Substrate Integrated E-plane Horn Antenna and Antenna Array

In this paper, a novel SMA fed substrate integrated E-plane horn antenna and antenna array are proposed. The substrate integrated E-plane waveguide (SIEW) is not only able to integrate conventional waveguide circuits on printed circuit boards (PCB), but also especially falls into all E-plane circuits which substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technique fails to. Essential copper strips are sandwiched in the middle by two PCBs to support longitudinal current in the E-plane fed through an SIEW-to-SMA transition. Copper plated holes aligned along the wave propagation direction are drilled through the substrate and copper strips, so that vertical current in the H-plane can also be supported. In order to minimize the reflections due to discontinuity between substrate and the free space, a dielectric load is placed in front of the aperture for lower return loss and better gain performance. Moreover, a two-element antenna array fed through a Y-junction power divider is also designed and prototyped for further performance enhancement. Good agreement between results from simulation and measurement is achieved

Nanoscale Crystalline Sheets and Vesicles Assembled from Nonplanar Cyclic π-Conjugated Molecules

A fundamental challenge in chemistry and materials science is to create new carbon nanomaterials by assembling structurally unique carbon building blocks, such as nonplanar π-conjugated cyclic molecules. However, self-assembly of such cyclic π-molecules to form organized nanostructures has been rarely explored despite intensive studies on their chemical synthesis. Here we synthesized a family of new cycloparaphenylenes and found that these fully hydrophobic and nonplanar cyclic π-molecules could self-assemble into structurally distinct two-dimensional crystalline multilayer nanosheets. Moreover, these crystalline multilayer nanosheets could overcome inherent rigidity to curve into closed crystalline vesicles in solution. These supramolecular assemblies show that the cyclic molecular scaffolds are homogeneously arranged on the surface of nanosheets and vesicles with their molecular isotropic x-y plane standing obliquely on the surface. These supramolecular architectures that combined exact crystalline order, orientation-specific arrangement of π-conjugated cycles, controllable morphology, uniform molecular pore, superior florescence quench ability, and photoluminescence are expected to give rise to a new class of functional materials displaying unique photonic, electronic, and biological functions

Protocol for a gallbladder cancer registry study in China: the Chinese Research Group of Gallbladder Cancer (CRGGC) study

Introduction Gallbladder cancer (GBC), the sixth most common gastrointestinal tract cancer, poses a significant disease burden in China. However, no national representative data are available on the clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis of GBC in the Chinese population.Methods and analysis The Chinese Research Group of Gallbladder Cancer (CRGGC) study is a multicentre retrospective registry cohort study. Clinically diagnosed patient with GBC will be identified from 1 January 2008 to December, 2019, by reviewing the electronic medical records from 76 tertiary and secondary hospitals across 28 provinces in China. Patients with pathological and radiological diagnoses of malignancy, including cancer in situ, from the gallbladder and cystic duct are eligible, according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2019 guidelines. Patients will be excluded if GBC is the secondary diagnosis in the discharge summary. The demographic characteristics, medical history, physical examination results, surgery information, pathological data, laboratory examination results and radiology reports will be collected in a standardised case report form. By May 2021, approximately 6000 patient with GBC will be included. The clinical follow-up data will be updated until 5 years after the last admission for GBC of each patient. The study aimed (1) to depict the clinical characteristics, including demographics, pathology, treatment and prognosis of patient with GBC in China; (2) to evaluate the adherence to clinical guidelines of GBC and (3) to improve clinical practice for diagnosing and treating GBC and provide references for policy-makers.Ethics and dissemination The protocol of the CRGGC has been approved by the Committee for Ethics of Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SHEC-C-2019–085). All results of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences.Trial registration number NCT04140552, Pre-results