Wireless Power Transmission to a Buried Sensor in Concrete

The feasibility of sending wireless power to a buried sensor antenna within concrete was studied. a receive patch rectenna with 75.8% conversion efficiency was designed for operation at 5.7 GHz. The received DC power at the rectenna was measured within dry and wet concrete samples with various cover thicknesses and air-gaps. For the rectenna buried within 30 mm of the concrete, the received DC power was 10.37 mW, which was, about 70% of the received DC power in free-space

Marketing of small indigenous species of fish (SIS) in three selected fish markets of Mymensingh

A socio-economic survey was conducted round the year in three fish markets at Mymensingh, Bangladesh. The selected markets were categorized as rural market (Sutiakhali market), a peri-urban market (Kamal Ranjeet market, BAU) and an urban market (Notun Bazar market, Mymensingh town). It was learnt from the survey that the availability of Small Indigenous Fish Species (SIS) declined to a great extent over the last few years and at presently many of such fish species are either threatened or at the edge of extinction. The supply of SIS was highest in KR market (37% of total) and more or less similar in Notun Bazar and Sutiakhali fish market (25 and 27% respectively). The total supply of SIS fluctuated from 25% to 35% throughout the year in these markets. About 48 SIS were found in the sampled markets over the survey period. The highest number of species (45) was found in KR market followed by Notun Bazar (42) and Sutiakhali (37) fish markets. During the survey, three critically endangered species namely, schilbid catfish, garua catfish and rita were found in these markets. Beside these, other 11 and 10 species were listed to be endangered and vulnerable respectively. The biodiversity of 21 SIS found in three markets were no threat at all. Three species (guntea loach, Indian glass barb and flying barb) were 'data deficient' as reported by the IUCN Red Book (IUCN-Bangladesh 2000). From the supply point of view small prawn, spotted snakehead, stinging catfish, pool barb, striped dwarf catfish, Gangetic mystus, walking catfish and tank goby were the prominent fish. The least available species found in this survey were lesser spiny eel, barred spiny eel, Gangetic ailia, freshwater garfish, zig-zag eel, flying barb, Ganges river sprat, freshwater river shad and dwarf gourami. The weight of SIS available in Notun bazar was highest and nearly double than other two markets. There was no significant difference recorded in the supply of SIS in Sutiakhali and KR markets. The average monthly SIS supply was 185, 192 and 467 kg in KR, Sutiakhali and Notun Bazar, respectively; therefore, the cumulative average supply was 844 kg per month in three markets. The price of SIS ranged widely from taka 50-450/kg depending on species, location of market, time of purchase and the condition of fish. In general small prawn, ticto barb, dwarf gourami, Gangetic leaffish, and Annandale loach were sold at a lower price (ranged taka 50-100/kg) and these species could be considered at the bottom of the market-price list. Other SIS like walking catfish, climbing parch, butter catfish, cotio and schilbid catfish valued as highest price (ranged taka 150-450/kg). There was no specific marketing chain for SIS in Mymensingh region. The components of marketing channels and their expansion varied with seasons and locations. The general pattern, however, was as this - after buying fish from fish farmer/fishermen, middlemen (locally known as Foria) used to buy fish to wholesale market and sell to the wholesalers. The retailers used to buy fish from wholesaler through auction to the highest bidders. The retailers then send the fish to particular market where the fish reached the consumers. The livelihood strategy of SIS retailers in three fish markets showed that socio-economic constraints such as low income, poor educational background, low economic status and lack of capital are the main constrains [sic]. Most of the retailers proposed that government should control the fish price throughout the year, so that the producers can get reasonable and stable price. Construction of cold storage and preservation facilities at market sites, improvement of road and communication, improvement of physical market facilities and reduction of market chain is essential. Credit facilities, improvement of their standard of living, health and sanitary condition, housing condition, children education and access to drinking water facilities were identified as additional aspects to improve socio-economic condition of SIS retailers

Optimum dietary carbohydrate to lipid ratio in stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1792)

A feeding trial of 8 weeks was conducted in a static indoor rearing system to investigate the optimum carbohydrate to lipid ratio (CHO:L ratio) in stinging catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis. Five iso-nitrogenous (35% crude protein) and iso-energetic (17.06 kJ gˉ¹ gross energy (GE)) fish meal based diets with varying carbohydrate to lipid (CHO:L g/g) ratios of 0.60, 0.98, 1.53, 2.29 and 3.44 for diets 1-5, were tested, respectively. The diets containing a fixed protein to energy ratio (P:E ratio) of 20.50-mg protein kJˉ¹ GE were fed to triplicate groups of 40 fish (per 70-L tank). Fish were fed 5% of their body weight per day adjusted fortnightly. Diet 1, containing 10% carbohydrate and 17% lipids with a CHO:L ratio of 0.60 produced the poorest (p<0.05) growth rates, feed and protein efficiency. Increasing carbohydrate content in the diets to 26% concomitant with a reduction in lipid content to 11% with a CHO:L ration of 2.29 of diet 5 significantly improved (p<0.05) growth rates, feed and protein efficiency. But did not differ with diet 4, containing CHO:L ratio 2.29. A further increase in dietary carbohydrate up to 31% and a decrease in lipids levels to 9% with a CHO:L ratio ranging from 2.29 to 3.44 (diet 4-5) did not significantly improve the fish performance. Apparent net protein utilisation (ANPU) of fish fed diet 5 was higher (p<0.05) than for diets 1 and 2 but did not differ from diets 3 and 4. Higher lipid deposition (p<0.05) in whole body was observed with decreasing dietary CHO:L ratios as increasing lipid levels. Whole body protein of fish fed varying CHO:L diets did not show any discernible changes among the dietary treatments. This study revealed that H. fossilis can perform equally well on diets containing carbohydrate ranging from 26 to 31%, with 9 to 11% lipid or at CHO:L g/g ratio of 2.29-3.44

Study and Design of a Capacitively Coupled Polymeric Internal Antenna

A capacitively coupled polymeric internal antenna is introduced for Bluetooth or GPS applications. Such an antenna can be easily fabricated on a flexible film substrate and attached to the inside surface of the plastic housing of a portable wireless device; such as a PDA. The proposed antenna saves critical space on the printed circuit board (PCB) and eliminates the need for a vertical contact feed. Thus manufacturing is also simplified and cost is reduced. Practical examples of utilizing such a concept for Bluetooth (2.45 GHz) and GPS (1.575 GHz) applications are provided. The antenna system requires a small coupling plate (as small as 4 by 4 mm(2)) that can be easily surface mounted on a PCB. The solution proposed provides wideband operation satisfying Bluetooth functionality with good radiation pattern and gain

Xanthine oxidase-derived reactive oxygen metabolites contribute to liver necrosis: protection by 4-hydroxypyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine

AbstractXanthine oxidase (XO) generates reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) as a by-product while catalyzing their reaction. The present study implicates these ROM in the pathogenesis of liver necrosis produced in rats by the intraperitoneal administration of thioacetamide (TAA; 400 mg/kg b.wt.). After 16 h of TAA administration, the activity of rat liver XO increased significantly compared to that of the control group. At the same time, the level of serum marker enzymes of liver necrosis (aminotransferases and alkaline phosphatase) and tissue malondialdehyde content also increased in TAA treated rats. Tissue malondialdehyde concentration is an indicator of lipid peroxidation and acts as a useful marker of oxidative damage. Pretreatment of rats with XO inhibitor (4-hydroxypyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine; allopurinol (AP)) followed by TAA could lower the hepatotoxin-mediated rise in malondialdehyde level as well as the level of marker enzymes associated with liver necrosis. The survival rate also increased in rats given AP followed by the lethal dose of TAA. In either case, the effect of AP was dose-dependent. Results presented in the paper indicate that increased production of XO-derived ROM contributes to liver necrosis, which can be protected by AP

Abundant soliton solution for the time-fractional stochastic Gray-Scot model under the influence of noise and M-truncated derivative

In this study, we investigate the abundant soliton solutions for the time-fractional stochastic Gray-Scot (TFSGS) model analytically. The Gray-Scot model is considered under the influence of M-truncated derivative and multiplicative time noise. This is a reaction–diffusion chemical concentration model that explains the irreversible chemical reaction process. The M-truncated derivative is applied for the fractional version while Brownian motion is taken in the sense of time noise. The novel mathematical technique is used to obtain the abundant families of soliton solutions. These solutions are explored in the form of shock, complicated solitary-shock, shock-singular, and periodic-singular types of single and combination wave structures. During the derivation, the rational solutions also appear. Moreover, we use MATHEMATICA 11.1 tools to plot our solutions and exhibit several three-dimensional, two-dimensional, and their corresponding contour graphs to show the fractional derivative and Brownian motion impact on the soliton solutions of the TFSGS model. We show that the TFDGS model solutions are stabilized at around zero by the multiplicative Brownian motion. These wave solutions represent the chemical concentrations of the reactants

Performance Analysis of A Spark Ignition Engine Using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as Fuel

AbstractCompress natural gas (CNG) is also considered as alternative fuel to produce better emission in a vehicle, but the main disadvantage of CNG in comparison to liquid fuel (gasoline) is the lack of power produced for the same capacity of engine. In this study, the single cylinder spark ignition (SI) engine was selected in order to study the effect CNG into the spark ignition engine. The hydraulic dynamometer was used to study the performance of CNG and liquid fuel. The usage of sensor also applies to the test to extract the data during the ignition stage for liquid fuel and CNG. The heat generated by both types of fuel also had been extracted from the tested engine in order to define which usage of fuel would cause a higher heat transfer to the engine. From this study, the result showed that pressure inside cylinder for CNG is 20% less than gasoline. CNG fuel also produced 23% less heat transfer rate compared to gasoline. The results explained why CNG produced 18.5% lower power compared to liquid fuel (gasoline).So, some improvement needs to be done in order to use CNG as fuel

Assessment of the rapid shallow breathing index as a predictor of weaning of patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation

Background: About 8 of patients experience prolonged mechanical ventilation after cardiac surgery. Development of criteria for successful liberation of a patient from mechanical ventilation and extubation may be highly dependent on the clinical situation. Different criteria were used for ventilator weaning. We designed a clinical trial to determine the usefulness of rapid shallow breathing index (RSBI) as a predictor for successful weaning from mechanical ventilation. Materials and Methods: In a prospective observational study, 52 patients who had prolonged mechanical ventilation (> 72 h) after open cardiac surgery were studied. Patients had 60 - min spontaneous breathing trials and satisfied at least 5 weaning predictors and fulfilled the criteria for discontinuing mechanical ventilation. Traditional weaning criteria and RSBI were determined. According to the outcome assessment of weaning, patients were divided into failure or success groups. Results: The mean RSBI values were significantly different between the failure (103.5±21.9 breath/min/L) and success groups (80.4±15.3 breath/min/L, p=0.0001). There was no significant difference regarding the values of other prediction criteria between the two groups. Using RSBI <105 (breath/min/L) as the threshold value for predicting successful weaning, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy were 92.5, 70, 92.5, 70 and 88 respectively. Conclusion: Although a small number of patients require prolonged ventilatory support after open cardiothoracic surgeries, growing experience in critical care settings and mechanical ventilation cause favorable outcomes. Ventilator weaning is more likely to be successful if RSBI is less than 105 (breath/min/L). This index is a more valuable and accurate predictor of weaning than other weaning predictors. © 2007 NRITLD, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Iran

Phenomenological Analysis of B->PP Decays with QCD Factorization

In this paper, we study nonleptonic charmless B decays to two light pseudoscalar mesons within the frame of QCD factorization, including the contributions from the chirally enhanced power corrections and weak annihilation. Predictions for the CP-averaged branching ratios and CP-violating asymmetries are given. Within the reasonable range of the parameters, we find that our predictions for the branching ratios of B -> PP are consistent with the present experimental data. But because of the logarithmic divergences at the endpoints in the hard spectator scatterings and weak annihilation, there are still large uncertainties in these predictions.Comment: 34 pages, 5 figures. to appear in PR