Scattering Centers Measurements by a Modified MEMP Method

A modified matrix enhancement and matrix pencil (MMEMP) method is presented for the scattering centers measurements in step-frequency radar. The method estimates the signal parameter pairs directly unlike the matrix enhancement and matrix pencil (MEMP) method which contains an additional step to pair the parameters related to each dimension. The downrange and crossrange expressions of the scattering centers are deduced, as well as the range ambiguities, from the point of view of MMEMP method. Compared with the Fourier transform method, the numerical simulation shows that both the resolution and precision of the MMEMP method are higher than those of the Fourier method. The processing results of the real measured data for three cylinders prove the above conclusions further.

New low-rank optimization model and algorithms for spectral compressed sensing

In this paper, we investigate the recovery of an undamped spectrally sparse signal and its spectral components from a set of regularly spaced samples within the framework of spectral compressed sensing and super-resolution. We show that the existing Hankel-based optimization methods suffer from the fundamental limitation that the prior knowledge of undampedness cannot be exploited. We propose a new low-rank optimization model partially inspired by forward-backward processing for line spectral estimation and show its capability to restrict the spectral poles to the unit circle. We present convex relaxation approaches with the model and show their provable accuracy and robustness to bounded and sparse noise. All our results are generalized from one-dimensional to arbitrary-dimensional spectral compressed sensing. Numerical simulations are provided to corroborate our analysis and show the efficiency of our model and the advantageous performance of our approach in terms of accuracy and resolution compared with the state-of-the-art Hankel and atomic norm methods.

Genetically engineered bacterial-like particles induced specific cellular and humoral immunity as effective tick-borne encephalitis virus vaccine

Tick-borne encephalitis(TBE)is a natural focal disease with fatal encephalitis induced by tick-borne encephalitis virus(TBEV),seriously threatening human and public health.Protection of TBE depends on vaccination with inactivated vaccine,which requires high cost and multiple immunizations.Here,we construct genetically engineered bacterial-like particles(BLPs)as an effective TBEV vaccine with simplified immunizations and improved immune efficacy.The TBEV BLPs involve the combination of the gram-positive enhancer matrix from Lactococcus lactis,and TBEV envelope(E)protein expressed by genetically engineered recombinant baculovirus.The prepared TBEV BLPs can effectively stimulate the activation of dendritic cells to present the TBEV E proteins to T and B cells,leading to strong and durable cellular and humoral immune responses in mice.Surprisingly,the serum levels of specific IgG antibodies in mice remain about 10^(6)at 6 months after the secondary immunization.Overall,the TBEV BLPs can be used as a potent vaccine candidate,laying the foundation for developing novel TBEV genetically engineered vaccines.

Enhancement of solar cells parameters by periodic nanocylinders

Optical absorption in thin-film solar cells can be improved by using surface plasmons for guiding and confining the light on the nanoscale.We report theoretical and simulation studies of a-Si thin-film solar cells with silver nanocylinders on the surface.We found that surface plasmons increased the cells＇ spectral response over almost the entire studied solar spectrum.In the ultraviolet range and at wavelengths close to the Si band gap we observed a significant enhancement of the absorption for both thin-film and wafer-based structures.We also performed optimization studies of particle size,inter-particle distance,and dielectric environment,for obtaining maximal absorption within the substrate.A blue-shift of the resonance wavelength with increasing inter-particle distance was observed in the visible range.Cell performance improved at optimal spacing,which strongly depended on the nanoparticle size.Increasing the nanocylinder size was accompanied by the widening of the plasmon resonance band and a red-shift of the plasmon resonance peaks.A weak red-shift and plasmon peak enhancement were observed in the reflectance curve with increasing refractive index of the dielectric spacer.