In this paper, a dual-band Doherty power amplifier (DPA) is proposed that can operate over two wide passbands, which is realized by multiple transmission zeros (TZs) in an all-pass response. The ...short/open stub loaded stepped-impedance transformers act as the output matching networks (OMNs) in both carrier and peaking paths. The shunted stubs not only generate TZs but also perform impedance conversion, simultaneously satisfying the load-pull requirements at both output back off (OBO) and saturation. This is achieved over two wide frequency ranges. The combination between the OMNs in the two paths realizes a dual-passband response, even though the number of TZs at saturation is one less than that at OBO. A prototype DPA is implemented based on two 10-W GaN transistors to validate the methodology. Measured lower and upper frequency bands are from 1.35 to 1.75 GHz and 3.05 to 3.45 GHz, respectively, with both having 400 MHz operating bandwidths. Measured results demonstrate a maximum saturated gain of 9.2 dB and an output power of 43.8 dBm. Maximum 6-dB OBO and saturated efficiencies (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\eta )</tex-math> </inline-formula> are 58% and 72%, respectively. The circuit occupies a very compact size with an area of 0.5<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\lambda _{g}</tex-math> </inline-formula> <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times </tex-math> </inline-formula> 0.43<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\lambda_{g}</tex-math> </inline-formula>.
Objective
This study aimed to synthesize zinc‐incorporated nanowires structure modified titanium implant surface (Zn‐NW‐Ti) and explore its superior osteogenic and antibacterial properties in vitro ...and in vivo.
Materials and methods
Zn‐NW‐Ti was synthesized via displacement reactions between zinc sulfate solutions and the titanium (Ti) surface, which was pretreated by hydrofluoric acid etching and hyperthermal alkalinization. The physicochemical properties of the Zn‐NW‐Ti surface were examined. Moreover, the biological effects of Zn‐NW‐Ti on MC3T3‐E1 cells and its antibacterial property against oral pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans) compared with sandblasted and acid‐etched Ti (SLA‐Ti) and nanowires modified Ti (NW‐Ti) surface were assessed. Zn‐NW‐Ti and SLA‐Ti modified implants were inserted into the anterior extraction socket of the rabbit mandible with or without exposure to the mixed bacterial solution (S. aureus, P. gingivalis, and A. actinomycetemcomitans) to investigate the osteointegration and antibacterial performance via radiographic and histomorphometric analysis.
Results
The Zn‐NW‐Ti surface was successfully prepared. The resultant titanium surface appeared as a nanowires structure with hydrophilicity, from which zinc ions were released in an effective concentration range. The Zn‐NW‐Ti surface performed better in facilitating the adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of MC3T3‐E1 cells while inhibiting the colonization of bacteria compared with SLA‐Ti and NW‐Ti surface. The Zn‐NW‐Ti implant exhibited enhanced osseointegration in vivo, which was attributed to increased osteogenic activity and reduced bacterial‐induced inflammation compared with the SLA‐Ti implant.
Conclusions
The Zn‐incorporated nanowires structure modified titanium implant surface exhibited improvements in osteogenic and antibacterial properties, which optimized osteointegration in comparison with SLA titanium implant surface.
Cardiac remodeling, which is characterized by mechanical and electrical remodeling, is a significant pathophysiological process involved in almost all forms of heart diseases. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ...a group of non-coding RNAs of 20-25 nucleotides in length that primarily regulate gene expression by promoting mRNA degradation or post-transcriptional repression in a sequence-specific manner. Three miR-133 genes have been identified in the human genome, miR-133a-1, miR-133a-2, and miR-133b, which are located on chromosomes 18, 20, and 6, respectively. These miRNAs are mainly expressed in muscle tissues and appear to repress the expression of non-muscle genes. Based on accumulating evidence, miR-133 participates in the proliferation, differentiation, survival, hypertrophic growth, and electrical conduction of cardiac cells, which are essential for cardiac fibrosis, cardiac hypertrophy, and arrhythmia. Nevertheless, the roles of miR-133 in cardiac remodeling are ambiguous, and the mechanisms are also sophisticated, involving many target genes and signaling pathways, such as RhoA, MAPK, TGFβ/Smad, and PI3K/Akt. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the critical roles of miR-133 and its potential mechanisms in cardiac remodeling.
The mechanosensitive Piezo channels function as key eukaryotic mechanotransducers. However, their structures and mechanogating mechanisms remain unknown. Here we determine the three-bladed, ...propeller-like electron cryo-microscopy structure of mouse Piezo1 and functionally reveal its mechanotransduction components. Despite the lack of sequence repetition, we identify nine repetitive units consisting of four transmembrane helices each-which we term transmembrane helical units (THUs)-which assemble into a highly curved blade-like structure. The last transmembrane helix encloses a hydrophobic pore, followed by three intracellular fenestration sites and side portals that contain pore-property-determining residues. The central region forms a 90 Å-long intracellular beam-like structure, which undergoes a lever-like motion to connect THUs to the pore via the interfaces of the C-terminal domain, the anchor-resembling domain and the outer helix. Deleting extracellular loops in the distal THUs or mutating single residues in the beam impairs the mechanical activation of Piezo1. Overall, Piezo1 possesses a unique 38-transmembrane-helix topology and designated mechanotransduction components, which enable a lever-like mechanogating mechanism.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer with a prominent extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and poor prognosis. High levels of ECM proteins derived from tumour cells reduce the ...efficacy of conventional cancer treatment paradigms and contribute to tumour progression and metastasis. As abundant tumour-promoting cells in the ECM, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are promising targets for novel anti-tumour interventions. Nonetheless, related clinical trials are hampered by the lack of specific markers and elusive differences between CAF subtypes. Here, we review the origins and functional diversity of CAFs and show how they create a tumour-promoting milieu, focusing on the crosstalk between CAFs, tumour cells, and immune cells in the tumour microenvironment. Furthermore, relevant clinical advances and potential therapeutic strategies relating to CAFs are discussed.
Dissipative Kerr solitons in resonant frequency combs offer a promising route for ultrafast mode-locking, precision spectroscopy and time-frequency standards. The dynamics for the dissipative soliton ...generation, however, are intrinsically intertwined with thermal nonlinearities, limiting the soliton generation parameter map and statistical success probabilities of the solitary state. Here, via use of an auxiliary laser heating approach to suppress thermal dragging dynamics in dissipative soliton comb formation, we demonstrate stable Kerr soliton singlet formation and soliton bursts. First, we access a new soliton existence range with an inverse-sloped Kerr soliton evolution-diminishing soliton energy with increasing pump detuning. Second, we achieve deterministic transitions from Turing-like comb patterns directly into the dissipative Kerr soliton singlet pulse bypassing the chaotic states. This is achieved by avoiding subcomb overlaps at lower pump power, with near-identical singlet soliton comb generation over twenty instances. Third, with the red-detuned pump entrance route enabled, we uncover unique spontaneous soliton bursts in the direct formation of low-noise optical frequency combs from continuum background noise. The burst dynamics are due to the rapid entry and mutual attraction of the pump laser into the cavity mode, aided by the auxiliary laser and matching well with our numerical simulations. Enabled by the auxiliary-assisted frequency comb dynamics, we demonstrate an application of automatic soliton comb recovery and long-term stabilization against strong external perturbations. Our findings hold potential to expand the parameter space for ultrafast nonlinear dynamics and precision optical frequency comb stabilization.
In this paper, a group of differential dual-band bandpass filters based on a single quad-mode stub-loaded twin-ring resonator (TRR) are presented, which utilize asymmetrical shunt branches for ...common-mode (CM) suppression. Under differential-mode (DM) operation, the stub-loaded TRR manifests quad-mode characteristic for dual-band design. The frequency ratio of the two passbands can be flexibly selected according to the form of the loaded stubs. Different from the inline topology, differential multimode structures inevitably suffer from the hardship in CM suppression, especially for dual-band designs. Despite previous work fulfilled moderate CM suppression via embedded defected ground structure units, but the CM noise in the DM lower band can just be shifted away rather than suppressed. Instead, a novel CM-suppression approach is devised attributing to the asymmetrical short-terminated branches along the bisection line of the TRR. The transmission of the CM noise near the DM passbands can be blocked effectively. Furthermore, multiple CM notches can be obtained by the cooperation of the asymmetrical branches and source-load coupling, leading to the favorable CM suppression in a wide frequency range. For verification, a prototype differential dual-band filter based on the open stub-loaded TRR has been realized with frequency ratio which is larger than two. Similarly, a differential dual-band filter using the short-circuited stub-loaded TRR is also presented as an extension for frequency ratio which is smaller than two. The simulation and experiment results of the two demonstrated filters are given, showcasing a good agreement.
The M1 polarization of microglia and neuroinflammation restrict the treatment of acute spinal cord injury (ASCI), and long non‐coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) ...expression is lessened in ASCI. However, the function and mechanism of lncRNA MEG3 in the M1 polarization of microglia and neuroinflammation in ASCI are unclear. The expressions of lncRNA MEG3 in ASCI mouse spinal cord tissues and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐treated primary microglia and BV2 cells were quantified through a quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. In‐vitro assays were conducted to explore the function of lncRNA MEG3 in the M1 polarization of microglia and neuroinflammation in ASCI. RNA degradation, RNA immunoprecipitation, RNA pull‐down, cycloheximide‐chase, and ubiquitination analyses were carried out to probe into the mechanism of lncRNA MEG3 in the M1 polarization of microglia and neuroinflammation in ASCI. The lncRNA MEG3 expression was lessened in the ASCI mouse spinal cord tissues and LPS‐treated primary microglia and BV2 cells, and the overexpression of lncRNA MEG3 restrained the M1 polarization of microglia and the neuroinflammation by regulating the NF‐κB signaling pathway. For the investigation of the potential mechanism of such, the overexpression of lncRNA MEG3 restrained the M1 polarization of microglia through the HuR/A20/NF‐κB axis and boosted the motor function recovery and neuroinflammation relief in the mice with SCI. The overexpression of lncRNA MEG3 restrained the M1 polarization of microglia through the HuR/A20/NF‐κB axis.
A working model was used to reveal the underlying mechanism of lncRNA MEG3 in the M1 polarization of microglia and neuroinflammation.
As accessibility becomes an increasingly relevant concept in the analysis of sustainable transport and urban development, the accuracy of accessibility measures becomes increasingly vital. While more ...complex measures are gradually gaining popularity with increasing data and computational resources, policy makers and planners are still prone to opt for less complex methods that are easy to use and interpret. The cumulative opportunities measure is the most widely applied accessibility measure in planning practice, but it is also among the least accurate due to its lack of consideration of the impact of competition for those opportunities. This study seeks to highlight the impact of addressing competition for different urban services in the cumulative opportunities measure. A competition component is added to the measure, which is applied to a case study of three types of urban services in the Perth metropolitan area; jobs, primary/secondary education and shopping. The results show that considering competition changes the spatial patterns of accessibility and its equity. Since this approach reveals demand-supply imbalances, it can more accurately determine spatial inequalities in accessibility, and hence increases the utility of the cumulative opportunities measure. We also find that the three services had varying levels and spatial patterns of accessibility and spatial equity, thus relying on any single one of them for assessing spatial structural performance can be misleading.
Noninteracting particles exhibiting Brownian motion have been observed in many occasions of sciences, such as molecules suspended in liquids, optically trapped microbeads, and spin textures in ...magnetic materials. In particular, a detailed examination of Brownian motion of spin textures is important for designing thermally stable spintronic devices, which motivates the present study. In this Letter, through using temporally and spatially resolved polar magneto-optic Kerr effect microscopy, we have experimentally observed the thermal fluctuation-induced random walk of a single isolated Néel-type magnetic skyrmion in an interfacially asymmetric Ta / CoFeB / TaOx multilayer. An intriguing topology-dependent Brownian gyromotion behavior of skyrmions has been identified. The onset of Brownian gyromotion of a single skyrmion induced by thermal effects, including a nonlinear temperature-dependent diffusion coefficient and topology-dependent gyromotion are further formulated based on the stochastic Thiele equation. The experimental and numerical demonstration of topology-dependent Brownian gyromotion of skyrmions can be useful for understanding the nonequilibrium magnetization dynamics and implementing spintronic devices.
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