Cylindrical Antenna With Partly Adaptive Phased-Array Feed

A proposed design for a phased-array fed cylindrical-reflector microwave antenna would enable enhancement of the radiation pattern through partially adaptive amplitude and phase control of its edge radiating feed elements. Antennas based on this design concept would be attractive for use in radar (especially synthetic-aperture radar) and other systems that could exploit electronic directional scanning and in which there are requirements for specially shaped radiation patterns, including ones with low side lobes. One notable advantage of this design concept is that the transmitter/ receiver modules feeding all the elements except the edge ones could be identical and, as a result, the antenna would cost less than in the cases of prior design concepts in which these elements may not be identical

E-Administration in The Public Schools of The Abu Dhabi Education Council From Teachers' View Point

Since the e-administration is something new, and the studies in this field still rare, and this is a very important sector in management, another reason also is to motivate the specialists to study this subject in theory and to apply it in actual life, and like that we can utilize the e-administration. The purpose of this study was to reveal the level of applying e-administration of public schools in the Abu Dhabi Education Council. The study population consisted of all teachers in the Abu Dhabi Education Council during the academic year 2014/2015. The sample of the study consisted of (153) teachers who were selected randomly from the study population. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers prepared a questionnaire that included (48) items distributed among three types. The results of the study showed that the level of applying e-administration from the teachers was high, and the The individuals in the study sample thinks that it is important to apply the e-administration in the public schools Abu Dhabi Education Council. The results also showed that the level of acceptance of the e-administration among teachers in the public schools in Abu Dhabi Education Council was high depend of TAM and the correlation coefficient indicated a high positive relationship between TAM elements.  Finally the individuals in a study sample think that there are obstacles to apply the e-administration in the public schools in the Abu Dhabi Education Council. Keywords: E-administration, TAM, Abu Dhabi Education Council

Visionary leadership and its relationship to participation in decision-making among heads of academic departments in private Jordanian universities from the viewpoint of faculty members

The study aimed to identify the level of visionary leadership and its relationship to participation in decision-making among the heads of academic departments in private Jordanian universities from the point of view of the faculty members. The study used the descriptive correlative method, and a questionnaire was developed that included (60) paragraphs distributed in to six domains. The study sample consisted of (278) faculty members from private Jordanian universities in Amman, who were chosen randomly. The results of the study showed that the level of visionary leadership and participation in decision-making among the heads of academic departments in private Jordanian universities from Perspective of the faculty members was high. The study also found a positive correlation indicating that the higher the level of visionary leadership, the higher the level of participation in decision-making and vice versa. The study recommended that senior leaders in Jordanian universities should realize the importance of visionary leadership and participation in decision-making. And it is necessary to strengthen the reliance on the visionary leadership style in universities in order to increase the level of participation in decision-making in them. It also recommended the need to invest in the positive relationship between the level of visionary leadership and participation in decision-makin

Urine Crystals Classification Using Image Matching Method

The Crystalline Salts classification is important for the diagnosis of pebbles in human kidneys. The aim of this study, classified and diagnosed the Urine crystals by using a computer program.In this study, 128 samples, these samples consist of monocrystalline oxalate crystals, ammonium chlorate crystals and cysteine crystals. The sixty samples of crystal crystals were collected to have twenty for each of the types of crystals mentioned above. They were later classified into different groups depending on the difference in form and size. The method of matching image was applied to obtain the results of classification of crystals management which reached 98%

Post-Operative Medium- and Long-Term Endocrine Outcomes in Patients with Non-Functioning Pituitary Adenomas—Machine Learning Analysis

Post-operative endocrine outcomes in patients with non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) are variable. The aim of this study was to use machine learning (ML) models to better predict medium- and long-term post-operative hypopituitarism in patients with NFPAs. We included data from 383 patients who underwent surgery with or without radiotherapy for NFPAs, with a follow-up period between 6 months and 15 years. ML models, including k-nearest neighbour (KNN), support vector machine (SVM), and decision tree models, showed a superior ability to predict panhypopituitarism compared with non-parametric statistical modelling (mean accuracy: 0.89; mean AUC-ROC: 0.79), with SVM achieving the highest performance (mean accuracy: 0.94; mean AUC-ROC: 0.88). Pre-operative endocrine function was the strongest feature for predicting panhypopituitarism within 1 year post-operatively, while endocrine outcomes at 1 year post-operatively supported strong predictions of panhypopituitarism at 5 and 10 years post-operatively. Other features found to contribute to panhypopituitarism prediction were age, volume of tumour, and the use of radiotherapy. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that ML models show potential in predicting post-operative panhypopituitarism in the medium and long term in patients with NFPM. Future work will include incorporating additional, more granular data, including imaging and operative video data, across multiple centres

Time above the MIC of piperacillin-tazobactam as a predictor of outcome in pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteraemia.

All rights reserved. Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia is an infection associated with a high mortality rate. Piperacillin-tazobactam is a β-lactam-β-lactamase inhibitor combination that is frequently used for the management of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. The pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic index associated with in vitro maximal bacterial killing for piperacillin-tazobactam is the percentage of the time between doses at which the free fraction concentration remains above the MIC (%fT>MIC). However, the precise %>MICtarget associated with improved clinical outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the survival of patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia and the threshold of the piperacillin-tazobactam %fT>MIC. This retrospective study included all adult patients hospitalized over an 82-month period with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia and treated with piperacillin-tazobactam. Patients with a polymicrobial infection or those who died within 72 h of the time of collection of a sample for culture were excluded. The %fT>MICof piperacillin-tazobactam associated with in-hospital survival was derived using classification and regression tree analysis. After screening 270 patients, 78 were eligible for inclusion in the study; 18% died during hospitalization. Classification and regression tree analysis identified a %fT>MICof >60.68% to be associated with improved survival, and this remained statistically significant after controlling for clinical covariates (odds ratio=7.74, 95% confidence interval=1.32 to 45.2). In conclusion, the findings recommend dosing of piperacillintazobactam with the aim of achieving a pharmacodynamic target %fT>MICof at least 60% in these patients

Non-Dispersive Near Infrared Gas Flow Cell Design for Oxygenator-Exhaust Capnometry

Non-dispersive near-infrared technique is widely used nowadays for the detection of gases, especially in harsh environments. In this study, an optical gas cell was designed for oxygenator exhaust capnometry. A computer-based simulation was used for the analysis of air flows for model selection. ANSYS Discovery 2020 R2 was used for model simulation. The gas flow cells were tested using a custom-made gas rig to measure the fraction absorbance of carbon dioxide gas at the detector. Two gases were used, nitrogen gas as a reference gas (0%) and 9% carbon dioxide. Three gas cells with the following optical path lengths were tested: 31mm, 36mm, and 40mm. The results showed that all gas flow cells produced laminar flow and small pressure drop across the inlet and outlet of the cell (11~12 Pa). Further, the minimum velocity is obtained in the 40mm gas flow sensor and it is located at the gas outlet path away from the effective optical gas path. The simulation and experimental results indicate that the gas flow cell of 40mm optical path length is more suitable for the intended application as it offers a maximum effective absorption path compared to the stagnation areas, and as a result, it provides the maximum fraction absorbance

Sustainability of the banking system and the role of monetary policy: Financial liberation in Iraq

The Iraqi economy is rentier and heavily reliant on oil revenues because oil prices are volatile and subject to supply and demand on the global market, causing money supply instability. A prudent monetary policy must be developed in the face of macroeconomic policies, even partial ones, in order to reduce inflationary pressures and achieve both internal and external monetary stability. Iraq also lacks a clear economic strategy and the country's economy is still susceptible to decision-makers’ whims and the demands of international organizations. It is, therefore, essential to discuss monetary policy's fundamental and successful role in managing the sustainability of the economy through its solid and practical tools. Iraq's monetary authorities scrambled to ensure the nation's economic stability through the use of monetary tools as the country's economic system started to shift towards a market economy in 2003, depending on supply and demand forces to manage the economy. The Central Bank uses tools of monetary policy, which are based on keeping an eye on the money supply and pursuing long-term objectives, to achieve the policy objective of economic stability. The goals of economic stability, according to economist Nicolas Kaldor, are to boost economic growth, achieve full employment, establish external balance, and fight inflation. This study examined the hypothesis that, between 1990 and 2020, monetary policy contributed to Iraq's economic stability using co-integration tests, fully-corrected least-squares techniques, and dynamic standard least-squares. The positive effects of monetary policy on economic variables, particularly economic stability, were demonstrated by the influence of foreign currency reserves on an improved current account balance, price stability, and a relative decline in unemployment rates. The GDP and the current account balance positively affected economic stability indicators, while the money supply adversely impacted most of them. To improve the balance of payments and encourage economic growth, investments should be made in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors

Pituitary function at presentation and following therapy in patients with non-functional pituitary macroadenomas: a single centre retrospective cohort study

Background: Non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas (NFPMs) may present with hypopituitarism. Pituitary surgery and radiotherapy pose an additional risk to pituitary function. Objectives: To assess the incidence of hypopituitarism at presentation, the impact of treatment, and the likelihood of endocrine recovery during follow-up. Methods: All patients treated surgically with and without radiotherapy for NFPMs between 1987 and 2018 who had longer than six months follow-up were identified. Demographics, presentation, investigation, treatment, and outcomes were collected. Results: In total, 383 patients were identified. The median age was 57 years, with a median follow-up of 8 years. Preoperatively, 227 patients (227/375; 61%) had evidence of at least one pituitary deficiency. Anterior panhypopituitarism was more common in men (p = 0.001) and older patients (p = 0.005). Multiple hormone deficiencies were associated with large tumours (p = 0.03). Patients treated with surgery and radiotherapy had a higher incidence of all individual pituitary hormone deficiency, anterior panhypopituitarism, and significantly lower GH, ACTH, and TSH deficiencies free survival probability than those treated with surgery alone. Recovery of central hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, and anterior panhypopituitarism was also less likely to be reported in those treated with surgery and radiotherapy. Those with preoperative hypopituitarism had a higher risk of pituitary impairment at latest review than those presented with normal pituitary function (p = 0.001). Conclusion: NFPMs are associated with a significant degree of hypopituitarism at time of diagnosis and post-therapy. The combination of surgery and radiotherapy is associated with a higher risk of pituitary dysfunction. Recovery of pituitary hormone deficit may occur after treatment. Patients should have regular ongoing endocrine evaluation post-treatment to assess changes in pituitary function and the need for long-term replacement therapy