A Wideband High-Gain Circularly-Polarized Dielectric Horn Antenna Equipped With Lamé-Axicon Stacked-Disk Lens for Remote Sensing, Air Traffic Control and Satellite Communications

A wideband high-gain circularly polarized (CP) shaped dielectric horn-lens antenna (SDHLA) operating in the frequency band between 6.7 and 18.2 GHz [fractional impedance bandwidth (FIBW) of 92.4%] with a 3-dB axial-ratio in the frequency range from 8.1 to 16.3 GHz [fractional axial-ratio bandwidth (FARBW) of 67.2%], is presented. The antenna, composed of a suitably shaped dielectric horn, integrated with a super-ellipsoidal-axicon dielectric lens made out of stacked thin dielectric disks, is mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) where a microstrip line terminated with a wideband radial stub is used to excite a S-shaped slot through which the circular polarization is achieved. Parameterized 3D Lamé curves, describing the horn and lens profile, are used to optimize the antenna design. The antenna features a peak realized gain exceeding 13.1 dBi that is beneficial in a variety of applications, such as digital video broadcasting (DVB), remote sensing, weather monitoring, satellite communications, and air traffic control. The full-wave electromagnetic solver CST Studio Suite™, based on a locally conformal finite integration technique (FIT), was employed to design and characterize the antenna whose performances were found to be in good agreement with the experimental measurements.</p

TURVALLISESTI MAAILMAAN Yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnan osaamisen kehittäminen matkasynnytysvalmiuteen

Tämä opinnäytetyö on suunnattu Pohjois-Karjalan sairaanhoito ja sosiaalipalvelujen kuntayhtymän (PKSSK) yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnalle. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on järjestää koulutusta yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnalle. Koulutuksessa käydään läpi synnytyksen eri vaiheet ja avustaminen matkasynnytyksessä. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on, että jokaisella koulutukseen osallistuvalla olisi perusvalmiudet avustaessaan mahdollisessa matkasynnytyksessä. Opinnäytetyö sai alkunsa opinnäytetyön tekijän omasta kokemuksesta ja muun yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnan kanssa käydyistä keskusteluista. Keskusteluissa tuli esille, että tiedot ja taidot ovat puutteelliset, jos he joutuisivat avustamaan synnytyksessä. Opinnäytetyö on toteutettu toimintatutkimuksena, ja opinnäytetyön tuotos on valokuvien kanssa tehty PowerPoint-esitys synnytyksen vaiheista. Opinnäytetyötä varten on kerätty anonyymisti tietoa koulutustarpeesta ja siitä, millaista koulutusta haluttiin järjestettäväksi. Kyselyyn vastasi kolmannes (n=32) yhteispäivystyksen hoitajista. Opinnäytetyö on ajankohtainen ja hyödyllinen, koska esimerkiksi synnytyssairaaloiden lakkauttamisen takia välimatkat synnytyssairaaloihin ovat pidentyneet ja matkasynnytykset lisääntyneet. Yhteispäivystyksessä täytyy olla valmius erilaisten yllättävien tilanteiden varalle ja yksi tällainen tilanne on matkasynnytyksessä avustaminen. Opinnäytetyön tuotos on vapaasti käytettävissä koko PKSSK:n alueella, koska se on lisätty PKSSK:n oppimateriaaleihin. Vastaavia opinnäytetöitä on tehty esimerkiksi ambulanssi henkilökunnalle, mutta niissä koulutusmateriaali on suunniteltu ambulanssissa tai kotona tapahtuvaa synnytystä varten.The thesis targets nursing staff of the emergency department at North Karelia Medical care and Social Services (PKSSK). The objective of the thesis is to help provide in out-of-hospital delivery to the staff. The training covers the different phases of the child-birth and assisting in an out-of-hospital delivery.The purpose of the thesis is to ensure that all participants will have the basic skills in assisting in an out-of-hospital delivery. The idea of this thesis rose from the personal experiences of the thesis author and from the discussions with other nursing staff members at the emergency department. It became evident that both skills and knowledge were considered as inadequate to assist in an ouf-ofhospital delivery. The thesis has been carried out as an action research, and the educational material will be performed as a PowerPoint presentation with photographs of the different steps of child birth. The information about what kind of education is needed at the emergency department was collected anonymously. The third (=32) of the nursing staff answered to the inquiry. The thesis is useful and current, because closing several maternity hospitals has increased the distances between hospitals and therefore also the out-of-hospital deliveries have increased. Emergency departments have to be prepared for different kinds of unexpected situations, out-of-hospital deliveries being one of them. The output of this bachelor’s thesis is freely available for use in every department in PKSSK and can be found in educational materials in PKSSK intranet. Similar theses have been made, for example, for paramedics, the difference being in focusing on child births in an ambulance or in one’s home

Detection and Investigation of Extracellular Vesicles in Serum and Urine Supernatant of Prostate Cancer Patients

none13no: Prostate Cancer (PCa) is one of the most frequently identified urological cancers. PCa patients are often over-diagnosed due to still not highly specific diagnostic methods. The need for more accurate diagnostic tools to prevent overestimated diagnosis and unnecessary treatment of patients with non-malignant conditions is clear, and new markers and methods are strongly desirable. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) hold great promises as liquid biopsy-based markers. Despite the biological and technical issues present in their detection and study, these particles can be found highly abundantly in the biofluid and encompass a wealth of macromolecules that have been reported to be related to many physiological and pathological processes, including cancer onset, metastasis spreading, and treatment resistance. The present study aims to perform a technical feasibility study to develop a new workflow for investigating EVs from several biological sources. Serum and urinary supernatant EVs of PCa, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients, and healthy donors were isolated and investigated by a fast, easily performable, and cost-effective cytofluorimetric approach for a multiplex detection of 37 EV-antigens. We also observed significant alterations in serum and urinary supernatant EVs potentially related to BPH and PCa, suggesting a potential clinical application of this workflow.openSalvi, Samanta; Bandini, Erika; Carloni, Silvia; Casadio, Valentina; Battistelli, Michela; Salucci, Sara; Erani, Ilaria; Scarpi, Emanuela; Gunelli, Roberta; Cicchetti, Giacomo; Guescini, Michele; Bonafè, Massimiliano; Fabbri, FrancescoSalvi, Samanta; Bandini, Erika; Carloni, Silvia; Casadio, Valentina; Battistelli, Michela; Salucci, Sara; Erani, Ilaria; Scarpi, Emanuela; Gunelli, Roberta; Cicchetti, Giacomo; Guescini, Michele; Bonafè, Massimiliano; Fabbri, Francesc

SPOP Deregulation Improves the Radiation Response of Prostate Cancer Models by Impairing DNA Damage Repair

Speckle-type POZ (pox virus and zinc finger protein) protein (SPOP) is the most commonly mutated gene in prostate cancer (PCa). Recent evidence reports a role of SPOP in DNA damage response (DDR), indicating a possible impact of SPOP deregulation on PCa radiosensitivity. This study aimed to define the role of SPOP deregulation (by gene mutation or knockdown) as a radiosensitizing factor in PCa preclinical models. To express WT or mutant (Y87N, K129E and F133V) SPOP, DU145 and PC-3 cells were transfected with pMCV6 vectors. Sensitivity profiles were assessed using clonogenic assay and immunofluorescent staining of γH2AX and RAD51 foci. SCID xenografts were treated with 5 Gy single dose irradiation using an image-guided small animal irradiator. siRNA and miRNA mimics were used to silence SPOP or express the SPOP negative regulator miR-145, respectively. SPOP deregulation, by either gene mutation or knockdown, consistently enhanced the radiation response of PCa models by impairing DDR, as indicated by transcriptome analysis and functionally confirmed by decreased RAD51 foci. SPOP silencing also resulted in a significant downregulation of RAD51 and CHK1 expression, consistent with the impairment of homologous recombination. Our results indicate that SPOP deregulation plays a radiosensitizing role in PCa by impairing DDR via downregulation of RAD51 and CHK1. View Full-Tex

乳兒に於ける化膿性骨髄炎の統計的觀察

Additional file 3: Figure S1. Methylation percentages of the two genes (CASP8 and SCGB3A1) in P, C and PCa samples that were differentially methylated in C and P samples in the training set. The figure highlights a higher methylation percentage for PCa than for healthy samples, but also a higher methylation percentage for P than for C samples in both genes

The economic impact of biosimilars in Italy : a scenario analysis

Background: the first generation of biotechnology drugs is reaching, or has already reached, the patent expiry and a large number of biosimilars is entering the Italian pharmaceutical market. The objective of the analysis was to evaluate the economic impacts of biosimilars on the national health expenditure in Italy between 2014 and 2020. Methods: Based on the information deriving from consumption per standard unit and equivalent patients, it was estimated monthly expenditure for some of the biological drugs currently available in Italy that have had or will have a patent expiry within the analysis period (infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, insulin glargine, trastuzumab, rituximab, bevacizumab and insulin aspart). Pharmaceutical expenditure was calculated on hospital sales prices net of transparent discounts required by law and visible from the AIFA database. Three alternative scenarios have been developed based on the perceptions of a board of clinical experts, pharmacologists and pharmacoeconomists involved in the study. The experts involved analyzed the estimates of treated patients between 2014 and 2017 and reports their hypothetical biosimilar penetration during the period 2018-2020. The results were represented as the difference between the estimated expenditure in the absence of biosimilars and the estimated expenditure in the presence of biosimilars with the real or hypothetical biosimilar penetration. Results: considering the standard units dispensed for each year, the economic model estimate an annual expenditure in 2014 equal to € 1.47 billion for the molecules considered in the analysis. These estimates rise to € 1.54, € 1.50 billion and € 1.51 billion during 2015, 2016 and 2017 in the scenario without biosimilar introduction. Biosimilar introduction generates cost savings between € 3.8 million in 2015 and € 32.9 million in 2017 if compared with the scenario without. Assuming an increasing biosimilar penetration between 2018 and 2020, scenario analysis estimates a cumulative cost reduction equal to € 597 million. Conclusions: Overall, biosimilar penetration generates important cost reduction that could be re-invested in the National Health Sistem

Associations between depressive symptoms and disease progression in older patients with chronic kidney disease: results of the EQUAL study

Background Depressive symptoms are associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with end-stage kidney disease; however, few small studies have examined this association in patients with earlier phases of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We studied associations between baseline depressive symptoms and clinical outcomes in older patients with advanced CKD and examined whether these associations differed depending on sex. Methods CKD patients (&gt;= 65 years; estimated glomerular filtration rate &lt;= 20 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) were included from a European multicentre prospective cohort between 2012 and 2019. Depressive symptoms were measured by the five-item Mental Health Inventory (cut-off &lt;= 70; 0-100 scale). Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to study associations between depressive symptoms and time to dialysis initiation, all-cause mortality and these outcomes combined. A joint model was used to study the association between depressive symptoms and kidney function over time. Analyses were adjusted for potential baseline confounders. Results Overall kidney function decline in 1326 patients was -0.12 mL/min/1.73 m(2)/month. A total of 515 patients showed depressive symptoms. No significant association was found between depressive symptoms and kidney function over time (P = 0.08). Unlike women, men with depressive symptoms had an increased mortality rate compared with those without symptoms [adjusted hazard ratio 1.41 (95% confidence interval 1.03-1.93)]. Depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with a higher hazard of dialysis initiation, or with the combined outcome (i.e. dialysis initiation and all-cause mortality). Conclusions There was no significant association between depressive symptoms at baseline and decline in kidney function over time in older patients with advanced CKD. Depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with a higher mortality rate in men

Electromagnetic scattering from truncated thin cylinders: an approach based on the incomplete Hankel functions and surface impedance boundary conditions

The field scattered by truncated thin cylinders excited by arbitrarily oriented and polarized elementary electromagnetic sources is analyzed by means of the incomplete Hankel functions (IHFs). The currents excited on the cylinders and the related scattered fields are derived by solving electrical field integral equations (EFIEs) by means of the point-matching method of moments (MoM) using triangular basis functions. IHFs are employed so to express the electromagnetic field distribution in closed analytical form, thus allowing to obtain accurate numerical results. Structures having finite conductivities or formed by dielectric materials are modeled by surface impedance boundary conditions including curvature effects. Cylindrical structures, made up of carbon fibers, useful to realize focusing systems or reflector antennas, and dielectric cylinders, suitable to model plant shapes, are taken into consideration for the purpose of identifying their scattering properties

A compact high-gain wideband lens Vivaldi antenna for wireless communications and through-the-wall imaging

Compact high-gain wideband antenna systems for through-the-wall imaging and wireless communications, featuring 160% fractional bandwidth, are presented. Each radiating system, consisting of two orthogonal Vivaldi antennas forming a cross-shaped configuration so to excite linear (horizontal/vertical) and circular polarization (CP), is equipped with a top-mount spherical-axicon dielectric lens. The optimized shaping of the lens and of the outer edge Vivaldi arms allow achieving gain levels exceeding 15dBi with good front-to-back-ratio. The proposed antenna features a broadside gain diagram with stable radiation pattern and wideband impedance matching in the frequency range between 650 MHz and 6 GHz. CST Microwave Studio®, implementing a full-wave locally conformal finite integration technique (FIT), was employed to design and characterize the antenna and to guide its physical realization. Two-port equivalent circuits were developed to characterize parasitic coupling effects between the Vivaldi antennas ports, while a full-wave analysis allowed characterizing their frequency and time domain behaviors. The numerical results concerning the antennas parameters, illustrating the suitability of the proposed antennas to support narrow and ultra-wideband signal waveforms, are found to be in good agreement with the experimental measurements performed on an antenna prototype

A Wideband High-Gain Dielectric Horn-Lens Antenna for Wireless Communications and UWB Applications

A wideband high-gain dielectric horn-lens antenna (DHLA) for wireless communications and ultra-wideband (UWB) applications, featuring 122% fractional bandwidth, is presented. The antenna, consisting of a dielectric horn equipped with a spherical-axicon dielectric lens that increases and equalizes the gain within the operating band, is placed on a PCB featuring a wideband eight-shaped slot fed by a tapered microstrip line employed to excite the radiating system. The lens, integrated within the body of the dielectric horn, has the property of focusing the RF energy near its vertex on an extended frequency band, thus ensuring compact size, excellent field coupling with the antenna excitation system, and a significant increase of antenna gain. The antenna operates in the 3–12.4 GHz frequency range with relatively flat group delay, making it suitable for operating with narrowband, broadband, and impulsive UWB signals. The antenna can work properly without or with a metal reflector useful to enhance gain (up to 19 dBi), improve the front-to-back ratio, and reduce the impact of the antenna characteristics from the installation site. CST Studio Suite, implementing a full-wave locally conformal finite integration technique (FIT), was employed to design and characterize the antenna. The antenna characteristics estimated numerically were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results performed on an antenna prototype