity at the turning point of a triangular modulation profile. Based on the proposed architecture, a 3.2GHz spread-spectrum clock generator (SSCG) is implemented in 65nm CMOS. Experimental results show that the proposed SSCG achieves peak power reductions of 18.5dB and 11dB with 10kHz and 100kHz resolution bandwidths respectively, consuming 6.34mW from a 1V supply.

This paper describes recent semidigital architectures of the phase-locked loop (PLL) systems for low-cost low-power clock generation. With the absence of the time-to-digital converter (TDC), the semi-digital PLL (SDPLL) enables low-power linear phase detection and does not necessarily require advanced CMOS technology while maintaining a technology scalability feature. Two design examples in 0.18 μm CMOS and 65 nm CMOS are presented with hardware and simulation results, respectively.

For optimizing design of the High Dynamic Range Imaging system and evaluating its performance perfectly,the information theory is applied to the High Dynamic Range Imaging system,the High Dynamic Range Imaging system is considered as a communication system,and the image quality of High Dynamic Range Imaging system is evaluated according to the end-to-end mutual information.Introducing the influence of LCoS as a spatial light modulator to CMOS sampling imaging model,mathematical model of the High Dynamic Range Imaging system based on mutual information is established.According to the model,the factors,such as the ratio of LCoS pixel number to CMOS pixel number,aperture ratio of LCoS and CMOS pixel,relative displacement and relative rotation angle,which affect the mutual information,and the reasons why the system image quality decline are analyzed.According to computer simulation,the relationships between the ratio of LCoS pixel number to CMOS pixel number and the mutual information,aperture ratio of LCoS and CMOS pixel and the mutual information,relative displacement and the mutual information,relative rotation angle and the mutual information are demonstrated,and the influence of these factors on the mutual information is analyzed.The simulation results show that the best matching condition between LCoS array and CMOS array is that one LCoS pixel corresponds to one CMOS pixel with smaller CMOS pixel,higher aperture of LCoS and CMOS pixel,no relative displacement and no relative rotation.

This paper demonstrates a dual path LC voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) that achieves ~65% tuning range with optimized inductor switching design. Combination of discrete and continuous tuning method reduces the gain ratio between coarse tuning path and fine tuning path which alleviates the noise and coupling issues due to high coarse tuning gain. Optimized inductor switching topology enables wideband continuous tuning from 2.74-5.37GHz. The VCO consumes 6.5 mW power from a 1.2 V supply and exhibits -123.8dBc/Hz at 3MHz offset from a 4.605 GHz carrier showing FOMT of -198.3dBc/Hz. The circuit is fabricated in 130nm CMOS process and occupies an area of 0.6mm2.

A 0.65V 2.4GHz/400MHz digital-intensive phase modulator is implemented in 65nm CMOS. In ultra-low voltage design, the two-point modulator suffers a lot from the DCO nonlinearity. In this work, we employ a 2.4GHz semidigital fractional-N PLL with an FIR filter embedded 1-bit high-pass modulation to overcome the nonlinearity problem in the conventional two-point modulator. The 400MHz modulator performs an FIR-embedded OQPSK modulation to reduce the spectral regrowth in high frequencies. For compact area and low voltage design, an inverter based phase interpolator with a harmonic filtering technique is designed after generating multiphase signals directly from the 2.4GHz output. The 1Mb/s GFSK 2.4GHz and the 10Mb/s OQPSK 400MHz modulators consume 0.94mW and 1.2mW and achieve the EVM values of 5.7% and 6.4% respectively.

A ΔΣ all-digital delay-locked loop (ADDLL) is proposed to realize a PVT-insensitive time-to-digital converter (TDC) with enhanced linearity in an all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL). With the proposed TDC, poor timing resolution and nonlinearity problems are mitigated, enabling a low cost, low comparison frequency TDC design without using the advanced CMOS technology. A novel digitally-controlled delay line (DCDL) is proposed to ensure monotonous and linear mapping between a digital control word and a total time delay. A phase error compensator (PEC) is employed to calibrate periodic phase error of the proposed TDC. A 2.5GHz ADPLL is designed in 0.18μm CMOS. Simulation results show that the proposed method effectively reduces fractional spurs caused by the TDC.

AIM: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of S-1-based vs non-S-1-based chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer (AGC). METHODS: We extracted reported endpoints, including overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), time-to-treatment failure (TTF), objective response rate (ORR) and adverse effects, from randomized controlled trials identified in PubMed, the Cochrane library, Science Direct, EMBASE and American Society of Clinical Oncology meetings. Stata software was used to calculate the pooled values. RESULTS: Seven randomized controlled trials involving 2176 patients were included in this meta-analysis. Compared to non-S-1-based regimens, the use of S-1-based regimens were associated with an increase in ORR (RR = 1.300; 95%CI: 1.028-1.645); OS (HR = 0.89; 95%CI: 0.81-0.99; P = 0.025), TTF (HR = 0.83; 95%CI: 0.75-0.92; P = 0.000), and a lower risk of febrile neutropenia (RR = 0.225; P = 0.000) and stomatitis (RR = 0.230; P = 0.032). OS, PFS and TTF were prolonged, especially in the Asian population. In subgroup analysis, statistically significant increases in ORR (RR = 1.454; P = 0.029), OS (HR = 0.895; P = 0.041) and TTF (HR = 0.832; P = 0.000) were found when S-1-based chemotherapy was compared to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy. The incidence of leukopenia (RR = 0.584; P = 0.002) and stomatitis (RR = 0.230; P = 0.032) was higher in the 5-FU-based arm. S-1-based regimens had no advantage in ORR, OS, PFS, TTF and grade 3 or 4 adverse events over capecitabine-based regimens. CONCLUSION: S-1-based chemotherapy may be a good choice for AGC because of longer survival times, better tolerance and more convenient use.

KCa3.1 has been suggested to be involved in regulating cell activation, proliferation, and migration in multiple cell types, including airway inflammatory and structural cells. However, the contributions of KCa3.1 to airway inflammation and remodeling and subsequent airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in allergic asthma remain to be explored. The main purpose of this study was to elucidate the roles of KCa3.1 and the potential therapeutic value of KCa3.1 blockers in chronic allergic asthma. Using real-time PCR, Western blotting, or immunohistochemical analyses, we explored the precise role of KCa3.1 in the bronchi of allergic mice and asthmatic human bronchial smooth muscle cells (BSMCs). We found that KCa3.1 mRNA and protein expression were elevated in the bronchi of allergic mice, and double labeling revealed that up-regulation occurred primarily in airway smooth muscle cells. Triarylmethane (TRAM)-34, a KCa3.1 blocker, dose-dependently inhibited the generation and maintenance of the ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation associated with increased Th2-type cytokines and decreased Th1-type cytokine, as well as subepithelial extracellular matrix deposition, goblet-cell hyperplasia, and AHR in a murine model of asthma. Moreover, the pharmacological blockade and gene silencing of KCa3.1, which was evidently elevated after mitogen stimulation, suppressed asthmatic human BSMC proliferation and migration, and arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase. In addition, the KCa3.1 activator 1-ethylbenzimidazolinone-induced membrane hyperpolarization and intracellular calcium increase in asthmatic human BSMCs were attenuated by TRAM-34. We demonstrate for the first time an important role for KCa3.1 in the pathogenesis of airway inflammation and remodeling in allergic asthma, and we suggest that KCa3.1 blockers may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for asthma.

Capecitabine has been investigated in early breast cancer in several studies, but it was undefined that whether it could improve survival. To investigate whether the addition of capecitabine affected survival in patients with early breast cancer, a meta-analysis was conducted and overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and toxicity were assessed. The PubMed, Embase databases and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for studies between January 2006 and April 2016. Hazard ratios (HRs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), or data for calculating HRs with 95% CI were derived. Seven trials with 9097 patients, consisted of 4 adjuvant and 3 neoadjuvant studies, were included in this meta-analysis. Adding capecitabine showed no improvement in DFS (HR = 0.93; 95% CI, 0.85-1.02; P = 0.12), whereas a significant improvement in OS was observed (HR = 0.85; 95% CI, 0.75-0.96; P = 0.008). A sub-analysis of DFS showed that benefit of capecitabine derived from patients with triple negative subtype and with extensive axillary involvement. Safety profiles were consistent with the known side-effects of capecitabine, but more patients discontinued scheduled treatment in the capecitabine group. Combining capecitabine with standard (neo)adjuvant regimens in early breast cancer demonstrated a significantly superior OS, and indicated DFS improvement in some subtypes with high risk of recurrence. Selection of subtypes was a key to identify patients who might gain survival benefit from capecitabine.

This paper describes a digitally-controlled oscillator (DCO) design for IEEE 802.15.4a compliant ultra-wide band (UWB) transceiver systems in the mandatory channel-9 of 7.9872GHz. To achieve good immunity against noise coupling, an LC based DCO is designed. For a small inductor area, the DCO is designed with the output frequency twice the channel-9 frequency. The DCO with a triple-input control achieves the maximum frequency of 17.2GHz with nearly 40% tuning range by employing a 6-bit binary-weighted capacitor bank, a 32-bit thermometer-coded capacitor bank and a 6-bit current steering DAC. The DCO is implemented in 65nm CMOS, and the measured phase noise of — 99.3dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset is obtained at 12.4GHz output.

This paper describes a 64% locking-range type-I LC PLL architecture with a small loop filter area. By employing a dual-path LC VCO with a boosted open-loop gain at dc, a reference spur or a static phase error problem with a large frequency offset in the type-I PLL is alleviated. The prototype PLL is implemented in 0.13µm CMOS, achieving 2.74-to-5.37GHz locking range with

Anisodamine, an antagonist of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs), has been used therapeutically to improve smooth muscle function, including microvascular, intestinal and airway spasms. Our previous studies have revealed that airway hyper-reactivity could be prevented by anisodamine. However, whether anisodamine prevents smoking-induced airway smooth muscle (ASM) cell proliferation remained unclear. In this study, a primary culture of rat ASM cells was used to evaluate an ASM phenotype through the ability of the cells to proliferate and express contractile proteins in response to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and intervention of anisodamine. Our results showed that CSE resulted in an increase in cyclin D1 expression concomitant with the G0/G1-to-S phase transition, and high expression of M2 and M3. Functional studies showed that tracheal hyper-contractility accompanied contractile marker α-SMA high-expression. These changes, which occur only after CSE stimulation, were prevented and reversed by anisodamine, and CSE-induced cyclin D1 expression was significantly inhibited by anisodamine and the specific inhibitor U0126, BAY11-7082 and LY294002. Thus, we concluded that the protective and reversal effects and mechanism of anisodamine on CSE-induced events might involve, at least partially, the ERK, Akt and NF-κB signaling pathways associated with cyclin D1 via mAChRs. Our study validated that anisodamine intervention on ASM cells may contribute to anti-remodeling properties other than bronchodilation.

Objective We tested the potential role of the mAChR in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced inflammatory response in in vivo and in vitro models and a possible signaling pathway involved in the inflammatory process. Methods Anesthetized mice were challenged with intratracheal LPS to induce acute lung injury. The cytology and histopathology changes, expression of cytokines and pulmonary vascular permeability were used to evaluate the effects of the cholinergic agent. Alveolar macrophage cell line NR8383 was also used to confirm the role of mAChRs and the molecular mechanisms underlying the LPS-induced events. Results LPS-induced acute lung injury (ALI) was significantly improved by atropine (a non-selective mAChR antagonist) and 4-DAMP (a M3 mAChR antagonist), as indicated by the diminution of neutrophil infiltration, pulmonary vascular permeability and IL-6 and TNF-α production. LPS-induced TNF-α production from the alveolar macrophage was significantly inhibited by atropine and 4-DAMP, but not pirenzepine (a M1 mAChR antagonist) and methoctramine (a M2 mAChR antagonist). Interestingly, LPS-induced TNF-α production was enhanced by the muscarinic receptor agonist pilocarpine, and treatment with pilocarpine alone was able to trigger TNF-α production from the alveolar macrophage, which was effectively attenuated by 4-DAMP. Western blot analysis showed that LPS-induced degradation of IκBα was strongly blocked by atropine/4-DAMP both in vivo and in vitro, indicating that M3 mAChR was involved in LPS-induced lung inflammation by mediating the NF-κB signaling pathway. Conclusion Our findings bring the evidence that the blockage of mAChR exerts anti-inflammatory properties, in which the M3 mAChR plays an important role in the LPS-induced lung inflammation.

This paper presents recent architectures of the phase-locked loop (PLL) systems which relax technology dependency and provide robust, low-cost frequency generation. The first part of the paper discusses architecture advantages of the dual-path PLL which significantly reduces loop bandwidth variation. The second part of the paper reviews recent hybrid PLL architectures which do not employ the time-to-digital converter (TDC) but still offer technology scalability and leakage current immunity.

The fast development of information technology since 1980s has reconstructed traditional industries and initiated the industrial innovation. As the result, IT-driven emerging industries have increasingly become the most promising part in today's economy. However, the comprehensive mechanism that dominates the formation of IT-driven emerging industries needs to be further explored in order to conduct systematic and effective promotion.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology has received great attention in recent short-range communication systems and been considered one of the potential candidates for upcoming IEEE 802.15.6 body area network (BAN) standard. High penetration capability and high precision ranging with a wide bandwidth of up to 7.5GHz (from 3.1GHz to 10.6GHz) make it easy to image the organs of human body for biomedical applications. In addition, low electromagnetic radiation less than −41.3dBm/MHz is safe for human tissue exposure and makes it suitable for hospital and home applications. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art UWB systems and addresses IC design challenges for WBAN and biomedical applications.

This paper proposes a finite-impulse response (FIR) based UWB transmitter. The pulse is optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) with the power spectral efficiency of 74%. The injection-locking technology for jitter reduction with loop filtering and phase filtering is discussed which significantly reduces the amount of jitter in high frequencies. By using the genetic algorithm, the optimal FIR pulse could further improve the spectral efficiency by increasing the pulse order and frequency while meeting the FCC noise mask. Binary phase shift keying (BPSK) is employed in simulation and the results show that the transmitter achieves the minimum data rate of lGb/s.

This work analyses the rule of the base vector arrangement for slant transform, gives the equations and the fast algorithms for the slant transform of arbitrary order 2" with base vectors arranged in sequency increment, makes traditional slant transform theory more consummate. Using this algorithm in image compression, the data entropy in the transform domain approaches that of the commonly used DCT, but the operation speed is faster. This algorithm is suitable for the orthogonal transformation where high speed and hardware implementation are required.