A circular polarizer is a single layer or multi-layer structure that converts linearly polarized waves into circularly polarized ones and vice versa. In this communication, a simple method based on ...transmission line circuit theory is proposed to model and design circular polarizers. This technique is more flexible than those previously presented in the way that it permits to design polarizers with the desired spacing between layers, while obtaining surfaces that may be easier to fabricate and less sensitive to fabrication errors. As an illustrating example, a modified version of the meander-line polarizer being twice as thin as its conventional counterpart is designed. Then, both polarizers are fabricated and measured. Results are shown and compared for normal and oblique incidence angles in the planes φ = 0 ° and φ = 90 ° .
The design of a C-band electronically beam scanning reflectarray is presented. The reconfigurable reflectarray element consists of a microstrip patch, printed on a flexible membrane substrate, ...aperture-coupled to a transmission line loaded with two varactor diodes. The designed element allows continuous tuning of the reflected signal's phase over a 360deg range with a maximum loss of 2.4 dB at 5.4 GHz. The measured results on a 30-element reflectarray breadboard show that by varying the bias voltages on each element the main beam can be steered to large angles, up to 40deg from broadside in the H-plane. A loss analysis of the proposed reflectarray is also presented
A new design of two-dimensional cylindrical Luneberg lens is introduced based on TE 10 mode propagation between parallel plates, with special focus on ease of manufacturing. The parallel plates are ...partially filled with low cost polymer material (Rexolite epsiv r = 2.54) to match Luneberg's law. A planar linear tapered slot antenna (LTSA) is inserted into the air region between the parallel plates at the edge of the Luneberg lens as a feed antenna, with fine positioning to the focal point of the Luneberg lens to optimize the antenna system performance. A combined ray-optics/diffraction method is used to obtain the radiation pattern of the system and results are compared with predictions of a time domain numerical solver. Measurements done on a 10-cm Luneberg lens designed for operation at 30 GHz agree very well with predictions. For this prototype, 3-dB E- and if-plane beamwidths of 6.6deg and 54deg respectively were obtained, and the sidelobe level in the E-plane was -17.7-dB. Although the parallel plate configuration should lead to a narrow band design due to the dispersion characteristics of the TE 10 mode, the measurement results demonstrate broadband characteristics with radiation efficiencies varying between 43% and 72% over the tested frequency band of 26.5-37 GHz. The designed cylindrical Luneberg lens can be used to launch multiple beams by implementing an arc array of planar LTSA elements at the periphery of the lens, and can be easily extended to higher mm-wave frequencies.
To report on the rate of amenorrhea among adolescents and young adults with a bleeding diathesis after insertion of the 52-mg levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS)
Retrospective chart review
...Tertiary care, multidisciplinary Gynecology-Hematology clinic or Adolescent Gynecology clinic
The cohort included 35 females aged 12–25 years presenting from January 2010 to January 2020 with heavy menstrual bleeding, 23 with an inherited blood disorder, and 12 with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
The 52-mg LNG-IUS
Primary outcome was bleeding profile after LNG-IUS insertion. Secondary outcomes included rates of amenorrhea, intrauterine device (IUD) expulsion, IUD discontinuation, and unplanned pregnancy.
Mean age at menarche was 11.6 years, with mean age at insertion of 16.9 (range 11–23). Most participants were white (n = 26, 74.3%). Von Willebrand disease was present in 16 patients (45.7%) and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in 12 (34.3%). Most (91.4%) had tried at least 1 hormonal regimen prior to LNG-IUS. Most participants (81.8%) reported improvement in bleeding, with 60.6% reporting spotting or amenorrhea. LNG-IUS expulsion occurred in 3 participants (9.1%) within the first 21 days, despite hemostatic agents at time of insertion. Mean continuation was 5.08 years (95% CI, 4.24–5.92), with 79% likelihood that participants kept their IUD in place for at least 2.5 years, and some up to 6 years.
The 52-mg LNG-IUS is an effective treatment option for adolescents and young adults with heavy menstrual bleeding and a bleeding diathesis, with high rates of amenorrhea. Rates of IUD expulsion appeared higher during the first 30 days, but long-term continuation remained high.
Rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) have increased fivefold in the past decade. To address this expanding and complex issue, state public health agencies have addressed the opioid crisis ...affecting newborns in diverse ways, leading to a variety of methods to quantify the burden of NAS.In an effort to understand this variability, we summarized clinical case and surveillance definitions used across jurisdictions in the United States. We confirmed that the rapid progression of the nation's opioid crisis resulted in heterogeneous processes for identifying NAS. Current clinical case definitions use different combinations of clinician-observed signs of withdrawal and evidence of perinatal substance exposure. Similarly, there is discordance in diagnosis codes used in surveillance definitions. This variability makes it difficult to produce comparable estimates across jurisdictions, which are needed to effectively guide public health strategies and interventions.Although standardization is complicated, consistent NAS definitions would increase comparability of NAS estimates across the nation and would better guide prevention and treatment efforts for women and their infants.
Identifying diagnostic biomarkers based on genomic features for an accurate disease classification is a problem of great importance for both, basic medical research and clinical practice. In this ...paper, we introduce quantitative network measures as structural biomarkers and investigate their ability for classifying disease states inferred from gene expression data from prostate cancer. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by using eigenvalue and entropy-based graph invariants and compare the results with a conventional biomarker analysis of the underlying gene expression data.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Commercial hospital discharge packs are commonly given to new mothers at the time of newborn hospital discharge. We evaluated the relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and the receipt of ...commercial hospital discharge packs in a population-based sample of Oregon women who initiated breastfeeding before newborn hospital discharge.
We analyzed data from the 2000 and 2001 Oregon Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a population-based survey of postpartum women (n=3895; unweighted response rate=71.6%).
Among women who had initiated breastfeeding, 66.8% reported having received commercial hospital discharge packs. We found that women who received these packs were more likely to exclusively breastfeed for fewer than 10 weeks than were women who had not received the packs (multivariate adjusted odds ratio=1.39; 95% confidence interval=1.05, 1.84).
Commercial hospital discharge packs are one of several factors that influence breastfeeding duration and exclusivity. The distribution of these packs to new mothers at hospitals is part of a longstanding marketing campaign by infant formula manufacturers and implies hospital and staff endorsement of infant formula. Commercial hospital discharge pack distribution should be reconsidered in light of its negative impact on exclusive breastfeeding.
Motivation: Network-based representations of biological data have become an important way to analyze high-throughput data. To interpret the large amount of data that is produced by different ...high-throughput technologies, networks offer multifaceted aspects to analyze the data. As networks represent biological relationships within their structure, it turned out to be fruitful to analyze their topology. Therefore, we developed a freely available, open source R-package called Quantitative Analysis of Complex Networks (QuACN) to meet this challenge. QuACN contains different, information-theoretic and non-information-theoretic, topological network descriptors to analyze, classify and compare biological networks.
Availability:
QuACN is freely available under LGPL via CRAN (http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/QuACN/).
Contact:
laurin.mueller@umit.at
Network-based analysis has been proven useful in biologically-oriented areas, e.g., to explore the dynamics and complexity of biological networks. Investigating a set of networks allows deriving ...general knowledge about the underlying topological and functional properties. The integrative analysis of networks typically combines networks from different studies that investigate the same or similar research questions. In order to perform an integrative analysis it is often necessary to compare the properties of matching edges across the data set. This identification of common edges is often burdensome and computational intensive. Here, we present an approach that is different from inferring a new network based on common features. Instead, we select one network as a graph prototype, which then represents a set of comparable network objects, as it has the least average distance to all other networks in the same set. We demonstrate the usefulness of the graph prototyping approach on a set of prostate cancer networks and a set of corresponding benign networks. We further show that the distances within the cancer group and the benign group are statistically different depending on the utilized distance measure.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Highlights • The group III and IV muscle afferents are determinant for motor unit control. • Such afferents could partially explain the motor/autonomic deficits after traumas. • Recent evidence on ...metabosensitive fiber functions needs to be clarified. • Understanding these afferent actions may help therapists for choosing exercises.
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