Simulation Analysis of Medium Access Techniques

This paper presents comparison of Access Techniques used in Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). Comparison is performed between Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA), Pure ALOHA and Slotted ALOHA (S-ALOHA). Performance metrics used for comparison are throughput (T), delay (D) and offered load (G). The main goal for comparison is to show which technique gives highest Throughput and lowest Delay with increase in Load. Energy efficiency is major issue in WBAN that is why there is need to know which technique performs best for energy conservation and also gives minimum delay.Comment: NGWMN with 7th IEEE International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Com- munication and Applications (BWCCA 2012), Victoria, Canada, 201

Comparison of different dietary sources of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on immune response in broiler chickens

The study aims to research the effects of varied dietary sources of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on the immune response in broiler chickens with stress on natural killer (NK) cell activity. Diets supplemented with one of the four sources of n-3 PUFA: linseed oil-, echium oil-, fish oil (FO) or algal biomass-enriched diets at levels of 18, 18, 50 and 15 g/kg fresh weight, were provided for one-d-old male Ross 308 broilers, totaling 340 in number, until they were slaughtered. The analyses included total lipid profile using gas chromatography (GC) for plasma, spleen, thymus, and blood. Additionally, NK cell activity and cell proliferation were investigated for thymocytes and splenocytes. The results indicated that the source of n-3 PUFA had a strong influence on fatty acid composition across all tissues. NK activity was highest in splenocytes and PBMCs from broilers fed linseed oil, followed by those fed algal biomass or echium oil, and lowest for those from broilers fed FO. The proliferative response of lymphocytes from algal biomass-fed chickens tended to be the highest, followed by those fed linseed oil in most cases. Lymphocytes from chickens fed fish oil showed the lowest proliferative response. These results could mean that a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-rich algal product might enrich chicken meat with n-3 PUFA without significant damaging effects on chicken immunity

Transmission Delay of Multi-hop Heterogeneous Networks for Medical Applications

Nowadays, with increase in ageing population, Health care market keeps growing. There is a need for monitoring of Health issues. Body Area Network consists of wireless sensors attached on or inside human body for monitoring vital Health related problems e.g, Electro Cardiogram (ECG), ElectroEncephalogram (EEG), ElectronyStagmography(ENG) etc. Data is recorded by sensors and is sent towards Health care center. Due to life threatening situations, timely sending of data is essential. For data to reach Health care center, there must be a proper way of sending data through reliable connection and with minimum delay. In this paper transmission delay of different paths, through which data is sent from sensor to Health care center over heterogeneous multi-hop wireless channel is analyzed. Data of medical related diseases is sent through three different paths. In all three paths, data from sensors first reaches ZigBee, which is the common link in all three paths. After ZigBee there are three available networks, through which data is sent. Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) are connected with ZigBee. Each network (WLAN, WiMAX, UMTS) is setup according to environmental conditions, suitability of device and availability of structure for that device. Data from these networks is sent to IP-Cloud, which is further connected to Health care center. Main aim of this paper is to calculate delay of each link in each path over multihop wireless channel.Comment: BioSPAN with 7th IEEE International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA 2012), Victoria, Canada, 201

A Highly Doppler Blueshifted Fe-K Emission Line in the High-Redshift QSO PKS 2149-306

We report the results from an \asca observation of the QSO PKS 2149-306 (z=2.345). We detect an emission line centered at $\sim 17$ keV in the quasar frame. Line emission at this energy has not been observed in any other active galaxy or quasar to date. We present evidence rejecting the possibility that this line is the result of instrumental artifacts, or a serendipitous source. The most likely explanation is blueshifted Fe-K emission (the EW is 300+/-200 eV, QSO frame). Bulk velocities of the order of 0.75c are implied by the data. We show that Fe-K line photons originating in an accretion disk and Compton-scattering off a leptonic can account for the emission line. Curiously, if the emission-line feature recently discovered in another quasar PKS 0637$-$752, $z=0.654$, is blueshifted Ovii, the Doppler factor is the same (~2.7) for both.Comment: 15 pages plus 3 figures. Latex with separate .ps files (Accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letters

Self-assembled oil palm biomass-derived modified graphene oxide anode: An efficient medium for energy transportation and bioremediating Cd (II) via microbial fuel cells

Although microbial fuel cells (MFCs) rank among the most promising bioelectrochemical approaches for generating energy while removing pollutants from wastewater, their relatively poor performance, largely due to electrode material that hinder their applicability, has limited their commercial viability. Thus, in our study, self-assembled modified graphene oxide (GO) anodes were developed from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) biomass, and several techniques were applied to assess the physiochemical properties of material synthesized with waste material. Ultimately, the waste material was an excellent source for generating energy in the form of anodes in MFCs. The bioinspired modified GO anodes demonstrated greater energy output (135.96 mA/m2) of more than eight times the unmodified GO anodes (15.65 mA/m2), even though the source of inoculation was synthetic wastewater with 100 ppm of Cd (II) solution. To our knowledge, no work has reported removing Cd (II) from synthetic wastewater by using waste-derived anodes via MFCs. This paper reports on the utilization of waste-derived organic waste (oil palm trunk sap) as an organic substrate which is a healthy source of nutrients for bacteria in an inoculated media. Along with evidence of their electrochemical and biological character, the primary result achieved (i.e., 90% removal efficiency) supports using MFCs on an industrial scale

The XMM-Newton Iron Line Profile of NGC 3783

We report on observations of the iron K line in the nearby Seyfert 1 galaxy, NGC 3783, obtained in a long, 2 orbit (240 ks) XMM-Newton observation. The line profile obtained exhibits two strong narrow peaks at 6.4 keV and at 7.0 keV, with measured line equivalent widths of 120 and 35 eV respectively. The 6.4 keV emission is the K-alpha line from near neutral Fe, whilst the 7.0 keV feature probably originates from a blend of the neutral Fe K-beta line and the H-like line of Fe at 6.97 keV. The relatively narrow velocity width of the K-alpha line (<5000 km/s), its lack of response to the continuum emission on short timescales and the detection of a neutral Compton reflection component are all consistent with a distant origin in Compton-thick matter such as the putative molecular torus. A strong absorption line from highly ionized iron (at 6.67 keV) is detected in the time-averaged iron line profile, whilst the depth of the feature appears to vary with time, being strongest when the continuum flux is higher. The iron absorption line probably arises from the highest ionization component of the known warm absorber in NGC 3783, with an ionization of logxi=3 and column density of 5x10^{22}cm{-2} and may originate from within 0.1pc of the nucleus. A weak red-wing to the iron K line profile is also detected below 6.4 keV. However when the effect of the highly ionized warm absorber on the underlying continuum is taken into account, the requirement for a relativistic iron line component from the inner disk is reduced.Comment: 34 pages, including 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION BY USING RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD) ANALYSIS OF SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS ISOLATES RECOVERED FROM AVIAN AND HUMAN SOURCES

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was applied for molecular characterization of five Salmonella enteritidis strains from different avian sources and human cases of infection. A total of 16 primers were used and only five primers showed good discriminatory power for all five isolates. Dendrogram showed a common lineage among all five isolates. There was a close genetic relationship among isolates of eggs and human sources, while there was less pronounced homology among isolates of broiler meat and human sources. On the basis of results we have found that an endemic strain of S. enteritidis is prevalent between the poultry derived food and humans which gives us an insight to genetic diversity of S. enteritidis from these sources

Mammographic criteria for determining the diagnostic value of microcalcifications in the detection of early breast cancer

Objective: To evaluate the importance of microcalcifications in the detection of breast carcinoma in conventional mammography.Methods: This prospective study was carried out at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). Mammograms of 68 patients with microcalcifications were evaluated. Craniocaudal and oblique views of both breasts were acquired on routine basis with cone compression and magnified views when required.Results: Among 68 patients with microcalcifications, 61 (89%) had clustered microcalcifications while 7 patients (10.29%) had scattered microcalcifications. Microcalcifications can occur in benign and malignant diseases. While evaluating clustered microcalcifications, few criteria have been established to determine malignant clustered microcalcifications, these include specific and nonspecific criteria. Among specific and statistically significant criteria for malignant microcalcifications, which were identified in this study, were irregularity of size, irregularity of density, linear or branched shape and Le Gal\u27s type V distribution. In a cluster total number of \u3e30 microcalcifications and at least 10 microcalcifications/cm2 of a cluster are also important in diagnosing a malignant cluster, but are included in nonspecific criteria because they can be present in benign diseases also. Scattered bilateral microcalcifications are usually present in benign breast diseases, but in this study, two patients with breast cancer had profuse bilateral scattered microcalcifications.CONCLUSION: This study shows that specific and statistically significant criteria for malignant microcalcifications, are irregularity of size, irregularity of density, linear or branched shape and Le Gal\u27s type V distribution. Scattered bilateral microcalcifications are usually present in benign breast diseases, but irregular shape and development of new calcifications among diffusely scattered bilateral calcifications, on follow up study, should also raise suspicion for being malignant