Design of Wireless Automatic Microwave Antenna Alignment System

Microwave link aligning is an important operation in communication systems. Misalignment in line of sight link due to rain, wind etc considered the basic problem that faced the microwave system. This problem caused a direct terminating of the microwave link. Automatic antenna alignment will guarantee best communication at the link’s ends without any risks of human interface. This paper presented a low cost design of an automatic antenna alignment system based on arduino and using Xbee wireless technology. The design in the paper is automatically adjusting the horizontal and vertical angles in the transmitter and receiver sides of the microwave link. The controller compared the measured values of these two angles with a reference values. The correction of the error in the angles is done by moving the antenna towards the correct position. The design was tested in different angles positions and the results were reported in the paper. The simulation results ensure that the system works successfully

Social Media as a Political Platform in Africa: A Bibliometric Analysis

This study employs bibliometric analysis to scrutinize the pivotal journals, institutions, and countries at the nexus of social media and political discourse in Africa. Utilizing VOSviewer, a dataset of 123 publications from 2013 to 2023 was culled from Scopus Database. The analysis encompasses diverse methodologies, each tailored to the specific nature of bibliometric investigation. "Information, Communication and Society" emerged as the foremost journal in this domain, while South Africa spearheaded contributions, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom. The National Research Foundation played a prominent role as an influential institution. Notably, four distinct thematic clusters emerged, illuminating significant research areas such as the role of political platforms on human rights, the influence of social media on community engagement, the impact of media platforms on African conflicts, and social media's contribution to freedom through discourse. This study represents a pioneering bibliometric endeavor in comprehensively gauging the landscape of social media and politics in Africa, offering valuable insights for scholars and policymakers navigating this dynamic terrain.

Constructional Design for Decontamination of Sputum Specimens for Tuberculosis Culture

This paper provides a proposal model for a medical device that can prepare samples for the purpose of  tuberculosis diagnosis using sputum specimens. Conventional methods contain hazards because of the seriousness of the disease and  persons infection probability in the laboratory as well as the time spended to prepare each sample individually. The proposed model has a robot arm operates in a completely closed environment  to prepare all samples at once, which reduces the total time of the process. All operations controlled by the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).

THE ROLE OF READING ALOUD STRATEGY ON IMPROVING READING AND PRONUNCIATION FOR EFL PUPILS AT PRIVATE BASIC SCHOOLS: TEACHERS PERSPECTIVES

The study aims at investigating the role of reading aloud on English as foreign language for learners in improving reading and pronunciation at basic level schools. The study used the descriptive analytical method. In order to examine the hypotheses, the study used a questionnaire as a tool for collecting needed data. The questionnaire was distributed randomly to fifty English language teachers at private schools in Bahary locality. The data was analyzed by using SPSS program. The study came up with results that reading aloud is beneficial to develop and promote pupils reading, as well as improving their pronunciation. The study mentioned some recommendations and suggested some points of studies which can convene futurity

Post-Transplant Diabetes Mellitus in Renal Transplant Recipients, Single-Centre Data: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Effect on Graft Function and Mortality

Background: De novo post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a frequent complication among renal transplant recipients; it confers a high risk for graft failure and patient mortality. This single-centre study aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors of PTDM and its effects on graft outcome and mortality. Methods: In a single-centre longitudinal cohort analysis of 383 non-diabetic renal transplant follow-up recipients, outcomes were analysed through a detailed chart review. We hypothesized that different donor and recipient characters such as age, gender, and HLA mismatch would affect PTDM development in renal transplant recipients. PTDM is defined on basis of fasting plasma sugar (≥7 mmol/L or ≥126 mg/dL), random plasma sugar (≥11.1 mmol/L or ≥200 mg/dL), and glycated haemoglobin (HBA1C: >6.5% or 48 mmol/mol). We assessed PTDM incidence, risk factors, and its effect on patient mortality and graft outcome using Cox regression. Results: The mean age at the time of transplantation was 35.70 (±14.27) years, and 50.91% were male. PTDM incidence in the study period was 23.30%. Independent risk factors include older age at the time of transplantation, cyclosporine immunosuppression, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis C virus infection. PTDM is not associated with graft dysfunction, whereas it significantly carries high mortality. Conclusion: PTDM is common among renal transplant recipients. Older age at the time of transplantation, cyclosporine immunosuppression, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis C virus are risk factors. PTDM carries high mortality but is not associated with graft failure

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Dynamic topologies for sustainable and energy efficient traffic engineering in communication networks

Energy consumption and related emissions have been in the public focus for some time. Contributions of the Information and Communication Technol- ogy (ICT) sector to increase the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are growing. Networks are responsible of a significant portion of the ICT energy foot- print and are generally dimensioned for peak loads. For extended off-peak periods, resources continue to consume power, but are lightly used or un- used. The goal of this project is to reduce power consumption in commu- nication networks through network management techniques. This research investigates the concept of dynamic topologies, i.e. networks that adapt their topology according to traffic volume. In contrast to related work, this thesis addresses networks where nodes are both emanating and consuming traffic. This requires power models for routers and a reduced functionality power-state is proposed that bridges local de- mands to a single interface. The key aim of this study was to investigate power reductions that can be achieved by dynamic topologies. It proposes a novel network transformation and introduces mathematical programming models that result in energy-optimal topologies for given traffic loads. This part focuses on the optimisation prob- lems and studies gains in static environments. Numerical results are pre- sented for example networks using a large set of traffic matrices. Efficient heuristics are necessary for larger networks as mathematical pro- gramming models cannot be solved in practical time frames. Two sets of al- gorithms are proposed to find minimal network topologies. These rely either on link utilisation or node gravity to decide whether active devices can be switched off. To avoid hot spots and link overloads, shortest path weight set- ting techniques are implemented. Network resilience to failure is an important requirement of network oper- ators. To account for resilience constraints, two additional programming models are formulated; one that protects individual links and one that pro- tects traffic demands. Both models are studied and energy savings are com- pared to the original models. To demonstrate the feasibility of the approach a potential implementation of dynamic topologies using Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks is introduced. Most MPLS functions and nodes are not affected by the proposal. A flow tracking and topology tracking mechanism is required at the network ingress; and all nodes have to include a power management function that controls the power state of routers. The impact of changes in routing patterns on active UDP and TCP flows has been investigated and found to be minimal. Aggregated flow-based performance has been analysed and the results show that there is no discernable impact on network performance. Adapting topologies of computer networks dynamically to traffic volumes is feasible and can lead to significant reductions in energy footprints. For the test networks, dynamic topologies reduce the average network power con- sumption, by 12-52 per cent depending on network load

The role of real exchange rate in the trade balance between Turkey and Libya: Evidence from nonlinear and wavelet-based approaches

The time-invariable models would suffer to give a clearer description to the relationship between exchange rate and trade flows. Therefore, the growing strand of literature has failed to reach a consensus. This study aims to contribute to this discussion by employing not only nonlinear model to capture the asymmetric effect, but also to detect the time frequencies and explore the lead-lag relations between real exchange rate and trade balance between Libya and its major trade partner ‘Turkey’ by applying both NARDL and wavelet coherence approaches, using monthly data spanning January 2013 to December 2020, selected based on data availability. The findings disclose that trade balance responds to the real exchange rate asymmetrically. The asymmetric effect is skewed more in the negative direction, as the impact of negative change is significant and greater than the positive change in long run. While the oil price shocks positively impact trade balance, economic policy uncertainty negatively affects trade balance. The wavelet coherence analysis indicates that real exchange rate and economic policy uncertainty are lagging in trade balance, while oil price leads trade balance. Among various other policy suggestions, we recommend that stable exchange rate through the intervention in the foreign exchange market will promote the trade balance at the end.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p

INTEGRATIVE SYLLABUS AND MATERIAL MODEL FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS IN AGRICULTURE (MODEL SILABUS INTEGRATIF DAN MATERI AJAR BAHASA INDONESIA BAGI PENUTUR ASING DALAM BIDANG PERTANIAN)

This study aims to produce a product model of integrative content-based Indonesian teaching syllabus and material in agriculture specifically for level A2 non-native speakers. The method is research and development. Through this initial effort, the syllabus and teaching materials were designed and then validated by experts, followed by revision I, draft II, revision II, design III, effectiveness test, revision III, and final product. The results revealed a high expert validation of draft I, and the effectivity test for db = 7 and α = 0.05 results in ttabel = t(0.05;7)= 1.895, and thit = 14.16235844, leading to acceptance of H1. Based on the research and development results, it can be concluded that the produced syllabus and teaching materials have been effective. This research implies that the syllabus and teaching materials developed can be applied in BIPA IPB and other BIPA with specific objectives in agriculture