Novel ring resonator-based integrated photonic beamformer for broadband phased array receive antennas - part I: design and performance analysis

A novel optical beamformer concept is introduced that can be used for seamless control of the reception angle in broadband wireless receivers employing a large phased array antenna (PAA). The core of this beamformer is an optical beamforming network (OBFN), using ring resonator-based broadband delays, and coherent optical combining. The electro-optical conversion is performed by means of single-sideband suppressed carrier modulation, employing a common laser, Mach-Zehnder modulators, and a common optical sideband filter after the OBFN. The unmodulated laser signal is then re-injected in order to perform balanced coherent optical detection, for the opto-electrical conversion. This scheme minimizes the requirements on the complexity of the OBFN, and has potential for compact realization by means of full integration on chip. The impact of the optical beamformer concept on the performance of the full receiver system is analyzed, by modeling the combination of the PAA and the beamformer as an equivalent two-port RF system. The results are illustrated by a numerical example of a PAA receiver for satellite TV reception, showing that—when properly designed—the beamformer hardly affects the sensitivity of the receiver

Tumor biomarkers:association with heart failure outcomes

Background: There is increasing recognition that heart failure (HF) and cancer are conditions with a number of shared characteristics. Objectives: To explore the association between tumor biomarkers and HF outcomes. Methods: In 2,079 patients of BIOSTAT-CHF cohort, we measured six established tumor biomarkers: CA125, CA15-3, CA19-9, CEA, CYFRA 21-1, and AFP. Results: During a median follow-up of 21 months, 555 (27%) patients reached the primary endpoint of all-cause mortality. CA125, CYFRA 21-1, CEA, and CA19-9 levels were positively correlated with NT-proBNP quartiles (all P<0.001, P for trend <0.001), and were respectively associated with a hazard ratio of 1.17 (95% CI 1.12 – 1.23; P<0.0001), 1.45 (95% CI 1.30 – 1.61; P<0.0001), 1.19 (95% CI 1.09 – 1.30; P =0.006), and 1.10 (95% CI 1.05 – 1.16; P<0.001)for all-cause mortality after correction for BIOSTAT risk model (age, BUN, NT-proBNP, hemoglobin, and beta-blocker). All tumor biomarkers (except AFP) had significant associations with secondary endpoints (composite of all-cause mortality and HF hospitalization, HF hospitalization, cardiovascular (CV) mortality, and non-CV mortality). ROC curves showed the AUC of CYFRA 21-1 (0.64) had a non-inferior AUC compared to NT-proBNP (0.68) for all-cause mortality (P =0.08). A combination of CYFRA 21-1 and NT-proBNP (AUC =0.71) improved the predictive value of the model for all-cause mortality (P =0.0002 compared to NT-proBNP). Conclusions: Several established tumor biomarkers showed independent associations with indices of severity of HF and independent prognostic value for HF outcomes. This demonstrates that pathophysiological pathways sensed by these tumor biomarkers are also dysregulated in HF