Annular Ring Research Articles

Risk of right coronary artery injury and distance from tricuspid valve ring to right coronary artery in radiofrequency ablation

Abstract Background Coronary injury is a significant risk during catheter ablation (CA). While a shorter distance between the CA site and the coronary artery is known to increase this risk, less fat in this region might also heighten the chances of coronary damage due to greater penetration of RF energy. However, the relationship between the right coronary artery (RCA #1-3) and the basal right ventricle at the tricuspid annular ring (TVR) has not been thoroughly investigated, despite reports of coronary obstruction during ablation in this area (see Figure in reference). This study aimed to address this gap. Methods Forty-one consecutive patients (average age 64 ± 14 years, 30 males) who underwent coronary CT before ablation were enrolled. The distance between the TVR and RCA (#1-3) and the fat distribution between these structures were assessed (see Figure 1). Results The TVR-RCA#1 distance was 8.4 ± 4.7 mm, and TVR-RCA#2 was 4.1 ± 1.8 mm. In 30 (73%) patients, the closest TVR-RCA distance was <5 mm, with <2 mm in 4 (10%) patients, and 1.4 mm at the closest point (see Figure 2A). While the fat distribution at the closest TVR-RCA varied (-34.9 ± 78.1) among patients, almost no fat tissue was seen in 12 (30%) patients (see Figure 2B). Conclusion CA on the basal lateral RV should be approached with caution due to the very close proximity of TVR to RCA in 10% of cases and the lack of fat distribution in this area in 30% of cases.

Piezo-viscous micropolar fluid flow between two parallel annular disks

A theoretical analysis of the piezo-viscous dependence of micropolar fluid flow between parallel annular disks has been conducted. It is assumed that viscosity changes exponentially with pressure. Pressure is analytically approximated using a small perturbation method with the viscosity coefficient as the perturbation parameter. Squeeze film time, pressure, and load carrying capacity are calculated and graphically demonstrated across various viscosity–pressure characteristics. The study examines how an increase in cross-viscosity correlates with notable growth in pressure, response time, and bearing load. According to the results, micropolar fluid offers an increase in the load-bearing capacity and therefore lengthens the response time to prevent the contact of parallel annular disks. These observations are useful for bearings, seals, and lubrication systems, where controlling viscosity and pressure is crucial for smooth operation and productivity. As the limiting case of micro-polar fluid when the coupling number tends to zero or the couple stress parameter approaches infinity, without the annular ring, the present derivation agrees well with the Newtonian viscous case of parallel planar squeezing disks described by Bird et al. [Transport Phenomena (John Wiley & Sons, 2006)].

Spreading of rotating liquid annular ring with hysteresis effects

The spreading of a liquid, subjected to centrifugal forces or an air jet, leads to a lowering of the liquid height at the center. If the system is partially wetting, experiments show a break up of the liquid and the appearance of a dry patch at the center. In this article, the spreading of a liquid droplet or a liquid film, featuring a dry patch at the center, is investigated. Via a generalized Tanner’s law, we allow for a contact-angle hysteresis in partially wetting systems. By means of the lubrication approximation, an analytical quasi-steady solution can be derived in the limit of small capillary numbers. We find a power-law regime for the spreading, in which at least one of the contact lines follows a power law in time, almost independent of both static contact angles. The influence of the static contact angles remains restricted to the beginning of the spreading and to transition periods. Four different types of spreading can be identified, namely spreading (i) with a very thin central liquid layer, (ii) as annular ring with central dry patch, (iii) into a static equilibrium, and (iv) with closing of the central dry patch. In a flow map, these types of spreading are mapped as function of both static contact angles. Moreover, the dependency from gravitational and centrifugal forces is investigated and included in the flow map. For a perfectly wetting system, a disjoining-pressure correction in combination with Tanner’s law prohibits negative liquid heights at the center. Hereby, the magnitudes of the Hamaker constants have a negligible influence and arbitrary-small values can be used, since the dynamics of the contact line remains controlled by Tanner’s law.

Dual-Band Antenna with Pattern and Polarization Diversity.

This study proposes a pattern-diversity antenna with different radiation patterns at two different frequency bands (f1 and f2; f1: broadside radiation pattern, f2: conical radiation pattern). The proposed structure consists of a central circular antenna and two annular ring antennas, with each of the antennas having individual ports. Two of the ports (port 1 and port 3) exhibit orthogonal broadside radiation patterns at low bands, and the other two ports (port 1 and port 2) exhibit orthogonal conical radiation patterns at high bands. Thus, they have polarization diversity characteristics. To improve isolation between the ports, the inner part of the annular ring antennas is shorted by an array, and the outermost port is positioned orthogonal to the other ports. Using this configuration, the isolation values between the ports are -26.7 and -30.1 dB at the two frequency bands, respectively. Using the fabricated prototype, experimental results show that the proposed antenna achieves -10 dB bandwidths of 240 MHz (5.71-5.95 GHz) and 210 MHz (7.69-7.9 GHz) at f1 and f2, respectively.

Design of Electrically Small Intraocular Antenna for Retinal Prosthesis System and Its Validation.

This paper presents an ultra-miniaturized circular-shaped triple band microstrip antenna as an intraocular unit applicable for retinal prosthesis. The reported antenna is developed by modifying a conventional circular-shaped patch with a pair of open-ended circular annular rings and a semicircular ring-loaded rectangular stub. Additionally, a shorting pin is used at the periphery of the patch to achieve the frequency bands of interest. Further, to make the structure electrically small and accommodate highly dense electrodes, the circular ground plane is modified by making symmetrical slots over the four quadrants and edges. Specific absorption rate distribution for 1g and 10g of different tissue layers over three operating frequencies has been studied by placing electromagnetic sources at different locations. With these arrangements, the proposed strip antenna offers multiband operation within the frequency band of 1.25 GHz (1.13-1.46 GHz), 2.45 GHz (2.24-2.66 GHz), and 3.32 GHz (3.09-3.50 GHz). Besides, circularly polarized radiation has also been achieved at 1.25 GHz with a 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 10 MHz. Finally, the proposed antenna structure is fabricated, and its measured performance metrics are in close aggreement with the simulated parameters. The proposed antenna's performance inside a customized canonical eye model (DMCM) and anthropomorphic Zubal head model is studied and compared with the prior studies.

Cyclone‐Like Features Within the Stratospheric Polar‐Night Vortex

AbstractDistinctive synoptic‐scale (∼1,500 km) flow features are identified within the core of the stratospheric polar‐night vortex at stratopause altitudes (∼50 km). Typically they comprise a train or a complex pattern of transient vortices, each characterized by enhanced values of potential vorticity (PV) and relative vorticity but with a weaker thermal signal. In the MERRA‐2 (and two other) reanalysis fields these cyclone‐like features persist for several days, occur episodically, and form essentially within the core of the polar‐night vortex itself. Their origin is plausibly linked to a form of barotropic instability associated with a radiatively‐induced annular ring of enhanced PV. Moreover, their ubiquity and dynamics carries possible implications for: ‐ the structure of the larger‐scale polar vortex and its preconditioning ahead of a Sudden Stratospheric Warming event; the distribution of trace‐constituents within the core; and the features representation in extended range/seasonal prediction and climate models.

Vortical structures and passive scalar transport in starting process of annular purging jet

The evolution of vortical structures and passive scalar transport in the starting process of annular purging jets are numerically investigated by large eddy simulation. Three flow configurations with different nozzle-to-plate distances at a fixed radius ratio of 0.71 and the Reynolds number of 13 750 are simulated. The numerical results are validated against documented experimental data. Three stages during the evolution are proposed based on instantaneous flow visualizations and assessed by calculating the circulation changes of the annular jets and vortex rings. The vortical structures are identified to understand the three-dimensional characteristics. The entrainment process is analyzed focusing on the passive scalar transport in the flow fields and is correlated with the cleaning performance of annular purging jets. The flow structures dominate the process of scalar mixing, especially the inner and outer vortex rings. The large-scale motions of trailing jets cause the intermittent events of scalar transport. During the starting process, the cleaning performance is better with a smaller nozzle-to-plate distance, while the cleaning efficiency may reach the optimum at a moderate distance. The cleaning process is limited by the scalar diffusion and entrainment process. These findings highlight the significance of flow structures for effective cleanness of temperature and contaminations in the purging systems.

Frequency selective surface with quad-band absorption/transmission and angular stability for TE and TM polarizations

The proposed FSS structure employs two square annular rings for absorption functionalities and two square aperture slots for transmission properties. Through comprehensive simulations and analysis, the FSS structure demonstrates remarkable performance in selectively absorbing and transmitting electromagnetic waves across four distinct frequency bands. Moreover, the design exhibits excellent TE and TM polarizations angular stability, consistently maintaining constant absorption and transmission characteristics across varying incidence angles. A comprehensive analysis of the equivalent circuit model of the FSS structure has also been performed to understand the quad-band transmission and absorption properties. The measurement results underscore the effectiveness of the design of a 250*250 mm array, with absorption peaks notably occurring at 4.2 GHz and 7.23 GHz, boasting peak absorption rates of 92% and 85%, respectively. Moreover, the insertion loss within the pass band at 8.8 GHz and 12.2 GHz stands impressively low at 0.2 dB and 0.32 dB, respectively. Notably, the proposed quad-band FSS showcases polarization-insensitive behavior across a range from 0° to 60° and successfully undergoes conformal testing with a curvature radius up to 50 mm. The results of experimental testing on a quad-band FSS prototype demonstrate superior agreement with those obtained through simulations and analytically derived equivalent circuit model (ECM) results, validating its practical applicability in real-world scenarios.

Onset and growth of viscous fingering in miscible annular ring

We investigate the onset and growth of viscous fingering (VF) of miscible annulus in a radial Hele-Shaw cell. Systematic numerical study on a finite annulus domain is performed by employing finite element method solver in COMSOL Multiphysics software. We justify that concentration field analysis is not a good choice for dynamic study in radial flows. Instead, velocity magnitude is a better tool to understand the dynamics. Therefore, we propose velocity field analysis to better differentiate the stable and unstable states and present a new stability criterion using the velocity field method. Most interestingly, using the velocity field analysis and the new stability criterion, we show a restabilization of the VF at a critical time when the system becomes diffusion dominant and able to provide both the onset time, τon (time at which instability develops), and the time at which the interface returns to the stable state, τd. Furthermore, the study successfully suggests the critical values for several dimensionless parameters, the Péclet number (Pe), log-viscosity ratio (R), and volumetric ratio (ra) and time (τ), to induce instability. When Pe is higher than 103, the evolution of VF instability is no longer enhanced by Pe, and Rc converges to a certain value. In particular, for the transiently unstable system of low Pe, the restabilization of VF instability is identified even though R is higher than Rc. The unstable system (τ>τon) returns to the stable state as injection time increases further. Moreover, we obtained a critical value of the volumetric ratio (rc,a).

Cyclic behaviour of Glulam, LVL and GLVL shear walls and their base connections

This paper presents an experimental study aimed at characterizing the lateral cyclic behaviour of Glulam (GL), Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), and Glued Laminated Veneer Lumber (GLVL) shear walls anchored to the foundation by means of conventional hold downs and angle brackets, which are fastened to the timber walls with annular ring nails. Monotonic and cyclic tests are conducted on these mechanical anchors, with hold down connections tested under tensile loads and angle bracket connections under shear loads. Withdrawal tests on annular ring nails embedded in GL, LVL, and GLVL elements are also conducted, to investigate the withdrawal response of the fasteners. The experimental tests reveal that the lateral behaviour of GL, LVL, and GLVL shear walls is similar to that of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) shear walls, primarily governed by the wall base connections and by the wall geometry. Hold down and angle bracket connections exhibited a mechanical behaviour governed by the steel-to-timber joints, to large extent comparable with that of typical hold downs and angle brackets fastened to CLT elements. Generally, higher ductility and lower load carrying capacity were reached by hold downs and angle brackets fastened to GL elements compared to those reached by hold downs and angle brackets fastened to LVL and GLVL elements. All quantities relevant for the seismic design, such as stiffness, load carrying capacity, ductility, and overstrength factors are calculated and discussed through the paper. These quantities are then compared with results from different experimental investigations on hold downs and angle brackets fastened to CLT elements available in the literature. Finally, an analytical model for the calculation of the lateral load carrying capacity of the shear walls is presented and used to verify that the same calculation models used for CLT shear walls can be adopted for GL, LVL, and GLVL shear walls.

Dual Features, Compact Dimensions and X-Band Applications for the Design and Fabrication of Annular Circular Ring-Based Crescent-Moon-Shaped Microstrip Patch Antenna.

This study uses annular circular rings to create multi-band applications using crescent-shaped patch antennas. It is designed to be made up of five circular, annular rings nested inside of each other. Three annular rings are positioned and merged on top of the larger rings, with two annular rings set along the bottom of the feed line. The factors that set them apart, such as bandwidths, radiation patterns, gain, impedance, and return loss (RL), are analysed. The outcomes show how compact the multi-band annular ring antenna is. The proposed circular annular ring antenna has return losses of -33 dB and operates at two frequencies: 3.1 GHz and 9.3 GHz. This design is modelled and simulated using ANSYS HFSS. The outcomes of the simulation and the tests agree quite well. The X band and WLAN resonant bands have bandwidth capacities of 500 and 4300 MHz, respectively. Additionally, the circular annular ring antenna design is advantageous for most services at these operating bands.

Materials and manufacturing technology for high reliability rigid-flex multilayer PCB for space 3D-electronics packaging

Rigid-flex Multilayer PCB Technology enables the elimination of several connectors and bulky harness for interconnecting functional electronic systems. This minimizes packaging complexity and reduces performance degradation at high frequencies with an added advantage of reduced weight and volume in high-reliability space electronic packages. Here, only thermo-mechanically stable adhesiveless all polyimide flexible laminate cores and no-flow glass-polyimide prepregs are employed. To overcome the manufacturing issues like registration, coverlay protrusion into the rigid portions, and residual copper deposition at the intersections of flexible and rigid portions; a novel manufacturing process technology is proposed here. The technology has been successfully devised after choosing the most appropriate flexible, rigid, and low-flow prepreg materials. Herein, for the realization of rigid-flex multilayer PCB technology with 2-layers of flex and 8-layers of rigid to meet the functional requirements of the board is presented. The critical registration issues associated with the dissimilar rigid and flexible substrates are successfully addressed to achieve best-fit registration and obtain minimum annular rings of 50 μm in all the inner layers for high reliability. Experimental results manifest that incorporating rigid-flex multilayer PCB technology dramatically reduces weight (>30%) and volume (∼40%) to high-reliability space electronics 3D packaging for static and dynamic applications.

Dual wideband circularly polarized reconfigurable antenna using gap loaded annular ring

This work presents a novel proposal for a dual wideband circularly polarized (CP) reconfigurable antenna for wideband wireless communication applications. The circularly polarized characteristic is achieved by introducing a gap in the annular ring, which leads to the generation of traveling waves in circular patterns. The concentric annular ring patch is fed using a tapered 50 Ω microstrip line. Dual wideband characteristics are obtained by incorporating concentric annular rings and additional DGS (defective ground structure) to achieve wideband characteristics. By employing PIN diodes, the proposed approach facilitates reconfiguration, allowing for both left-hand circular polarization (LHCP) and right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) in either single or dual wideband operations. The CP antenna exhibits an impressive measured axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW) of 35 % (3438–4900 MHz) and 18.75 % (5154–6252 MHz). The measured return loss bandwidths of the proposed antenna are 18.40 % (3990–4799 MHz) and 35.17 % (5161–7364 MHz). The antenna, fabricated using FR4, is compact in size, measuring 0.56 λo*0.56 λo*0.01 λo, and has a peak gain of 6.33 dBic. The simulated outcomes and hardware measurement findings agreed well.

Integration of two dual-port substrate integrated waveguide based MIMO antennas on a common substrate for 5G millimeter wave applications

Abstract This paper presents method for integrating two dual port multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antennas on a common substrate based on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology. One of the dual port MIMO antennas (MIMO_1) resonates at 31.2 GHz with an impedance bandwidth of 1 GHz while the other dual port MIMO antenna (MIMO_2) exhibits an impedance bandwidth of 925 MHz and resonates at 36 GHz. The radiators etched on the SIW cavities are complementary slotted annular rings (CSAR). Isolation between the ports is more than 20 dB which is inherently achieved by SIW cavity backed structures. The MIMO antenna realized at 31.2 GHz exhibit a peak realized gain of 8.5 dBi while the MIMO antenna realized at 36 GHz displays a peak gain of 9.8 dBi. The diversity gain of both the MIMO antennas is around 9.9 dB and the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) of the MIMO antenna realized at 31 GHz is below 0.004 while the ECC of MIMO antenna at 36 GHz is below 0.006. It is also confirmed that simulated results closely correlate with the measurement results.

Quantum slow light annular photonic crystal ring resonator for optical network applications

Quantum slow light annular photonic crystal ring resonator for optical network applications

Collimating three-axicon zoom system for interferometric Bessel beam side lobe cancellation

Optical Bessel beams are used in numerous applications like fluorescence microscopy, material processing and optical trapping. These applications require Bessel beams having a central core with defined full width at half maximum and a defined axial length. Often, the side lobes of Bessel beams, which are associated with their non-diffracting properties, can interfere with the experimental process. We theoretically describe and practically verify the performance of a new refractive optical system to generate zoomable annular ring intensities. The ability to zoom the output ring diameter allows for flexibly choosing the Bessel beam parameters. Secondly, we introduce the use of a Michelson interferometer for destructively interfering Bessel beam side lobes in one direction. If two Bessel beams of zeroth order and first kind are coherently superposed with a small shift with respect to each other, their side lobes are enhanced in one direction and cancelled in the other direction. We suggest that applications like light-sheet microscopy can exploit the axis of destructive interference to improve their contrast.

Analysis of hot band effects on the vibration and stability of a rotating FGM heavy vehicle disc brake

In this paper, vibration and stability analysis of a rotating Functionally Graded Material (FGM) disc brake considering the hot band phenomena are studied. In order to model the hot band phenomena, the disc brake is divided into two sections, the inner disc and the outer ring. The latter is where thermal and mechanical loads are applied. Based on Hamilton’s total potential energy principle and applying first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), the governing equations are derived. Furthermore, the derived equations of motion are solved via the Generalized Differential Quadrature (GDQ) method. The results reveal that using a functionally graded material would improve the mechanical and thermal characteristics of a disc brake, most notably higher buckling temperature and smaller deflection in a disc brake. Moreover, using a functionally graded material for a disc brake will result in increasing the natural frequency of the disc, that is to say, the buckling will occur at higher rotational speeds. Following this further, the effects of the radius of loading annular ring, where thermal and mechanical loads are applied, as well as gradation index and mechanical and thermal loading, are also studied. The results show there is a non-linear relation between the radius of the loading annular ring and deflection as well as critical buckling temperature. Furthermore, a comparison of results with those available in the literature shows good agreement.

Three-Dimensional Printed Annular Ring Aperture-Fed Antenna for Telecommunication and Biomedical Applications

The design of the aperture-fed annular ring (AFAR) microstrip antenna is presented. This proposed design will ease the fabrication and usability of the 3D-printed and solderless 2D materials. This antenna consists of three layers: the patch, the slot within the ground plane as the power transfer medium, and the microstrip line as the feeding. The parameters of the proposed design are investigated using the finite element method FEM to achieve the 50 Ω impedance with the maximum front-to-back ratio of the radiation pattern. This study was performed based on four steps, each investigating one parameter at a time. These parameters were evaluated based on an initial design and prototype. The optimized design of 3D AFAR attained S11 around 17 dB with a front-to-back ratio of more than 30 dB and a gain of around 3.3 dBi. This design eases the process of using a manufacturing process that involves 3D-printed and 2D metallic materials for antenna applications.

Effect of Insert Porosity on Combustion Instability in a Lean Premixed Combustor Analyzed by a Proper Orthogonal Decomposition-Based Phase Reconstruction Technique

Abstract Lean premixed (LPM) combustion is very effective at mitigating emissions but is vulnerable to strong thermoacoustic instabilities. A porous insert in the shape of an annular ring placed at the dump plane of the combustor has been proven to be an effective passive technique for mitigating these instabilities across a wide range of operating conditions. However, it is unclear if the change results from the insert geometry or porosity of the insert. In this study, swirl-stabilized LPM combustion is investigated for three configurations—without any insert, with a porous insert, and with a geometrically similar solid insert. Acoustics, flow, and heat release rate behavior of the three test geometries are investigated using diagnostics including dynamic pressure and acoustic probes, particle image velocimetry (PIV), and OH* chemiluminescence (OH*CL) imaging. Synchronized measurements at a fixed equivalence ratio were acquired at 40 kHz using sound probes and at 3.5 kHz using PIV and OH*CL. Results include time-series and spectral measurements of pressure, velocity, and OH*CL, and mode analysis by proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). In addition, the dynamics of the instability are investigated by high-resolution phase reconstructions of velocity and OH*CL data using a novel implementation of POD introduced in this work. Results show two different instability modes: a longitudinal instability for the solid insert case and a helical, precessing vortex driven instability for the no insert case. In both cases, the flow field and heat release rate oscillations are coupled to produce the instability. No such coupling or oscillations is observed for the porous insert case. These results ascertain the unique capabilities of the porous insert in protecting against instability from different, simultaneous driving mechanisms and demonstrate that the insert porosity and flow dynamics associated with it are the primary mitigating factors.

Screen‐printed dual‐band wearable textile antenna incorporated with EBG structure for WBAN communications

SummaryA dual‐band, wearable coplanar microstrip patch antenna (CPW) integrated with electromagnetic bandgap structure (EBG) to operate dual wireless bands at 2.48 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical band (ISM) and 5.2 GHz WLAN. The proposed textile wearable antenna and EBG structure are screen‐printed using silver conductive ink on the cotton polyester substrate (εr = 1.6) for flexible wearable applications. A 3 × 3 EBG array is realized by a concentric square patch surrounded by the annular square ring to reduce back radiation and increase the forward gain and front‐back ratio. The proposed EBG‐backed antenna, compared with the conventional CPW‐fed antenna, improves forward gain from 2.18 to 6.59 dB at 2.48 GHz and 3.5 to 7.03 dB at 5.2 GHz. Moreover, the EBG array is used to isolate the human body from the antenna and reduces the specific absorption rate (SAR). The antenna is performed with a human phantom tissue model, which exhibits a specific absorption rate of 0.12 W/kg, and 0.260 W/kg for 1 g tissue at 2.48 GHz and 5.2 GHz, respectively.