Localisation sur une plateforme radio définie par logiciel

Ce travail de recherche s'inscrit dans un projet plus global appelé Sécurinet, dont l'idée maîtresse est de mettre en place des stations de base à faibles coûts dans les zones lointaines où il n'y a pas de couverture de radiocommunications. Notre projet consistait à développer des techniques permettant la localisation des personnes dans ces zones, avec une balise RF (Radio Fréquence), en plus d'allouer l'échange bidirectionnel entre la station de base et les personnes dans les cas d'urgence avec une identification de ces personnes. Les stations de base choisies pour le projet sont celles qui sont basées sur la radio définie par logiciel (SDR- Software Defined Radio). Le SDR est formé de deux parties, une partie logicielle comme le GNU radio et une partie matérielle comme l'USRP (Universel Software Radio Peripheral). La technique de localisation utilisée est celle qui est basée sur le GPS. La balise RF choisie est l'APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System), un système en utilisation libre (Open Source) qui est formé d'un GPS qui reçoit les coordonnées (x,y,z) des satellites, les décodent et les envoient à partir d'un émetteur radio vers la station de base. L'idée principale pour ce mémoire est l'adaptation de la technique APRS (balise RF) sur la station de base qu'on a choisie pour localiser les personnes. Les résultats obtenus montrent que la localisation des personnes et leur identification est possible et ceci a été validé avec des essais expérimentaux à Val-d'Or. On a montré également que L'échange bidirectionnel d'un message écrit entre la station de base et la balise RF est tout à fait possible de même que la communication verbale entre toutes les personnes qui utilisent cette balise

Performance Related Parameters Determining the Selection of Youth Players in Soccer

In the current study, a total of 86 soccer’s players with mean age of 14 years drawn from Terengganu soccer academy were tested in performing 10 parameters aiming at determining the performance of those players based on assessing the contribution of each activity and its corresponding significant level. The 10 performance related parameters involved anthropometry (BMI), fitness test (agility, coordination, muscular endurance (push and sit up), power, YoYo level), and football skill test (dribbling with ball, dribbling without ball and juggling).  All the parameters testing is carried out based on international standard and performed by well-trained staff.  The Pearson correlation analysis was used to achieve the objective in this study. Result shows a positive correlation between the two types of muscular parameters; the power is influenced by BMI and coordination; the specific football tests are highly impacted by the power and agility. The coefficient of determination  and the significance level -values show that the parameters that can be significantly considered are the anthropometric BMI (0.020), agility (0.025), muscular endurance (0.039 and 0.043), power (0.039), special football test without the ball (0.041), and juggling (0.046). The coordination, YoYo, football special test with the ball were not found to be significantly accounted for preparing the young players to achieve the required performance. Based on the results of the coefficient of determination and the significance -values of the parameters, a model was proposed to determine the highest and lowest parameters that play important roles in the selection of young players

Analytical and finite element buckling solutions of anisotropic laminated composite columns/plates under axial compression with various boundary conditions

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Civil EngineeringHayder A. RasheedThe use of laminated composites in aerospace, automotive, and civil engineering applications is ever growing due to their distinguished properties (High stiffness-to-weight ratio, high strength-to-weight ratio, fatigue and corrosion resistance). This growth has resulted in increasing the demand for better understanding the mechanics of laminated composites. Composite columns and wide plates, like any traditional members subjected to axial compression, undergo stability issues prior to failure. Limited amount of research studies has focused on the buckling of laminated anisotropic composite members. Analytical formula for the buckling load of generally anisotropic laminated composite simply supported thin columns and wide plates is derived using the Rayleigh Ritz approximation and bifurcation approach. The effective axial, coupling and flexural stiffness coefficients of the anisotropic layup is determined from the generalized constitutive relationship using dimensional reduction by static condensation of the 6x6 composite stiffness matrix. The resulting explicit formula is expressed in terms of the generally anisotropic material properties as well as the member geometry. The developed formula may be considered an extension to Euler buckling formula using Rayleigh-Ritz approximation and the first of its kind since Euler. This formula reduces down to Euler buckling formula once the effective coupling stiffness term vanishes for isotropic and certain classes of laminated composites. The analytical results are verified against finite element Eigen value solutions for a wide range of anisotropic laminated layups yielding high accuracy. Comparisons with experiments; conducted at Kansas State University for the simply supported case, are also performed showing good correspondence. A brief parametric study is then conducted to examine the effect of ply orientations and material properties including hybrid carbon/glass fiber composites, element thickness, and element type in FE analysis. Relevance of the numerical and analytical results is discussed for all these cases

The role of terrorist events in determining stock returns in Pakistan: covering most vibrant era 2003-2013

This study explains the relationship and significance of terrorism attacks and Pakistan Stock Exchange behavior. This study uses standard event study methodology and data relating to the stock market index was collected from the website of the Pakistan Stock Exchange and data relating to terrorist events was collected from the newspapers of Business Recorder and DAWN. A total of 277 terrorist events have been considered in this study. The first-day abnormal return, five-day cumulative abnormal return, and ten-day cumulative return were calculated for all of the events. Terrorist events have been analyzed year-wise and also on the bases of their category like events related to foreigners, military, politics, and general terrorist events. This study finds evidence that terrorist events affect the stock market in Pakistan. But their impact is different considering the economic and political implications of these events. Terrorist events yield mixed results where the significance of the events differed considerably in their impact on the stock market. Moreover, the abundance of terrorist events also hindered the estimation as rare events bring the element of surprise and the market adjusts to more frequent events inappropriate manner. However, terrorist events relating to politics and foreigners yield more consistent results as these events were distributed across time with longer intervals. Overall, this study lays the foundation to make further explorations into the phenomenon of uncertainty caused by terrorist events in relevance to the stock market in Pakistan. Implications and directions for future research are also provided at the end of the study

Assessment of the antimicrobial and free radical scavenging activities of Moluccella spinosa, Helichrysum sanguineum, and Styrax officinalis folkloric medicinal plants from Palestine

The emergence of pathogenic microbes with increased resistance to established antibiotics provides a major incentive for the discovery of new antimicrobial agents. Herbals may provide valuable solutions for this global problem. In addition, the replacement of harmful synthetic antioxidants with natural ones may prevent various serious diseases. The present investigation describes for the first time the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the aqueous and organic extracts of Helichrysum sanguineum, Moluccella spinosa and Styrax officinalis plants aerial parts. The free radical scavenging activity was estimated using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl method, while the antimicrobial activity was evaluated against selected microbial strains from American Type Culture Collection and clinical isolates such as Shigella sonnie, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcuss feacium, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Epidermophyton floccosum and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using minimum inhibitory concentration assay. A mixture of phytochemical compounds was found in all of the studied plants extracts which also showed remarkable potentials of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The current study provides initial data that justify the use and importance of these plants in the Palestinian traditional medicine. In addition, it provides evidence that the aqueous and organic extracts of H. sanguineum, M. spinosa and S. officinalis exhibited interesting antioxidant activity comparing with Trolox. Furthermore, the organic extract of H. sanguineum strongly exhibited bacterial growth of S. aureus, E. faecium and MRSA which suggested to be used as antibiotic alternative or as sufficient natural food preservative.The authors acknowledge the assistance of the technicians Mohamad Arar and Linda Esa

Prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in ulcerative colitis patients in Jordan and its relationship to patient-reported disease activity

Inflammatory bowel disease is associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to the general population. We aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among patients with ulcerative colitis and correlation to disease activity. In this cross-sectional study, we collected data from 70 consecutive ulcerative colitis patients over one year at our inflammatory bowel disease outpatient clinic through an interview and a questionnaire containing patient demographics and disease characteristics. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were characterized using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire-9, respectively, with ulcerative colitis disease severity assessed by the Partial Mayo scoring system. The majority of our patients were females (68.6%) and the mean age was 39.3 years. Rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms among ulcerative colitis patients were 65.7% and 58.6%, respectively. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with patient-reported disease activity (r = 0.361; p = 0.010). Significant percentages of ulcerative colitis patients were appreciated to have anxiety and depressive symptoms, and there was a correlation between patient-reported disease activity and depressive symptoms. At this high rate of prevalence, it is justified to screen patients for the presence of psychiatric comorbidities

Characteristics and comparative clinical outcomes of prisoner versus non-prisoner populations hospitalized with COVID-19

Prisons in the United States have become a hotbed for spreading COVID-19 among incarcerated individuals. COVID-19 cases among prisoners are on the rise, with more than 143,000 confirmed cases to date. However, there is paucity of data addressing clinical outcomes and mortality in prisoners hospitalized with COVID-19. An observational study of all patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 10 and May 10, 2020 at two Henry Ford Health System hospitals in Michigan. Clinical outcomes were compared amongst hospitalized prisoners and non-prisoner patients. The primary outcomes were intubation rates, in-hospital mortality, and 30-day mortality. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox-regression models were used to investigate primary outcomes. Of the 706 hospitalized COVID-19 patients (mean age 66.7 ± 16.1 years, 57% males, and 44% black), 108 were prisoners and 598 were non-prisoners. Compared to non-prisoners, prisoners were more likely to present with fever, tachypnea, hypoxemia, and markedly elevated inflammatory markers. Prisoners were more commonly admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) (26.9% vs. 18.7%), required vasopressors (24.1% vs. 9.9%), and intubated (25.0% vs. 15.2%). Prisoners had higher unadjusted inpatient mortality (29.6% vs. 20.1%) and 30-day mortality (34.3% vs. 24.6%). In the adjusted models, prisoner status was associated with higher in-hospital death (odds ratio, 2.32; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.33 to 4.05) and 30-day mortality (hazard ratio, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.33 to 3.00). In this cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, prisoner status was associated with more severe clinical presentation, higher rates of ICU admissions, vasopressors requirement, intubation, in-hospital mortality, and 30-day mortality

Soil radioactivity levels, radiological maps and risk assessment for the state of Kuwait

An evaluation of the radioactivity levels associated with naturally occurring radioactive materials has been undertaken as part of a systematic study to provide a surface radiological map of the State of Kuwait. Soil samples from across Kuwait were collected, measured and analysed in the current work. These evaluations provided soil activity concentration levels for primordial radionuclides, specifically members of the (238)U and (232)Th decay chains and (40)K which. The (238)U and (232)Th chain radionuclides and (40)K activity concentration values ranged between 5.9 ↔ 32.3, 3.5 ↔ 27.3, and 74 ↔ 698 Bq/kg respectively. The evaluated average specific activity concentrations of (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K across all of the soil samples have mean values of 18, 15 and 385 Bq/kg respectively, all falling below the worldwide mean values of 35, 40 and 400 Bq/kg respectively. The radiological risk factors are associated with a mean of 33.16 ± 2.46 nG/h and 68.5 ± 5.09 Bq/kg for the external dose rate and Radium equivalent respectively. The measured annual dose rates for all samples gives rise to a mean value of 40.8 ± 3.0 μSv/y while the internal and internal hazard indices have been found to be 0.23 ± 0.02 and 0.19 ± 0.01 respectively

Characterization of greater middle eastern genetic variation for enhanced disease gene discovery

The Greater Middle East (GME) has been a central hub of human migration and population admixture. The tradition of consanguinity, variably practiced in the Persian Gulf region, North Africa, and Central Asia1-3, has resulted in an elevated burden of recessive disease4. Here we generated a whole-exome GME variome from 1,111 unrelated subjects. We detected substantial diversity and admixture in continental and subregional populations, corresponding to several ancient founder populations with little evidence of bottlenecks. Measured consanguinity rates were an order of magnitude above those in other sampled populations, and the GME population exhibited an increased burden of runs of homozygosity (ROHs) but showed no evidence for reduced burden of deleterious variation due to classically theorized ‘genetic purging’. Applying this database to unsolved recessive conditions in the GME population reduced the number of potential disease-causing variants by four- to sevenfold. These results show variegated genetic architecture in GME populations and support future human genetic discoveries in Mendelian and population genetics