Retinal vascular morphological characteristics in diabetic retinopathy: an artificial intelligence study using a transfer learning system to analyze ultra-wide field images

AIM:To investigate the morphological characteristics of retinal vessels in patients with different severity of diabetic retinopathy(DR)and in patients with or without diabetic macular edema(DME).METHODS:The 239 eyes of DR patients and 100 eyes of healthy individuals were recruited for the study.The severity of DR patients was graded as mild,moderate and severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy(NPDR)according to the international clinical diabetic retinopathy(ICDR)disease severity scale classification,and retinal vascular morphology was quantitatively analyzed in ultra-wide field images using RU-net and transfer learning methods.The presence of DME was determined by optical coherence tomography(OCT),and differences in vascular morphological characteristics were compared between patients with and without DME.RESULTS:Retinal vessel segmentation using RU-net and transfer learning system had an accuracy of 99%and a Dice metric of 0.76.Compared with the healthy group,the DR group had smaller vessel angles(33.68±3.01 vs 37.78±1.60),smaller fractal dimension(Df)values(1.33±0.05 vs 1.41±0.03),less vessel density(1.12±0.44 vs 2.09±0.36)and fewer vascular branches(206.1±88.8 vs 396.5±91.3),all P<0.001.As the severity of DR increased,Df values decreased,P=0.031.No significant difference between the DME and non-DME groups were observed in vascular morphological characteristics.CONCLUSION:In this study,an artificial intelligence retinal vessel segmentation system is used with 99%accuracy,thus providing with relatively satisfactory performance in the evaluation of quantitative vascular morphology.DR patients have a tendency of vascular occlusion and dropout.The presence of DME does not compromise the integral retinal vascular pattern.

Progress of power field effect transistor based on ultra-wide bandgap Ga_2O_3 semiconductor material

As a promising ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor, gallium oxide(Ga_2O_3) has attracted increasing attention in recent years. The high theoretical breakdown electrical field(8 MV/cm), ultra-wide bandgap(～ 4.8 eV) and large Baliga's figure of merit(BFOM) of Ga_2O_3 make it a potential candidate material for next generation high-power electronics, including diode and field effect transistor(FET). In this paper, we introduce the basic physical properties of Ga_2O_3 single crystal, and review the recent research process of Ga_2O_3 based field effect transistors. Furthermore, various structures of FETs have been summarized and compared, and the potential of Ga_2O_3 is preliminary revealed. Finally, the prospect of the Ga_2O_3 based FET for power electronics application is analyzed.

Fractal analysis of retinal vasculature in normal subjects on ultra-wide field fluorescein angiography

AIM: To evaluate the fractal feature of the retinal vasculature of normal eyes on a stereographic projected and montaged ultra-wide field(UWF) fluorescein angiography(FA).METHODS: Prospective, observational, cross-sectional study. Totally 59 eyes of 31 normal subjects were imaged using the Optos 200 Tx. Images obtained at different gaze angles stereographically projected and montaged. The early-phase UWF FA frames were processed to segment the retinal vasculature and the results were exported as binary masks. The fractal dimension(FD) was calculated using the box-counting method.RESULTS: The global FD for the entire retina was 1.6±0.04, with no difference between males and females(1.59±0.04 vs 1.61±0.04, P=0.084) or between right and left eyes(1.6±0.04 vs 1.6±0.05, P=0.61). FD was nonuniformly distributed among four quadrants(P<0.001) and decreased as the distance from the fovea increased(P<0.001). A negative association was observed between FD and age(R=-0.37, P=0.006), and this relationship was observed in the posterior and mid-peripheral retina(P<0.05) but absent in far-periphery(P>0.05).CONCLUSION: Fractal geometry is non-uniformly distributed across the retina in normal eyes and decreases from the fovea to the far-periphery. Subjects with an older age tend to have a smaller FD, however, the FD in the farperiphery does not appear to be influenced by age.

Compact Coplanar Epsilon-Negative Antenna with Ultra-Wide Band Character

In this paper, a compact coplanar epsilon.negative(ENG) antenna is proposed with ultra.wide operation band and small size of 18×11.5 mm2. The proposed antenna is designed based on a coplanar.waveguide(CPW) feeding antenna, and thus the via.free structure is employed to realize the ENG unit cell, which is convenient to tune the frequency of zeroth.order resonance(ZOR) and extends the ZOR bandwidth. The high.order resonant frequencies are achieved and mainly determined by the separate slots that are located between the radiating patch and the ground plane. Adding the left.handed inductance between the radiating patch and ground has slight impact on the high.order resonant frequencies, and then the ultra.wide band is achieved by merging the ZOR bandwidth with the high.order resonant bandwidths. The ground plane primarily works as a matching network for the proposed antenna. Although it generates a low.frequency resonance, the performance is undesirable due to the impedance mismatching. The measured results show that the reflection coefficient, |S11| <.10 d B, is in a wide frequency range from 5.25 to 13 GHz, which covers the upper operation band of UWB communication. Also, the antenna contains relatively stable gains and omni.directional radiation patterns.

Novel indoor positioning system based on ultra-wide bandwidth

To tackle challenges such as interference and poor accuracy of indoor positioning systems,a novel scheme based on ultra-wide bandwidth(UWB)technology is proposed.First,we illustrate a distance measuring method between two UWB devices.Then,a Taylor series expansion algorithm is developed to detect coordinates of the mobile node using the location of anchor nodes and the distance between them.Simulation results show that the observation error under our strategy is within 15 cm,which is superior to existing algorithms.The final experimental data in the hardware system mainly composed of STM32 and DW1000 also confirms the performance of the proposed scheme.

Preface to the Special Issue on Ultra-Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Gallium Oxide: from Materials to Devices

As one of the ultra-wide bandgap {UWBG)semiconducting materials,gallium oxide has attractive properties with a wide bandgap of about 4.8 eV and a high breakdown field of about 8 MWcm,which offers an alternative platform for various applications such as high performance power switches,RF amplifiers,solar blind photodetectors,and harsh environment signal processing.

Numerical simulation of the coupling of ultra-wide band electromagnetic pulse into landmine by aperture

The modern landmine＇s electronic fuse is susceptible to strong interference or can even be damaged by the ultra-wide band electromagnetic pulse（UWB-EMP）. The finite-difference time-domain（FDTD） method in lossy media with cylindrical coordinates is used to study the interactions of the UWB-EMP with the landmine. First, the coupling of UWB-EMP into the landmine shielding shell through an aperture is numerically simulated. Second, the coupled electromagnetic field of mine shells made of different shielding materials and with apertures of different sizes is plotted. Third, the aperture coupling laws of UWB-EMP into shells are analyzed and categorized. Such an algorithm is capable of effectively preventing ladder similar errors, and consequently improving the calculation precision, and in addition to adopting the message passing interface（MPI） parallel method to divide the total calculating range into more sub-ranges, the overall calculating efficiency is greatly increased. These calculations are surely a constructive reference for modern landmine design against electromagnetic damage.

Evaluation of traumatic retinopathy with ultra-wide field imaging under corneal scar or fixed small pupil

AIM： To evaluate the value of ultra-wide field（UWF） imaging in the management of traumatic retinopathy under the condition of corneal scar or fixed small pupil after complicated ocular trauma. METHODS： Twenty-eight patients（28 eyes） with complicated ocular trauma were enrolled in the study from June 2016 to May 2017, including 19 males and 9 females with age ranged from 11 to 64（43.42±12.62）y. All patients were treated with secondary vitrectomy after emergency operation for wound repair of open ocular trauma. Direct ophthalmoscopy and 45-degree fundus photography were taken at each time point of follow up for comparison of findings with UWF images. Routine eye examination including visual acuity, intraocular pressure, slit lamp examination were performed and analyzed as well.RESULTS： Among the 28 traumatized eyes, the positive rate for identification of traumatic retinopathed was 32.1%（9 cases）, 14.9%（5 cases）, and 85.7%（24 cases） with direct ophthalmoscopy, 45-degree fundus photography, and UWF imaging, respectively. The detective rate of UWF imaging under the condition of corneal scar or fixed small pupil was statistically greater than that of 45-degree fundus photography and direct ophthalmoscopy（Bonferroni correction, P〈0.001）. UWF image was obtained in 19 eyes with opaque corneal scar, otherwise their fundus could not be seen by conventional methods. The additional findings of traumatic retinopathies by UWF imaging included periretinal membranes or pre-retinal proliferating strip, retinal holes, hemorrhage in the vitreous or sub-retinal space.CONCLUSION： UWF imaging is superior to traditional fundus photography in the evaluation of traumatic retinopathies under the condition of corneal scar or fixed small pupil after complicated ocular trauma.

A Novel Polymorphic Topology with Hybrid Control Strategy Based LLC Resonant Converter for Ultra-Wide Input Voltage Range Applications

To realize effective utilization of renewable energy sources,a novel polymorphic topology with hybrid control strategy based LLC resonant converter was analyzed and designed in this paper.By combining the merits of a full bridge LLC resonant converter,three-level half bridge LLC resonant converter,and variable frequency control mode,the converter realizes an intelligent estimation of input voltage by automatically changing its internal cir-cuit topology.Under this control strategy,different input voltages determine different operation modes.This is achieved in full bridge LLC mode when the input voltage is low.If the input voltage rises to a certain level,it operates in three-level half bridge LLC mode.These switches are digital and entirely carried out by the DSP(Digi-tal Signal Processor),which means that an auxiliary circuit is unnecessary,where a simple strategy of software modification can be utilized.Experimental results of a 500W prototype with 100V~600V input voltage and full load efficiency of up to 92%are developed to verify feasibility and practicability.This type of converter is suitable for applications with an ultra-wide input voltage range,such as wind turbines,photovoltaic generators,bioenergy,and other renewable energy sources.

Designing a Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistor with High Transition Frequency for Ultra-Wideband Application

Theoretical calculations predict transition frequencies in the terahertz range for the field-effect transistors based on carbon nanotubes, and this shows their suitability for being used in high frequency applications. In this paper, we have designed a field-effect transistor based on carbon nanotube with high transition frequency suitable for ultra-wide band applications. We did this by optimizing nanotube diameter, gate insulator thickness and dielectric constant. As a result, we achieved the transition frequency about 7.45 THz. The environment of open source software FETToy is used to simulate the device. Also a suitable model for calculating the transition frequency is presented.

Evaluation of System Performance of Ultra-Wide Band Jointing in MC Signaling in Correlated Environments

The evaluation of System Performance of UWB (ultra-wide band) jointing in MC (multi-carrier) signaling in correlated environments is presented in the report. The correlated Nakagami-m statistical distribution for the multipath fading model is assumed in this scenario. In fact to establish the model for analyzing in this article is using MC-CDMA (multi-carrier code-division multiple-access) system characterization combined with a UWB scheme. The average BER (bit error rate) is calculated and compared to a special case of previously published results. Studied results from this paper can be implied to approve the system performance for a UWB system combined with a MC-CDMA wireless communication system. It is worth noting that the Nakagami-m distributed fading parameter significantly dominates UWB system performance when it cooperates with MC signaling under a fading environment. Finally, it is worthy of noting that when the SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) at system’s receiver reaches a preset high threshold value, the parameter of power decay ratio effect could be not included.

一种改进的数字Ultra-Wide Bandwidth Radio-on-Fiber系统模型的性能分析

为了充分利用超宽带的特点,对数字光载无线系统进行了改进,并给出了系统模型.理论分析和仿真结果表明,跳时序列构造不同,系统性能(信噪比)也不同;相同构造下,激活用户数不同引起的时隙平均干扰也不同.这种改进使得数字光载无线系统降低了复杂度,提高了光纤利用率,同时也改善了系统的性能.

Fully-integrated ultra-wide band LNA in 0.18μm CMOS technology for 3-10 GHz applications

The paper presents a fully integrated ultra-wide band(UWB)low noise amplifier(LNA)for 3-10 GHz applications.It employs self-biased resistive-feedback and current-reused technique to achieve wide input matching and low power characteristics.An improved biased architecture is adopted in the second stage to attain a better gain-compensation performance.The design is verified with TSMC standard 1 P6 M 0.18μm RF CMOS process.The measurement results show that the parasitic problem of the transistors at high frequencies is solved.A high and flat S21 of 9.7±1.5 dB and the lowest NF 3.5 dB are achieved in the desired frequency band.The power consumption is only 7.5 mA under 1.6 V supply.The proposed LNA achieves broadband flat gain,low noise,and high linearity performance simultaneously,allowing it to be used in 3-10 GHz UWB applications.

ON THE PAR REDUCTION OF MB-OFDM ULTRA-WIDEBAND SIGNALS

The Peak to Average power Ratio (PAR) of a Multi-Band Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) signals can be substantially larger than that of single carrier or carrier-less ultra-wideband signals. In this letter, a novel PAR reduction scheme for the MB-OFDM UWB system based on spreading and interleaving is proposed. By spreading the coded bits over each subcarrier in corresponding band and interleaving the spread symbols across all bands, the PAR statistics of the MB-OFDM signals can be improved and the PAR is reduced obviously. In the PAR reduction scheme, there is no loss in transmission data rate or Bit Error Rate (BER) performance decreasing. Since the spreading and interleaving operation are implemented by unitary Hadamard sequences and used for an approach to provide the robustness of the UWB system to narrowband interference, there is no additional implementation burden. Simulation results show that the investigated scheme gives the PAR reduction of 3dB compared with that of the original MB-OFDM signals.

Mobile Robot Positioning and Tracking Based on Ultra-wideband Technology

To solve the precision self-positioning problem for mobile robot,a positioning program based on ultra-wideband technology was proposed. Ultra-wideband pulse has very high bandwidth; ranging accuracy can achieve centimeter-level theoretically. The mobile robot obtained the distance to the reference node by sending ultra-wideband pulse. According to the geometric relations among the references and the robot,establish equations to calculate the position coordinates. Then Kalman filter algorithm was applied for mobile robot tracking. Simulation results show that robot positioning and tracking based on ultra-wideband technology can achieve indoor and outdoor seamless docking.

Design of Integrated Triple Band Notched for Ultra-Wide Band Microstrip Antenna

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is one of the recent topics that received a great concern from academia and industry. However, UWB found many difficulties to be standardized due to the overlay working that made UWB an important potential interference source to many licensed and unlicensed spectrum throughout the band 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. This paper demonstrates the design of integrated triple band notched for UWB Microstrip antenna. We simulated UWB short range systems which require low power and these are built using inexpensive digital components. We proposed a compact triple band notched CPW (Co-planar Waveguide) fed Micro strip Antenna (MSA) for UWB. This band-notched antenna has rejection characteristics at 3.2 GHz (for Wi-MAX band 3.16 to 3.32 GHz), at 5.5 GHz (for WLAN 2 band—5.3 to 5.72 GHz) and at 7.9 GHz (for ITU band 7.72 GHz to 8.13 GHz). The simulation was done using IE3D simulator.

Super-stable permittivity and low dielectric loss of(1-x)Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.5+y)TiO_(3-x)NaTaO_(3)ceramics within an ultra-wide temperature range

This work designs a new system(1-x)Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.5+y)TiO_(3-x)NaTaO_(3)with a nonstoichiometric bismuth ratio,which is used as dielectrics of ceramics capacitors.Phase structure evolution of(1-x)Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.5+y)TiO_(3-x)NaTaO_(3)is characterized using XRD,Raman and TEM.Dielectric and resistant properties of(1-x)Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.5+y)TiO_(3-x)NaTaO_(3)are investigated with increasing concentration of NaTaO_(3).With these in-vestigations,the structure and defect chemistry of(1-x)Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.5+y)TiO_(3-x)NaTaO_(3)are rationalized and their respective impact on capacitor properties are elucidated.The optimized composition 0.8Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.51)TiO_(3)-0.2NaTaO_(3)possesses an ultra-wide operating temperature range(-92e398C),in which both stable permittivity and low dielectric loss is obtained.Furthermore,the fabrication of multilayer ceramics capacitors(MLCC)based on 0.8Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.51)TiO_(3)-0.2NaTaO_(3)dielectrics is investigated.With the addition of sintering aids,0.8Na_(0.5)Bi_(0.51)TiO_(3)-0.2NaTaO_(3)could be co-fired with Ag at 910℃in air,and the low temperature co-fired ceramic(LTCC)capacitors maintain good temperature stability of permittivity and low dielectric loss in-100-352℃.Therefore,our work provides a new route for pre-paring ultra-wide operating temperature capacitors at low manufacturing costs.

Generation of ultra-wide and flat optical frequency comb based on electro absorption modulator

A novel technique is proposed for the generation of ultra-wide and flat optical frequency comb(OFC)based on serially cascading three stages of electro absorption modulators(EAMs)through sinusoidal radio frequency(RF)signals by setting frequencies at f GHz,f/2 GHz and f/4 GHz.Here,the first stage acts as subcarrier generator,the second stage acts as subcarrier doubler,and the third stage acts as subcarrier quadrupler.In addition,a higher number of subcarriers can easily be generated by adjusting the driving sinusoidal RF signal.In this paper,cascading three stages of EAMs driven by50 GHz,25 GHz and 12.5 GHz clock sources,we obtain 272 subcarriers with spacing of 2.5 GHz and power deviation within 1 d B.Theoretical analysis of serially cascaded EAMs for subcarrier generation is also investigated.Principal analysis and simulation of this technique are demonstrated.

Coupled Tamm plasmon polaritons induced narrow bandpass filter with ultra-wide stopband

Narrow bandpass filters(NBPFs)play important roles in optics,such as quantum communication,spectrometer,and wavelength division multiplexing.However,the stopband and restraint ability of traditional NBPFs is limited.In this article,a coupled Tamm plasmon polaritons(TPPs)induced transmission theory has been proposed to design high-efficiency NBPFs with ultra-wide deep stopbands.An NBPF at 1.55 μm has been experimentally demonstrated with full width at half maximum(FWHM)of 10 nm and stopband ranging from 0.2 to 25 μm which is 62 times wider than that of traditional ones.Furthermore,the restraint depth of the stopband reaches 0.03%,which is only 1/20 of a traditional filter with the same FWHM.Its advantage in restraining ambient light over traditional ones has also been demonstrated with an InGaAs infrared detector.It provides a very powerful way to capture specific narrowband optical signals from ultra-wide strong ambient light,especially useful for daytime quantum communications.

Overview of Ultra-Wideband Transceivers——System Architectures and Applications

The Ultra-WideBand(UWB) technique, which offers good energy efficiency, flexible data rate, and high ranging accuracy, has recently been recognized as a revived wireless technology for short distance communication.This paper presents a brief overview of two UWB techniques, covering Impulse-Radio UWB(IR-UWB) and FrequencyModulation UWB(FM-UWB) methods. The link margin enhancement technique, Very-WideBand(VWB), and power consumption reducing technique, chirp UWB, are also introduced. Then, several potential applications of IR-UWB with transceiver architectures are addressed, including high data rate proximity communication and secure wireless connectivity. With fine-ranging and energy-efficient communication features, the UWB wireless technology is highly promising for secure mobile Internet of Things(IoT) applications.