Wideband low noise amplifiers employing noise cancelling technique

Currently, wideband receiver had become a highly popular research topic because of its capability to support both high-speed communication as well as multi-standard integration. Ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless transmission standard was established by Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to support high-speed transmission using bandwidth from 3.1 – 10.6 GHz. Software defined radios (SDRs) have enabled multistandard wideband receiver, which covers multiple wireless standards distributed over sub-6-GHz bands, such as WiFi, GSM and Bluetooth. The first building block in such wideband receivers, wideband low-noise amplifier (LNA), is critical to the performance of the entire receiver chain. Noise cancelling (NC) is an interesting technique in wideband LNA design. It breaks the trade-off between input matching and noise performance of LNA. By adding two feedforward paths using two auxiliary amplifiers, the noise of input transistor is cancelled at output. The objective of this research is to explore this technique and propose novel NC LNA architectures that exploit improvements in gain, noise figure and linearity. These architectures are verified through simulation as well as silicon measurements. A wideband resistive-feedback NC LNA with an additional source-follower-feedback (SFF), which improves both gain and NF, is presented. Fabricated in a 65nm CMOS process, the wideband LNA achieves a flat S21 of 16.8 dB, a flat NF of 2.87-3.77 dB and S11 below -10 dB over a 3-dB bandwidth of 0.5-7 GHz. It consumes a DC power of 11.3mW from a 1.2-V supply and occupies an active area of only 0.044mm2. Nevertheless, this LNA shows a mediocre IIP3 of -4.5 dBm, rendering the circuit vulnerable to intermodulation interference. To address linearity issue in wideband application, a common-gate noise canceling LNA employing pMOS-nMOS complimentary pair as distortion cancellation is proposed. It is crucial for wideband LNAs to achieve high IIP3, preventing in-band intermodulation interference. Fabricated in a 65nm CMOS process, the wideband LNA achieves an S21 of 12.8 dB, a flat NF of 3.3-5.3 dB and S11 below -10 dB over a 3-dB bandwidth of 1-20 GHz. It shows an IIP3 larger than 2 dBm across the entire 19 GHz bandwidth and the highest measured IIP3 is 6.8 dBmDoctor of Philosoph

A PCR-Based Method for RNA Probes and Applications in Neuroscience

In situ hybridization (ISH) is a powerful technique that is used to detect the localization of specific nucleic acid sequences for understanding the organization, regulation, and function of genes. However, in most cases, RNA probes are obtained by in vitro transcription from plasmids containing specific promoter elements and mRNA-specific cDNA. Probes originating from plasmid vectors are time-consuming and not suitable for the rapid gene mapping. Here, we introduce a simplified method to prepare digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled non-radioactive RNA probes based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and applications in free-floating mouse brain sections. Employing a transgenic reporter line, we investigate the expression of the somatostatin (SST) mRNA in the adult mouse brain. The method can be applied to identify the colocalization of SST mRNA and proteins including corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and protein kinase C delta type (PKC-δ) using double immunofluorescence, which is useful for understanding the organization of complex brain nuclei. Moreover, the method can also be incorporated with retrograde tracing to visualize the functional connection in the neural circuitry. Briefly, the PCR-based method for non-radioactive RNA probes is a useful tool that can be substantially utilized in neuroscience studies

Smart Polymeric Nanoparticles in Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer develops with unexpected mutations and causes death in many patients. Among the different cancer treatment strategies, immunotherapy is promising with the benefits of high specificity and accuracy, as well as modulating immune responses. Nanomaterials can be used to formulate drug delivery carriers for targeted cancer therapy. Polymeric nanoparticles used in the clinic are biocompatible and have excellent stability. They have the potential to improve therapeutic effects while significantly reducing off-target toxicity. This review classifies smart drug delivery systems based on their components. Synthetic smart polymers used in the pharmaceutical industry, including enzyme-responsive, pH-responsive, and redox-responsive polymers, are discussed. Natural polymers derived from plants, animals, microbes, and marine organisms can also be used to construct stimuli-responsive delivery systems with excellent biocompatibility, low toxicity, and biodegradability. The applications of smart or stimuli-responsive polymers in cancer immunotherapies are discussed in this systemic review. We summarize different delivery strategies and mechanisms that can be used in cancer immunotherapy and give examples of each case

Influence of multi-modal warning interface on takeover efficiency of autonomous high-speed train

As a large-scale public transport mode, the driving safety of high-speed rail has a profound impact on public health. In this study, we determined the most efficient multi-modal warning interface for automatic driving of a high-speed train and put forward suggestions for optimization and improvement. Forty-eight participants were selected, and a simulated 350 km/h high-speed train driving experiment equipped with a multi-modal warning interface was carried out. Then, the parameters of eye movement and behavior were analyzed by independent sample Kruskal-Wallis test and one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that the current level 3 warning visual interface of a high-speed train had the most abundant warning graphic information, but it failed to increase the takeover efficiency of the driver. The visual interface of the level 2 warning was more likely to attract the attention of drivers than the visual interface of the level 1 warning, but it still needs to be optimized in terms of the relevance of and guidance between graphic-text elements. The multi-modal warning interface had a faster response efficiency than the single-modal warning interface. The auditory-visual multi-modal interface had the highest takeover efficiency and was suitable for the most urgent (level 3) high-speed train warning. The introduction of an auditory interface could increase the efficiency of a purely visual interface, but the introduction of a tactile interface did not improve the efficiency. These findings can be used as a basis for the interface design of automatic driving high-speed trains and help improve the active safety of automatic driving high-speed trains, which is of great significance to protect the health and safety of the public.Published versionThis work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 52175253); The MOE Layout Foundation of Humanities and Social Sciences (grant number 19YJA760094); Project of Sichuan Natural Science Foundation (Youth Science Foundation) (grant number 22NSFSC0865); Project of Sichuan Provincial Key Laboratory of digital media art, Sichuan Conservatory of music (grant number 22DMAKL02); degree and postgraduate education and teaching reform project of Southwest Jiaotong University (grant number YJG5-2022-Y038); and China Academy of Fine Arts Creative Design and Intelligent Laboratory Open Fund Project (Supported by Design-AI lab of China Academy of Art) General Project (grant number CAADAI2022B002)

Influence of Multi-Modal Warning Interface on Takeover Efficiency of Autonomous High-Speed Train

As a large-scale public transport mode, the driving safety of high-speed rail has a profound impact on public health. In this study, we determined the most efficient multi-modal warning interface for automatic driving of a high-speed train and put forward suggestions for optimization and improvement. Forty-eight participants were selected, and a simulated 350 km/h high-speed train driving experiment equipped with a multi-modal warning interface was carried out. Then, the parameters of eye movement and behavior were analyzed by independent sample Kruskal–Wallis test and one-way analysis of variance. The results showed that the current level 3 warning visual interface of a high-speed train had the most abundant warning graphic information, but it failed to increase the takeover efficiency of the driver. The visual interface of the level 2 warning was more likely to attract the attention of drivers than the visual interface of the level 1 warning, but it still needs to be optimized in terms of the relevance of and guidance between graphic–text elements. The multi-modal warning interface had a faster response efficiency than the single-modal warning interface. The auditory–visual multi-modal interface had the highest takeover efficiency and was suitable for the most urgent (level 3) high-speed train warning. The introduction of an auditory interface could increase the efficiency of a purely visual interface, but the introduction of a tactile interface did not improve the efficiency. These findings can be used as a basis for the interface design of automatic driving high-speed trains and help improve the active safety of automatic driving high-speed trains, which is of great significance to protect the health and safety of the public

Image_4_A PCR-Based Method for RNA Probes and Applications in Neuroscience.TIF

<p>In situ hybridization (ISH) is a powerful technique that is used to detect the localization of specific nucleic acid sequences for understanding the organization, regulation, and function of genes. However, in most cases, RNA probes are obtained by in vitro transcription from plasmids containing specific promoter elements and mRNA-specific cDNA. Probes originating from plasmid vectors are time-consuming and not suitable for the rapid gene mapping. Here, we introduce a simplified method to prepare digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled non-radioactive RNA probes based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and applications in free-floating mouse brain sections. Employing a transgenic reporter line, we investigate the expression of the somatostatin (SST) mRNA in the adult mouse brain. The method can be applied to identify the colocalization of SST mRNA and proteins including corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and protein kinase C delta type (PKC-δ) using double immunofluorescence, which is useful for understanding the organization of complex brain nuclei. Moreover, the method can also be incorporated with retrograde tracing to visualize the functional connection in the neural circuitry. Briefly, the PCR-based method for non-radioactive RNA probes is a useful tool that can be substantially utilized in neuroscience studies.</p

Image_3_A PCR-Based Method for RNA Probes and Applications in Neuroscience.TIF

<p>In situ hybridization (ISH) is a powerful technique that is used to detect the localization of specific nucleic acid sequences for understanding the organization, regulation, and function of genes. However, in most cases, RNA probes are obtained by in vitro transcription from plasmids containing specific promoter elements and mRNA-specific cDNA. Probes originating from plasmid vectors are time-consuming and not suitable for the rapid gene mapping. Here, we introduce a simplified method to prepare digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled non-radioactive RNA probes based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and applications in free-floating mouse brain sections. Employing a transgenic reporter line, we investigate the expression of the somatostatin (SST) mRNA in the adult mouse brain. The method can be applied to identify the colocalization of SST mRNA and proteins including corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and protein kinase C delta type (PKC-δ) using double immunofluorescence, which is useful for understanding the organization of complex brain nuclei. Moreover, the method can also be incorporated with retrograde tracing to visualize the functional connection in the neural circuitry. Briefly, the PCR-based method for non-radioactive RNA probes is a useful tool that can be substantially utilized in neuroscience studies.</p

Image_1_A PCR-Based Method for RNA Probes and Applications in Neuroscience.TIF

<p>In situ hybridization (ISH) is a powerful technique that is used to detect the localization of specific nucleic acid sequences for understanding the organization, regulation, and function of genes. However, in most cases, RNA probes are obtained by in vitro transcription from plasmids containing specific promoter elements and mRNA-specific cDNA. Probes originating from plasmid vectors are time-consuming and not suitable for the rapid gene mapping. Here, we introduce a simplified method to prepare digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled non-radioactive RNA probes based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and applications in free-floating mouse brain sections. Employing a transgenic reporter line, we investigate the expression of the somatostatin (SST) mRNA in the adult mouse brain. The method can be applied to identify the colocalization of SST mRNA and proteins including corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and protein kinase C delta type (PKC-δ) using double immunofluorescence, which is useful for understanding the organization of complex brain nuclei. Moreover, the method can also be incorporated with retrograde tracing to visualize the functional connection in the neural circuitry. Briefly, the PCR-based method for non-radioactive RNA probes is a useful tool that can be substantially utilized in neuroscience studies.</p