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This article presents the theoretical study and experimental validation of the multipactor (MP) effect in bandpass filters implemented in groove gap waveguide (GGW) technology. Such filters are based on rectangular cavities and inductive coupling irises, whose optimized dimensions (widths and lengths) are fixed between rows of metal pins. For the effective design of the considered GGW filter, an equivalent counterpart in standard rectangular waveguide (RW) technology will be first studied, using very efficient tools for computing its electrical response and MP discharge breakdown levels. Two prototypes of the GGW and RW bandpass filters, designed to operate at 17.5 GHz (for Ka-band satellite downlink applications), are manufactured for validation and comparison purposes. Both of them are made of aluminium material, whose properties (in terms of secondary electron emission) have also been measured, as well as considered in the prediction of MP threshold levels using available software tools. Proceeding in this way, an outstanding matching between all simulated and experimental results of the MP effect has been achieved.

This article presents the theoretical study, numerical simulation and fabrication of a phase shifter and a stub resonator for use in microstrip ridge gap waveguide (MRGW) technology, using a liquid crystal (LC) in the substrate as a reconfigurable material. The phase shifter and the stub resonator are filled with LC, and thanks to the LC’s dielectric anisotropy properties, the phase shift and the resonance response can be easily controlled using an external electric or magnetic bias field. The phase shifter was designed to operate in the range of 10 to 20 GHz, and the resonator was designed to operate in the range of 7.8 to 8.8 GHz. The phase shifter’s responses (including both phase shift and insertion losses), associated with both the parallel and perpendicular permittivity values of the LC, were computed and measured, and then the corresponding figure of merit (FoM) was extracted. The resonator’s frequency responses, associated with both the LC’s parallel and perpendicular permittivity, were computed. The resonator’s frequency responses, which provided different polarization voltages, were measured and compared to the simulation results. All technological issues related to both prototypes are also discussed here. The good agreement between the simulation and measurement results confirm this technology as a viable approach to the practical implementation of these microwave reconfigurable devices.

BackgroundCurrent equations for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) that use serum creatinine or cystatin C incorporate age, sex, and race to estimate measured GFR. However, race in eGFR equations is a social and not a biologic construct.MethodsWe developed new eGFR equations without race using data from two development data sets: 10 studies (8254 participants, 31.5% Black) for serum creatinine and 13 studies (5352 participants, 39.7% Black) for both serum creatinine and cystatin C. In a validation data set of 12 studies (4050 participants, 14.3% Black), we compared the accuracy of new eGFR equations to measured GFR. We projected the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and GFR stages in a sample of U.S. adults, using current and new equations.ResultsIn the validation data set, the current creatinine equation that uses age, sex, and race overestimated measured GFR in Blacks (median, 3.7 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8 to 5.4) and to a lesser degree in non-Blacks (median, 0.5 ml per minute per 1.73 m2; 95% CI, 0.0 to 0.9). When the adjustment for Black race was omitted from the current eGFR equation, measured GFR in Blacks was underestimated (median, 7.1 ml per minute per 1.73 m2; 95% CI, 5.9 to 8.8). A new equation using age and sex and omitting race underestimated measured GFR in Blacks (median, 3.6 ml per minute per 1.73 m2; 95% CI, 1.8 to 5.5) and overestimated measured GFR in non-Blacks (median, 3.9 ml per minute per 1.73 m2; 95% CI, 3.4 to 4.4). For all equations, 85% or more of the eGFRs for Blacks and non-Blacks were within 30% of measured GFR. New creatinine-cystatin C equations without race were more accurate than new creatinine equations, with smaller differences between race groups. As compared with the current creatinine equation, the new creatinine equations, but not the new creatinine-cystatin C equations, increased population estimates of CKD prevalence among Blacks and yielded similar or lower prevalence among non-Blacks.ConclusionsNew eGFR equations that incorporate creatinine and cystatin C but omit race are more accurate and led to smaller differences between Black participants and non-Black participants than new equations without race with either creatinine or cystatin C alone. (Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.).

El objetivo del presente estudio bibliométrico consistió en analizar la producción científica acumulada sobre los factores de riesgo biopsicosocial conducentes al suicidio en la infancia y la adolescencia mediante la implementación de la teoría de grafos. Se consultaron las bases de datos Scopus (Elsevier) y Web of Science, y el análisis se efectuó en bibliometrix, Sci2 tool y Gephi. Se encontraron 2,058 registros. El análisis mostró una red de citaciones de 2,905 registros y cuatro clústeres principales. Los resultados arrojaron una estructura de red de la producción de conocimiento en cuatro tendencias de investigación: (1) factores de predicción de tipo psiquiátrico del comportamiento suicida en niños y adolescentes; (2) asociación entre conducta autolesiva no suicida y comportamiento suicida en adolescentes; (3) relación entre maltrato infantil y suicidio; (4) uso de antidepresivos en la niñez y adolescencia y comportamiento suicida. Finalmente, se plantean consideraciones para la prevención del suicidio en la población objeto de estudio.

Introduction: The course of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) varies greatly among affected individuals, necessitating natural history studies to characterize the determinants and effects of disease progression. Therefore, we conducted an observational, longitudinal study (OVERTURE; NCT01430494) of patients with ADPKD. Methods: This prospective study enrolled a large international population (N = 3409) encompassing a broad spectrum of ages (12–78 years), chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages (G1–G5), and Mayo imaging classifications (1A–1E). Outcomes included kidney function, complications, quality of life, health care resource utilization, and work productivity. Results: Most subjects (84.4%) completed ≥12 months of follow-up. Consistent with earlier findings, each additional l/m of height-adjusted total kidney volume (htTKV) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was associated with worse outcomes, including lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (regression coefficient 17.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 15.94–18.11) and greater likelihood of hypertension (odds ratio [OR] 1.25, 95% CI 1.17–1.34), kidney pain (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.11–1.33), and hematuria (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.21–1.51). Greater baseline htTKV was also associated with worse patient-reported health-related quality of life (e.g., ADPKD Impact Scale physical score, regression coefficient 1.02, 95% CI 0.65–1.39), decreased work productivity (e.g., work days missed, regression coefficient 0.55, 95% CI 0.18–0.92), and increased health care resource utilization (e.g., hospitalizations, OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.33–1.64) during follow-up. Conclusion: Although limited by a maximum 3-year duration of follow-up, this observational study characterized the burden of ADPKD in a broad population and indicated the predictive value of kidney volume for outcomes other than kidney function.

Abstract An integral equation technique for the analysis of multiport H‐plane microwave circuits composed of an unlimited number of arbitrarily shaped metallic and/or dielectric elements is proposed. The structure under study is divided into different regions after the application of the surface equivalence principle. Following this approach, the access waveguide ports are modelled by means of parallel plate Green's functions, whereas the central region is characterised by 2D rectangular cavity Green's functions. The use of this kind of Green's functions represents a novelty for solving H‐plane integral equation problems. For the first time, the Ewald method has been employed in order to accelerate the computation of the 2D rectangular cavity Green's functions and their derivatives, needed in the integral equation. In addition, convergence studies show the numerical convenience of using the Ewald method to achieve a fast and accurate evaluation of these Green's functions. Results show that the analysis can be very efficient if the structure is segmented in a proper way based on fitting the cavity resonator within the geometry of the structure under analysis. In fact, all the walls of the structure that are coincident with the auxiliary resonator need not to be discretised during the numerical solution. Finally, several simulation examples of practical inductive microwave circuits are presented and discussed, showing a good agreement and higher computational efficiency when compared to results provided by commercial full‐wave software tools and measurements.

The progression of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), an inherited kidney disease, is associated with renal interstitial inflammation and fibrosis. CD74 has been known not only as a receptor of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) it can also have MIF independent functions. In this study, we report unknown roles and function of CD74 in ADPKD. We show that knockout of CD74 delays cyst growth in Pkd1 mutant kidneys. Knockout and knockdown of CD74 (1) normalize PKD associated signaling pathways, including ERK, mTOR and Rb to decrease Pkd1 mutant renal epithelial cell proliferation, (2) decrease the activation of NF-κB and the expression of MCP-1 and TNF-alpha (TNF-α) which decreases the recruitment of macrophages in Pkd1 mutant kidneys, and (3) decrease renal fibrosis in Pkd1 mutant kidneys. We show for the first time that CD74 functions as a transcriptional factor to regulate the expression of fibrotic markers, including collagen I (Col I), fibronectin, and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), through binding on their promoters. Interestingly, CD74 also regulates the transcription of MIF to form a positive feedback loop in that MIF binds with its receptor CD74 to regulate the activity of intracellular signaling pathways and CD74 increases the expression of MIF in ADPKD kidneys during cyst progression. We further show that knockout of MIF and targeting MIF with its inhibitor ISO-1 not only delay cyst growth but also ameliorate renal fibrosis through blocking the activation of renal fibroblasts and CD74 mediated the activation of TGF-β-Smad3 signaling, supporting the idea that CD74 is a key and novel upstream regulator of cyst growth and interstitial fibrosis. Thus, targeting MIF-CD74 axis is a novel therapeutic strategy for ADPKD treatment.

The rate of disease progression in autosomal-dominant (AD) polycystic kidney disease (PKD) exhibits high intra-familial variability suggesting that environmental factors may play a role. We hypothesized that a prevalent form of renal insult may accelerate cystic progression and investigated tubular crystal deposition. We report that calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal deposition led to rapid tubule dilation, activation of PKD-associated signaling pathways, and hypertrophy in tubule segments along the affected nephrons. Blocking mTOR signaling blunted this response and inhibited efficient excretion of lodged crystals. This mechanism of "flushing out" crystals by purposefully dilating renal tubules has not previously been recognized. Challenging PKD rat models with CaOx crystal deposition, or inducing calcium phosphate deposition by increasing dietary phosphorous intake, led to increased cystogenesis and disease progression. In a cohort of ADPKD patients, lower levels of urinary excretion of citrate, an endogenous inhibitor of calcium crystal formation, correlated with increased disease severity. These results suggest that PKD progression may be accelerated by commonly occurring renal crystal deposition which could be therapeutically controlled by relatively simple measures.

ADPKD is caused by pathogenic variants in PKD1 or PKD2, encoding polycystin-1 and -2 proteins. Polycystins are expressed in osteoblasts and chondrocytes in animal models, and loss of function is associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) and volume. However, it is unclear whether these variants impact bone strength in ADPKD patients. Here, we examined BMD in ADPKD after kidney transplantation (KTx). This retrospective observational study retrieved data from adult patients who received a KTx over the past 15 years. Patients with available dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the hip and/or lumbar spine (LS) post-transplant were included. ADPKD patients (n = 340) were matched 1:1 by age (±2 years) at KTx and sex with non-diabetic non-ADPKD patients (n = 340). Patients with ADPKD had slightly higher BMD and T-scores at the right total hip (TH) as compared to non-ADPKD patients [BMD: 0.951 vs. 0.897, p

A novel and simple design method of wide‐passband filters with wide stopband based on half‐wavelength (λ/2) resonators coupled by a short connected line (SCL) is proposed and analysed in this paper. Different from the traditional parallel‐coupled structure filters, SCL is proposed to realize a strong coupling between two adjacent resonators and suppress the parasitic passbands simultaneously. And the eigenmode analysis method and impedance ratio characteristics are both used to reveal the mechanism of wide‐stopband implementation. To further expand the stopband, filters based on step‐impedance resonators (SIRs) with SCL are proposed and analysed in detail. To verify the proposed design method and wide‐stopband filtering structures, three 4‐pole filters with uniform‐impedance resonators (UIRs), SIRs with same impedance ratio, and SIRs with different impedance ratios are designed, fabricated, and measured. The proposed filters can realize a wide stopband up to 5.8f0 with rejection level better than 20 dB. Moreover, the proposed filters can easily realize a wide bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]