Bandwidth Efficient Root Nyquist Pulses for Optical Intensity Channels

Indoor diffuse optical intensity channels are bandwidth constrained due to the multiple reflected paths between the transmitter and the receiver which cause considerable inter-symbol interference (ISI). The transmitted signal amplitude is inherently non-negative, being a light intensity signal. All optical intensity root Nyquist pulses are time-limited to a single symbol interval which eliminates the possibility of finding bandlimited root Nyquist pulses. However, potential exists to design bandwidth efficient pulses. This paper investigates the modified hermite polynomial functions and prolate spheroidal wave functions as candidate waveforms for designing spectrally efficient optical pulses. These functions yield orthogonal pulses which have constant pulse duration irrespective of the order of the function, making them ideal for designing an ISI free pulse. Simulation results comparing the two pulses and challenges pertaining to their design and implementation are discussed

Effectiveness of Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients with COPD

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is beneficial for patients with COPD, with improvement in exercise capacity and health-related quality of life. Despite these overall benefits, the responses to PR vary significantly among different individuals. It is not clear if PR is beneficial for patients with COPD and normal exercise capacity. Although it is believed that longer pulmonary rehabilitation programs can provide better results, most of the evidence comes from short-term programs. Objective: The objective of this analysis was to determine the effectiveness of respiratory services provided in the hospital or community by respiratory therapists (RTs) in reducing health care utilization and improving patient outcomes. The aim was to evaluate the outcomes of a comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methodology: All 65 Pakistani patients who met the inclusion criteria with ages between 40 to 65 years, including both male and female, with mild to severe COPD were enrolled in the study on the basis of convenient sampling. Informed consent was taken from each patient starting about the study and their rights to withdraw from study. A demographics detail (name, age, sex) was noted along with the necessary medical history. A questionnaire was made to see the effects of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD. All necessary tests were performed to evaluate the patient betterment completely. Results: The mean FEV1 in the subjects was 1.29 ± 0.47 L/min, 64.8 ± 23.0% of predicted. Clinically there is a little effect on CXR pattern, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC after pulmonary rehabilitation. But overall quality of life improved after pulmonary rehabilitation. Mainly improvement occurs in peak expiratory flow rate, BORG dyspnea scale, 6 mint walk test distance (meters) and Oxygen saturation after rehabilitation. Conclusion: These results showed that patients with COPD had benefited from a comprehensive PR program in an out-patient setting regardless of disease severity. Exercise training can result in significant improvement in health-related quality of life, exercise capacity, respiratory muscle strength, and exertional dyspnea in subjects with COPD and normal exercise capacity

Development and validation of juvenile Criminal thinking styles’ inventory

The current research explored the styles of criminal thinking among juvenile delinquents in Pakistani cultural context. Initially, 40 juvenile delinquents were interviewed individually to generate an item pool of 34 distinct thought statements. After excluding repetitive items a list of 19 items was piloted on 30 juvenile delinquents as a self-report measure of 5-point rating scale (Juvenile Criminal Thinking Styles’ Inventory). Finally, a sample of 211 juvenile delinquents were given the final list of 19 items, Measure of Criminal Social Identity (Boduszek, Adamson, Shevlin, & Hyland, 2012; Shagufta, 2015), and a demographic form. Principal Component factor analysis determined a three factor solution, namely Social Alienation, Vindication, and Domination. The inventory found to have high internal consistency and concurrent validity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of the implications of criminal thinking styles for juvenile correctional counselling services and propose further research

Problems Facing English Language Students at AL- Zaytoonah University of Jordan in Learning Perfect Tenses from their Perspective

The purpose of this study is to investigate the problems facing foreign language learners at Department of English, and the Department of English and French literature students at Al Zaytoonah University in learning perfect tenses from the viewpoint of students, and also aimed to investigate the effect of year, and GPA on the point of view of students. To achieve the purpose of the study, a questionnaire was distributed among the students. The study sample consisted of (180) students; (96) males and (84) females from Al Zaytoonah University. Means and standard deviations and t-test were used to analyze the results. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the views of the students on the problems facing them in learning perfect tenses , also showed a statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α ≥ 0,05) in their views due to the gender variable, as there are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α ≥ 0,05) in their views due to the year variable, and results also showed the existence of clear statistically significant differences in the views of the students on the problems facing them in learning perfect tenses due to the general point average of the students (GPA). Keywords: Perfect tense, Problems in learning perfect tense, Al Zaytoonah University Student

Knowledge Management Application in the Service Industry

Knowledge management is now considered as one of the pressing challenges in economic development related to the world of industry, studies in services and information. The adoption and implementation of knowledge management may be considered as a breakthrough factor for companies willing to integrate it in the knowledge-based economy. In service industry, knowledge management enables organizations to make in more intelligent decisions as they render services to the public. Nowadays, the foundation of new economics has shifted from natural resources to intellectual assets and top manager in service industry might be forced to focus on knowledge management which have been acknowledged as the most important resources and capability of modern firms’ achievement. Companies within this industry perform tasks that are useful to their customers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the application of information and knowledge management in the service industry. The paper discusses the concept of knowledge management as regards to service industry as well as service industry, which involves the provision of services to businesses as well as final consumers. There are three (3) main areas of knowledge management which are discussed in this paper, and they are – accumulating knowledge, storing knowledge and sharing knowledge. Importance, advantages and disadvantages of knowledge management in service industry is equally discussed, including knowledge management best practices in service industry. The paper concludes that in applying knowledge management in service industry, the key is making sure that people, particularly in top management, understand the advantages of knowledge management and what makes it usefu

Endostatin concentration in plasma of healthy human volunteers

Background: Angiogenesis is involved in many cardiovascular and cancerous diseases, including atherosclerosis and is controlled by a fine balance between angiogenic and angiostatic mediators. Endostatin is one of the main angiostatic mediators, and inhibits angiogenesis and prevents progression of atherosclerosis. The available literature shows a broad range of concentrations in relatively small samples of healthy controls and is calculated by using different techniques. This study was aimed to determine the basal endostatin concentration in plasma of healthy volunteers, to fully understand its physiological role. Methods: Fifty healthy adult volunteers were recruited to the study. Participants were advised not to participate in any physical activity on the day before the blood sampling. The volunteers’ physical activity, height, weight, heart rate and blood pressure were recorded. The samples were analysed for plasma endostatin concentration, using ELISA. The participants were divided by gender and ethnic groups to calculate any difference. Results: Endostatin and other variables were normally distributed. Most of the participants had a moderate level of physical activity with no gender related difference (p=0.370). The mean value for plasma endostatin in all samples was 105±12 ng/ml with range of 81–132 ng/ml. For males, it was 107±13 ng/ml, while for females; 102±12 ng/ml. There were no significant gender or ethnicity related differences in endostatin concentration. Moreover, endostatin was not significantly related with any anthropometric and physical variable. Conclusion: This study gives endostatin levels in normal healthy people and show no gender and ethnicity related differences in endostatin levels. Endostatin was not related with any anthropometric and physical variable

Impact of Brand Extension and Brand Image on Brand Equity

The purpose of this study was to find out factors influencing on the brand equity. How the brand image and line extension impact on brand equity.  The study statistical population was including different commercial market, Education sector and industrial sector. For the response of such research we distributed 150 questionnaires with the 25 different questions. By use of the SPSS the correlation and regression tests were applied for interpreting the result.  The research results identified that there is positive significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The regression result showed that the model is fit and can predict future results of the research. The research will helpful for the commercial markets, related industries and specially for the managers to review their business strategies in order to attract maximum potential customers. Keywords: brand extension, images, brand equit

Criminal Thinking Styles and Criminal Social Identity Among Juvenile Delinquents: Moderating Role of Parenting Styles

Parenting is considered imperative in the development of juvenile\u27s cognitions, and beliefs. The parent-child relationship might significantly influence juvenile’s thought patterns and social communications. Different parenting styles perhaps indicate criminal involvement of juveniles, resultantly turns them into delinquent. The present study was done to discover whether parental authority styles moderate the path that links criminal thinking styles to criminal social identity amongst juvenile delinquents. Participants of the study were 211 juvenile delinquents who responded on Juvenile Criminal Thinking Styles’ Inventory (Sana & Rafiq, 2019), Measure of Criminal Social Identity (Boduszek, et al., 2012), Parental Authority Questionnaire (Babree, 1997) and approached through purposive sampling technique. Association among variables was measured by using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient whereas moderating effects of parental authority styles in linking criminal thinking styles to criminal social identity were assessed through hierarchical regression. The results show a positive relationship of criminal thinking styles with criminal social identity, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles while a negative relationship with authoritative parenting style. Moreover, it is evident that strict (authoritarian) and liberal (permissive) parenting moderates the interrelationship of criminal thinking styles and criminal social identity of juvenile delinquents as compared to reliable and trustworthy (authoritative) parenting. Results suggest working to develop intervention as well as prevention programs for juveniles that need appropriate attention and affection from parents, which resultantly persuade distorted thought patterns and criminal peer associations

Relationship of abdominal circumference and trunk length with spinal anesthesia block height in geriatric patients undergoing transurethral resection of prostate

Introduction: Spinal anesthesia is commonly used for various surgical procedures. Prediction of spinal anesthesia block height is always a challenging task for anesthetists. Higher than desired levels of spinal anesthesia blocks are associated with serious side effects, while inadequate block height does not provide satisfactory surgical anesthesia. In this study, we observed the relationship between the ratio of trunk length (TL) and square of the abdominal circumference (AC2) and spinal anesthesia sensory block height in geriatric patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Material & Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi, Pakistan, on geriatric patients undergoing TURP under spinal anesthesia. Forty-three elderly patients (American Society of Anaesthesiology level I-III) between 60 and 80 years were recruited for the study. In hospital wards, trunk length (TL) and abdominal circumference were recorded before the procedure. In the operating rooms, spinal anesthesia was performed at L3-L4 intervertebral space with 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine 10mg (2mls). Block height was measured by the placement of ice pads at different dermatomes. Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to analyze the physical parameters (TL/AC2) and spinal anesthesia block height. Results: The ratio of trunk length and square of the abdominal circumference (TL/AC2) correlates with spinal anesthesia block height in geriatric patients, where the spearman rank correlation coefficient was r =-0.284 with p = 0.015. Conclusion: The ratio of the long axis (TL) and transection area of the abdomen (AC2), which coincides with (TL/AC2), correlated with spinal anesthesia sensory block height. Hence, elderly patients with a low TL/AC2 ratio will have higher block height after spinal anesthesia