68 research outputs found
Real And Reactive Power Flow Tracing In Power Networks
The objective of this project is to trace the flow of electricity in the power networks. As we can handle the economic problems of the required system which is being paid attention with the help of deregulation. This method will make it possible to charge the suppliers and/or generators for estimated amount of losses caused and hence it will encourage efficiency of individual generators in order to decrease the losses
Manchester Muslims: The developing role of mosques, imams and committees with particular reference to Barelwi Sunnis and UKIM.
Using ethnographic data from the Pakistani Muslim community in Manchester, I argue that the role of mosques, Imams and mosque committees has taken place in an environment of conflict in which Pakistani Muslims have struggled to construct a Muslim identity. In part, the British Pakistani Muslim community has established and maintained a religious identity through the negotiation of faith practice in schools, halal meals and the construction of purpose built mosques. These phenomena reflect the growing confidence of a British Muslim identity which must be understood in the context of debates surrounding âmulticulturalismâ, âintegrationâ, âexclusionâ and ârecognitionâ of identity. In addition to understanding the development of religious identity in Manchester, I also examine the radicalisation of a certain section of the Muslim youth and government responses to this perceived threat. I examine the ways in which Manchester Muslims, especially those connected to mosques engage with state political institutions and how they perceive âsecularismâ. I offer a typology of the political behaviour of Muslims in relation to participation in the political process. Finally, I argue that a lack of conflict resolution training and an implicit belief in Manichean dichotomies of conflict has fragmented relationships among mosques and Imams in Manchester which has exacerbated the position of British Pakistanis in particular and British Muslims in general
Interactions between Tropical Convection and the Environment: A View across Scales
The interaction between moist convection and the environment that engenders it is a problem that spans multiple scales. In this study, the problem is approached using a suite of observational and modeling tools. The first approach was the development of an algorithm to estimate latent heating profiles from radar observations using a high-resolution version of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). A lookup table was constructed from WRF output to statistically quantify the relationship between latent heating and three characteristics of radar-observed storms: size, mean height and mean intensity. A tight link between organization (characterized by the size of the system) and the intensity (as measured by latent heat release) was found. The algorithm was validated against field campaign observations and shows skill in replicating the short-term (less than daily) variability associated with tropical synoptic systems. The second approach was to analyze the relationship between convection and the environment via moisture modulation using the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission satellite and reanalysis data, with focus on the tropical precipitation-water vapor relationship (P-r curve) which is a power-law relationship, which at the convective time and space scales is characterized by a sharp increase in precipitation beyond a critical value of moisture (the pickup threshold). The convective and stratiform components of the P-r relationship were studied separately and it was found that the pickup in tropical precipitation mainly originates from a rapid pickup in the areal extent of stratiform precipitation. A survey of the P-r curve across the tropical worldâboth land and oceanâshows that the pickup threshold is much lower over tropical land than over the ocean and that convective precipitation picks up prior to stratiform precipitation. Finally, the implications of a precipitation-moisture relationship were explored for prominent forms of organized convection in the tropics, i.e, tropical waves and the Madden-Julian Oscillation. It was found that the different sources of column moisture (horizontal transport and convection) were influential in environments with different moisture levels. These relationships are also dependent on the time and space scale of analysis
Interactions between Tropical Convection and the Environment: A View across Scales
The interaction between moist convection and the environment that engenders it is a problem that spans multiple scales. In this study, the problem is approached using a suite of observational and modeling tools. The first approach was the development of an algorithm to estimate latent heating profiles from radar observations using a high-resolution version of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). A lookup table was constructed from WRF output to statistically quantify the relationship between latent heating and three characteristics of radar-observed storms: size, mean height and mean intensity. A tight link between organization (characterized by the size of the system) and the intensity (as measured by latent heat release) was found. The algorithm was validated against field campaign observations and shows skill in replicating the short-term (less than daily) variability associated with tropical synoptic systems. The second approach was to analyze the relationship between convection and the environment via moisture modulation using the Tropical Rain Measuring Mission satellite and reanalysis data, with focus on the tropical precipitation-water vapor relationship (P-r curve) which is a power-law relationship, which at the convective time and space scales is characterized by a sharp increase in precipitation beyond a critical value of moisture (the pickup threshold). The convective and stratiform components of the P-r relationship were studied separately and it was found that the pickup in tropical precipitation mainly originates from a rapid pickup in the areal extent of stratiform precipitation. A survey of the P-r curve across the tropical worldâboth land and oceanâshows that the pickup threshold is much lower over tropical land than over the ocean and that convective precipitation picks up prior to stratiform precipitation. Finally, the implications of a precipitation-moisture relationship were explored for prominent forms of organized convection in the tropics, i.e, tropical waves and the Madden-Julian Oscillation. It was found that the different sources of column moisture (horizontal transport and convection) were influential in environments with different moisture levels. These relationships are also dependent on the time and space scale of analysis
Enhancing Charge Carrier Mobility in Colloidal Quantum Dots For Technological Applications
Colloidal quantum dots (QD) are promising semiconducting materials to engineer photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices due to tunable size-dependent absorption and emission properties. These materials are important as they donât need complicated equipment and huge setup investment for industrial applications. If formulated into a kind of stable nano-ink, these QDs can be incorporated into devices using the most economical processing technologies, spray or roll to roll printing. More importantly, these are compatible with thin-film stacked devices and circuitry that can be formed on heat-sensitive and flexible substrates to make flexible wearable devices and sensors that are difficult to achieve with crystalline-based material in existence. QD processing technology consists of three main steps (I) Synthesis (II) Purification (III) and ligand exchange and device fabrication. With well-established synthetic procedures, great effort has been done on ligand exchange and device fabrication but there has been negligible attention given to purification strategies. Another major hurdle for their industrial applications is very short-lived post-ligand exchange QD solution stability that compromises the QD ink quality even before device fabrication.
This thesis is divided into six chapters. First, I will introduce QD chemistry, applications, and post-synthesis purification en route to device fabrication. Second, Iâll introduce Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) as a purification technique in parallel to the established precipitation/re-dispersion (PR) method. This section will demonstrate the effectiveness of GPC in removing byproducts and unbound ligands from PbS QDs, and the subsequent applicability of the GPC-purified QDs in optoelectronic devices. In the third and fourth chapters, I will present highly stable 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) capped and halide capped PbS QDs, dispersed in a single non-coordinating organic solvent, to form printable p-type and n-type nano-inks. These inks are stable and suitable for making standalone, heterojunction, and p-n junction solar cell and photodetection devices. These inks should make QDs a viable option for industrial-scale manufacturing of QD devices through spray, or roll-to-roll printing processes. Chapter 5 will introduce AgBiS2 based QDs ink as environment friendly alternative to eliminate toxicity concerns associated with the current state of the art PbS QD system. This ink has been utilized to fabricate flexible photodetectors to show its broad applicability in sensitive areas such as food processing and biomedical applications. Lastly, Chapter 6 of this thesis demonstrates scanning photocurrent microscopy (SPCM) as a diagnostic technique to characterize III-nitride (GaN/AlGaN) based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures for growth defects and current conduction mechanisms via sub-bandgap excitation
Epilepsy in the rural areas of sindh: knowledge, beliefs and practices
Unfounded beliefs regarding epilepsy are still common and widespread. Visits to shrines and seeking help from faith healers goes along with thesebeliefs.This creates a major barrier in the timely diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Objective: To determine the knowledge, beliefs and practices relating to epilepsy in the rural areas of Sind and how do they differ between educated and uneducated families of patients with epilepsy. Methods: This was an observational study conducted at the Neurology Out-Patient Department of the Peoples Medical University Hospital Nawabshah during the period 1.1.2015 to 30.6.2015. A pro forma was designed incorporating questions pertaining to knowledge,beliefs and practices regarding epilepsy amongpatients and accompanying family members.Each case was considered as representing the whole family.Educational background was ascertainedand the comparison of study variablesbetween educated and uneducated families was evaluated. The questions were translated into their native spoken language (Sindhi). Results: A total of 120 cases were included in this study. Sixty nine (57.7%)were male and 51 (42.5%) were female. Age ranged from 1 to 55 years. Eighty one (67.5%) were the residents of rural villages and 39(32.5%)were residing in Nawabshah and adjoining towns.Of the 120 cases 80 (66.7%)families were educatedand 40 (33.3%) were uneducated. Majority 76 (63.3%) believed that epilepsy is a disease whereas 44(36.7%) considered epilepsy a âsuper naturalforceâ (âalamaatâ: a native term) or possession by a âfakirâ (Jinaat). Of the80 educated families 56 (70.0%) had knowledge about the disease and of the 40 uneducated families 20 (50%) had no knowledge about the disease.Better awareness about the disease among families having educational background was statistically significant (p\u3c0.05). Of the 80 educated families 23 (28.8%) visited shrines and of the 40 uneducated families 26 (65.0%)visited shrines. Uneducated families visiting shrines wasstatistically significant (p\u3c0.01). Families having younger individuals (11 -30 years) were more inclined towards visiting shrines. Out of 120 cases 44 (36.6%) were being treated by faith healers (dagho-phenu: a native term for this kind of practice) and 76 (63.%) were receiving medical therapy. Of the 44 cases receiving faith healing 28 (63.6%)also visited shrines and of the 76 caseswho were receiving medical therapy 21 (27.6%) visited shrines.Followers of faith healing practices significantly visited shrines compared to those who were receiving medical therapy (p\u3c0.001). Those who went for faith healing at first place and did not get benefitout of it came to seek medical therapy. They also pledgedfor the strict complianceand thatin future they will not switch over to âotherâ forms of therapy. Conclusion: Misperceptions about epilepsy are common in the rural areas of Sindh, Possession by a âsupernatural forceâ (Alamaat) was most common belief among those who did not consider epilepsy a disease.Knowledge about epilepsy was better among families having educational background. Uneducation and unawareness leads to unscientific practices like faith healingand visit to shrines. There iswillingness for receiving medical therapy once the proper guidelines are provi
Antimicrobial activities of the leaves and roots of Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb
Plants are the rich natural source of bioactive compounds. The more diversified composition of the plants makes their role as biomedicine. These bioactive molecules are often lethal to both plants and animals. Based on ethnomedical use, the leaves and root of Elaeagnus umbellata (Elaeagnaceae) were extracted successively with various organic solvents and water. These crude extracts were screened for their toxic potential against three Gram- positive bacteria, five Gram- negative bacteria, one yeast, and one fungus by using disc diffusion method. The acetone, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform, ethanol and methanol extracts of the plant possessed significant antimicrobial activities on both Gram- positive and Gram- negative bacteria. The acetone, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of leaves and roots of the plant exhibited prominent activities while chloroform, ethanol extracts showed moderate activity and water extract showed no activity against all the tested bacteria. Ethanolic and methanolic extracts also showed considerable activity against fungus and yeast. The root extracts of the plant were found more active against the microorganisms.Keywords: Elaeagnus umbellata, extracts, fungi, yeast, antibiotic discs
Climate-Invariant Machine Learning
Data-driven algorithms, in particular neural networks, can emulate the
effects of unresolved processes in coarse-resolution climate models when
trained on high-resolution simulation data; however, they often make large
generalization errors when evaluated in conditions they were not trained on.
Here, we propose to physically rescale the inputs and outputs of machine
learning algorithms to help them generalize to unseen climates. Applied to
offline parameterizations of subgrid-scale thermodynamics in three distinct
climate models, we show that rescaled or "climate-invariant" neural networks
make accurate predictions in test climates that are 4K and 8K warmer than their
training climates. Additionally, "climate-invariant" neural nets facilitate
generalization between Aquaplanet and Earth-like simulations. Through
visualization and attribution methods, we show that compared to standard
machine learning models, "climate-invariant" algorithms learn more local and
robust relations between storm-scale convection, radiation, and their synoptic
thermodynamic environment. Overall, these results suggest that explicitly
incorporating physical knowledge into data-driven models of Earth system
processes can improve their consistency and ability to generalize across
climate regimes.Comment: 12+18 pages, 8+12 figures, 2+2 tables in the main text +
supplementary information. Submitted to PNAS on December 14th, 202
Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasound for the Evaluation of Ureteric Calculi Taking Non-enhanced Computed Tomography as a Gold Standard
Objective: To find the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for the evaluation of ureteric calculi taking non enhanced Computed Tomography as gold standard. Study Design: An analytical cross-sectional prospective study was performed. Settings: The study was performed in National Hospital and Medical Center, Lahore. Period: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from 15 October, 2020 to 15 January, 2021. Material & Methods: In our study, all those patients with suspected ureteric calculi presenting to radiology department were included. Patients on dialysis, those with polycystic disease and ureteric stricture, as well as patients who declined to give consent and those who were uncooperative, were all excluded. Ultrasound was performed on both sides of the patient's kidney, concentrating on the ureters. Then were sent to a 64 slice CT scanner for a non-enhanced CT scan. Results: Total 121 Patients were reviewed in this research. Females were 82 (67.8%) while male was 39 (32.2%). On Ultrasound 61(50.4%) were positive for ureteric calculi while 60 (49.6%) were negative for stone in the ureter. On CT scan 110 (90.9%) patients were positive for ureteric calculi while 11 (9.1%) were negative for stone in ureter (p= 0.05). The trans-abdominal ultrasound with sensitivity 58.62%, Specificity 56.76%, Positive predictive value 51.52% and Negative predictive value of 63.64% and accuracy of 57.68%. Conclusion: The sensitivity of ultrasound is comparable to Computed Tomography findings, hence, it can be used as an option in cases where CT scans are not available or is contraindicated, such as in pregnant women. Moreover, Ultrasound modality is cheap, with no radiation dose and is readily available in our setups, making it suitable for initial diagnosis as well as for follow-up scans. Keywords: Non-enhanced Computed Tomography, Ultrasound, Ureteric Calculi, radiation, Computed Tomography. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/90-04 Publication date:June 30th 2021
Choice of Antimicrobials in Surgical Prophylaxis - Overuse and Surgical Site Infection Outcomes from a Tertiary-Level Care Hospital
Background: This study was aimed to describe the choice of Surgical Antimicrobial Prophylaxis at a tertiary-level care hospital in United Arab Emirates. It also associated the choice between two leading antimicrobials for the SAP to the site of surgery. Methods: A descriptive drug use evaluation was performed retrospectively to study choices of antimicrobials in surgical antibiotic prophylaxis. An analytical cross-sectional study design was used to develop a hypothesis regarding the choice of ceftriaxone. Data were collected from the medical records of Hospital from July 2020 to December 2020. Results were presented in numbers and percentages. Results: SAP data were collected from 199 patients, of which 159 were clean or clean-contaminated. Dirty surgeries (18) needed a higher level of antimicrobials as there were infections to be treated. For other surgeries with no infection, overuse of antimicrobials was found regarding the choice of antimicrobials. Surgical antibiotic Prophylaxis was administered within the recommended time prior to surgeries. Ceftriaxone was preferred over cefuroxime in all types of surgeries based on the timing of Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis, wound classification, and the surgical site. A statistically significant association for choice of ceftriaxone over cefuroxime was found regarding surgical sites (p-value <0.05). About 99% of the patients were prescribed discharge antimicrobials when 158 (80%) surgeries were clean or clean-contaminated. Conclusion: Overuse of antimicrobials was found in surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis. Ceftriaxone was preferred more than cefuroxime in all types of surgeries. No surgical site infections were reported. A follow-up comparative study is recommended to decrease antimicrobial use without increasing risk of surgical site infection
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