In the paper, a procedure for precise and expedited design optimization of unequal power split patch couplers is proposed. Our methodology aims at identifying the coupler dimensions that correspond to the circuit operating at the requested frequency and featuring a required power split. At the same time, the design process is supposed to be computationally efficient. The proposed methodology involves two types of auxiliary models (surrogates): an inverse one, constructed from a set of reference designs optimized for particular power split values, and a forward one which represents the circuit S-parameter gradients as a function of the power split ratio. The inverse model directly yields the values of geometry parameters of the coupler for any required power split, whereas the forward model is used for a post-scaling correction of the circuit characteristics. For the sake of illustration, a 10-GHz circular sector patch coupler is considered. The power split ratio of the structure is re-designed within a wide range of ��6 dB to 0 dB. As demonstrated, precise scaling (with the power split error smaller than 0.02 dB and the operating frequency error not exceeding 0.05 GHz) can be achieved at the cost of less than three full-wave EM simulations of the coupler. Numerical results are validated experimentally.

Electrophoretic methods were used to identify protein complexes formed between ostrich egg yolk lipoprotein fractions (LPFo) with seminal plasma (SP) of fractionated ejaculates, and to investigate the effect of these complexes on boar semen quality after cryopreservation. Chromatographic SP fractions (F1, F2 and F3), with or without LPFo solution, were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis. Comparative electrophoretic analyses of the SP revealed marked differences in the SDS-PAGE protein profiles among boars. Electrophoretic analyses showed that the interactions of LPFo with SP resulted in the appearance of high-intensity protein bands. Spermatozoa were exposed to SP chromatographic fractions originating from F1, F2 and F3, and the whole SP (wSP) before being frozen. Spermatozoa exposed to F1 and F2 exhibited significantly higher post-thaw motility compared to those treated with either F3 or wSP. In most of the boars the proportions of membrane-intact frozen-thawed spermatozoa differed among the treatments, being significantly lower in the wSP-treated samples. The incidence of frozen-thawed spermatozoa with DNA fragmentation was less prevalent in samples exposed to F3 or the wSP. The results of this study confirmed that the interactions of LPFo with fractionated SP during the cooling period contributed to alterations in the sperm membranes, rendering them less susceptible to temperature-related injury.

Two vibrating circular membranes radiate acoustic waves into the region bounded by three infinite baffles arranged perpendicularly to one another. The Neumann boundary value problem has been investigated in the case when both sources are embedded in the same baffle. The analyzed processes are time harmonic. The membranes vibrate asymmetrically. External excitations of different surface distributions and different phases have been applied to the sound sources’ surfaces. The influence of the radiated acoustic waves on the membranes’ vibrations has been included. The acoustic power of the sound sources system has been calculated by using a complete eigenfunctions system.