Inset Fed Rectangular Patch Antenna Design for ISM Band Applications

Wireless communication systems rely on efficient and compact antennas to transmit and receive signals. Microstrip patch antennas have gained popularity due to their small size, low profile, and ease of fabrication. In this study, an inset fed microstrip rectangular patch antenna using a partial ground plane is designed for ISM band applications in the frequency range of 2.4 - 2.4835 GHz. The antenna is made on a low-cost FR4 substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.3 and a thickness of 1.6 mm. The dimensions of the antenna is 28.35 × 37.58  mm2. The antenna is fed by an inset feedline, which provides a compact and efficient feeding mechanism. The design of the antenna is carried out using CST Microwave Studio software. The performance of the antenna is evaluated based on various parameters such as return loss, bandwidth, VSWR, directivity, gain, and radiation pattern. The simulation results indicate that the proposed antenna achieves a return loss (S11) of -27.339 dB, a bandwidth of 0.01478 GHz (147.8 MHz), and a VSWR of 1.09. Additionally, the antenna provides a gain of 2.97 dBi, a directivity of 4.7 dBi, and an efficiency of -1.726 dB (67.20%). Overall, this design meets the requirements of decreased antenna size, lightweight, low profile, cost-effectiveness, simple manufacturing, and good performance for ISM band applications

Real-time signal processing for fetal heart rate monitoring

An algorithm based on digital filtering, adaptive thresholding, statistical properties in the time domain, and differencing of local maxima and minima has been developed for the simultaneous measurement of the fetal and maternal heart rates from the maternal abdominal electrocardiogram during pregnancy and labor for ambulatory monitoring. A microcontroller-based system has been used to implement the algorithm in real-time. A Doppler ultrasound fetal monitor was used for statistical comparison on five volunteers with low risk pregnancies, between 35 and 40 weeks of gestation. Results showed an average percent root mean square difference of 5.32% and linear correlation coefficient from 0.84 to 0.93. The fetal heart rate curves remained inside a 5-beats-per-minute limit relative to the reference ultrasound method for 84.1% of the tim

Evaluation of organic culture media for mass production of Trichoderma harzianum (Rifai)

Environmental contamination for excessive use of chemical protectant increasing the interest in integrated pest management and organic farming. Trichoderma harzianum (Rifai) a promising biocontrol agent fairly acceptable globally used against wide array of plant pathogens. Culture establishment and easy utilization technique of those isolates may not evident for commercialization in all level because of costly production. To cultivate the inoculums in the cheapest suitable media of organic source present study was undertaken. Mycelial growth, conidial production and biomass yield of Trichoderma harzianum were examined on four different culture media including potato dextrose agar, modified potato dextrose agar, carrot Agar, pulse sucrose agar. The medium had a significant effect on growth rate and population of the Trichoderma species. Carrot Agar was the best medium in terms of quick growth rate and spore production with at low cost. Average linear growth rate was measured after three days of inoculation and highest linear growth has found on potato dextrose agar medium followed by carrot agar. The Biomass yield also recorded as fresh weight and dry weight of inoculums from liquid culture medium and the maximum yielding of inoculums has found in potato dextrose broth and minimum in carrot broth. Published by the International journal of Microbiology and Mycology (IJMM

A new species of kaloula (anura: microhylidae) from north-eastern India

A new species of microhylid of the genus Kaloula is described from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh states, north-east India. Kaloula assamensis new species, is compared with congeners from south and south-east Asia. The new species is diagnosable in showing the following combination of characters: SVL up to 38.0 mm; tympanum not externally visible; choanae rounded, moderately large, at anterolateral edge of palate, separated by a distance greater than twice their length; postnarial ridges across palate not curving backwards towards inner edge of choanae; finger tips slightly dilated; subarticular tubercles prominent, rounded; webbing on pes to level of distal subarticular tubercles, except on toe IV, where it is to the medial tubercle, reaching tips of all toes as a narrow sheath; toe tips slightly rounded; supernumerary tubercle at base of each digit of manus; tarsus smooth, lacking folds; supratympanic fold extends from posterior edge of eye to above insertion of forelimbs; lateral glandular flank ridge absent; abdomen coarsely granular; pale brown dorsally, with a dark-edged bright yellow vertebral stripe, commencing from tip of snout and terminating near vent, where it becomes less distinct; a dark-edged broad dark brown lateral stripes, commencing from the postocular region, and extending to inguinal region; stratified colouration on posterior face of thighs and flanks; and light pericloacal ring present

Retinopathy of prematurity and its association with neonatal factors

Retinopathy of prematurity is considered as an important cause of blindness. This prospective study was undertaken to document the frequency and the associated factors of retinopathy of prematurity among 97 preterm newborn weighing <2000 g and/or with a gestation of <35 weeks. The first eye examination was performed by an ophthalmologist at 4 weeks of postnatal age for the infants born at ?30 weeks of gestation or birth weight ?1200 g and at 3 weeks of postnatal age for the infants <30 weeks of gestation or birth weight <1200 g. The overall incidence of retinopathy of prematurity was 23.7%. Premature newborn with retinopathy was having significant low mean birth weight (p=0.001) and the mean gestational age (p=<0.001) when compared with newborns without retinopathy of prematurity. Newborns with retinopathy of prematurity were requiring a longer duration of oxygen (p=0.005) than that of non-retinopathy of prematurity newborns. Logistic regression shows the duration of oxygen in the hospital and lower gestational age were independent risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity. Prematurity and longer duration of oxygen administration were the risk factors for the development of retinopathy of prematurity

Retinopathy of prematurity and its association with neonatal factors

Retinopathy of prematurity is considered as an important cause of blindness. This prospective study was undertaken to document the frequency and the associated factors of retinopathy of prematurity among 97 preterm newborn weighing <2000 g and/or with a gestation of <35 weeks. The first eye examination was performed by an ophthalmologist at 4 weeks of postnatal age for the infants born at ?30 weeks of gestation or birth weight ?1200 g and at 3 weeks of postnatal age for the infants <30 weeks of gestation or birth weight <1200 g. The overall incidence of retinopathy of prematurity was 23.7%. Premature newborn with retinopathy was having significant low mean birth weight (p=0.001) and the mean gestational age (p=<0.001) when compared with newborns without retinopathy of prematurity. Newborns with retinopathy of prematurity were requiring a longer duration of oxygen (p=0.005) than that of non-retinopathy of prematurity newborns. Logistic regression shows the duration of oxygen in the hospital and lower gestational age were independent risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity. Prematurity and longer duration of oxygen administration were the risk factors for the development of retinopathy of prematurity

Effect of long term fertilization on soil respiration and enzyme activities in floodplain soil

In agricultural farming system organic manuring and inorganic fertilizer application are the most common agricultural practices. Different fertilizer application lead to differences in soil nutrients, pH, and microbial species, which in turn affect the transformation and decomposition of organic carbon by soil microorganisms. Therefore, a laboratory incubation study was carried out to investigate the influence of long term manuring and fertilization on soil respiration by means of C mineralization and enzyme activities. A parallel first- and zero-order kinetic model was used to describe observed C mineralization in soil. The annual carbon mineralization was found to be significantly influenced by different fertilizer. This result indicates that more stable organic matter was formed in NP treated soil which is less prone to decomposition if present crop management has been changed. Other ward, NP has the highest potentiality to soil for the purpose of carbon sequestration in floodplain soil compared to other fertilizer. Urease activities varied from 4.7µg NH4-N/g soil/2h in NK treatment to 25.7µg NH4-N/g soil/2h in N+FYM treatment. N treatment had a significantly higher urease activity compared to the respective controls. When P, K, S and PK applied separately with N then the treatments show low enzyme activity to control and other treatments (N, N+FYM and NPKSZn). There were no significant differences for Arylamidase activities among the treatments. The arylamidase activities decreased when S applied in combination with N. On the other hand arylamidase activity increased with the application of all other treatment

Diarrhea in young children from low-income countries leads to large-scale alterations in intestinal microbiota composition

Acknowledgments This work was funded in part by the William and Melinda Gates Foundation, award 42917 to JPN and OCS; US National Institutes of Health grants 5R01HG005220 to HCB, 5R01HG004885 to MP; US National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award DGE0750616 to JNP; AWW and JP are funded by The Wellcome Trust (Grant No. WT098051).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Insights into herpesvirus assembly from the structure of the pUL7:pUL51 complex

Funder: Nvidia; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007065Funder: Wellcome Trust; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100004440Funder: John Lucas Walker StudentshipFunder: Commonwealth Scholarship Commission; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000867Herpesviruses acquire their membrane envelopes in the cytoplasm of infected cells via a molecular mechanism that remains unclear. Herpes simplex virus (HSV)−1 proteins pUL7 and pUL51 form a complex required for efficient virus envelopment. We show that interaction between homologues of pUL7 and pUL51 is conserved across human herpesviruses, as is their association with trans-Golgi membranes. We characterized the HSV-1 pUL7:pUL51 complex by solution scattering and chemical crosslinking, revealing a 1:2 complex that can form higher-order oligomers in solution, and we solved the crystal structure of the core pUL7:pUL51 heterodimer. While pUL7 adopts a previously-unseen compact fold, the helix-turn-helix conformation of pUL51 resembles the cellular endosomal complex required for transport (ESCRT)-III component CHMP4B and pUL51 forms ESCRT-III–like filaments, suggesting a direct role for pUL51 in promoting membrane scission during virus assembly. Our results provide a structural framework for understanding the role of the conserved pUL7:pUL51 complex in herpesvirus assembly