Proposal of a Planar Directional UWB Antenna for Any Desired Operational Bandwidth

A novel planar directional UWB antenna is proposed. The antenna design evolves from an oblique elliptic cone antenna by applying the planar-solid correspondence to two axes. Through a simple equation, this antenna can be designed, to operate at a specific lower cutoff frequency with a bandwidth larger than 10 GHz for a reflection coefficient magnitude lower than −10 dB. This characteristic provides the antenna with a good versatility. The directional radiation pattern has an average gain of 6 dBi

Stabilization of a class of slow-fast control systems at non-hyperbolic points

In this document, we deal with the local asymptotic stabilization problem of a class of slow fast systems (or singularly perturbed Ordinary Differential Equations). The systems studied here have the following properties: (1) they have one fast and an arbitrary number of slow variables, and (2) they have a non-hyperbolic singularity at the origin of arbitrary degeneracy. Our goal is to stabilize such a point. The presence of the aforementioned singularity complicates the analysis and the controller design. In particular, the classical theory of singular perturbations cannot be used. We propose a novel design based on geometric desingularization, which allows the stabilization of a non-hyperbolic point of singularly perturbed control systems. Our results are exemplified on a didactic example and on an electric circuit. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Correlation between different PBL assessment components and the final mark for MB ChB III at a rural South African university

Background. Problem-based learning (PBL) is now an accepted component of many medical school programmes worldwide. Our university also follows the PBL ‘SPICES’ model for MB ChB III. The assessment modalities used are the modified essay questions (MEQ), objective structured practical examination (OSPE), individualised process assessment (IPA) and tutorial continuous assessment (TUT). This study was done to compare the students’ performances in individual assessment components with the final mark to determine the correlation between these parameters. Materials and methods. The study was retrospective, descriptive and analytical, based on the integrated marks of all the MB ChB III students at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in 2007. Assessment marks were stratified according to blocks and different types of assessment (MEQ, TUT, OSPE, IPA). Regression analysis was used to compute and scrutinise these vis-à-vis their correspondence with the final marks for each block. Results. Three hundred and seventy-nine block assessment marks of 96 students from 4 blocks of MB ChB III were analysed and the correlation between the assessment components and final mark were compared. Regression analysis showed good correlation when analysing the assessment modality versus the final mark for the MEQs (r=0.93, 0.93, 0.94, 0.96), followed by OSPEs (r=0.71, 0.70, 0.76, 0.77) and IPAs (r=0.62, 0.51, 0.68, 0.77). However, correlation was not significant with the TUT. Conclusion. There was good correlation between the students’ performance in the majority of assessment modalities and the final mark in the different blocks of the MB ChB III examination. There may be a need to make tutorial assessment methods more objective, partly by additional tutor training

ALGORITHM FOR GRAPH VISIBILITY OBTAINMENT FROM A MAP OF NON-CONVEX POLYGONS

Visibility graphs are basic planning algorithms,widely used in mobile robotics and other disciplines. The construction of a visibility graph can be considered a tool based on geometry that provides support to planning strategies in mobile robots. Visually, the method is used to solve that planning, which is quite extended due to the simplicity of operating with polygons, that represent obstacles in the environment. The cost of these algorithms tend to be quite low. The most sensitive issue of obtaining visibility between polygons is in cases in which the polygons are non-convex. In such cases, it is obligatory to know whether the area where one vertex of the polygon is found, is located in a convex or non-convex area, being desirable to distinguish between both situations in a simple way, issue that was not possible up to now. To obtain the visibility of non-convex polygons, the authors have developed a visual and intuitive method which gives the machine the ability to interpret the visibility with a simplicity similar to the human mind

Firm and industry effects on small, medium-sized and large firms’ performance

This paper examines whether or not the relative importance of the firm and industry effects in explaining performance variations is the same regardless of the firm size. In relation to size, we think that there has been particular neglect of studying medium-sized firms separately from SMEs in general. That is why we study separately large, medium-sized and small firms. We also contribute to knowledge on the firm-industry debate testing empirically both effects distinguishing the firms by size according to a standard classification in the EU. Our results show that the performances of large and small firms are mainly explained by the firm effect, albeit for different reasons, while the performance of medium-sized firms is explained primarily by the industry effect

Mutual Coupling Reduction of Two 2x1 Triangular-Patch Antenna Array Using a Single Neutralization Line for MIMO Applications

In this paper, a novel structure of two interlaced antenna arrays for MIMO applications is presented. It consists of two 2x1 triangular patch array antennas, which have all elements separated by a short distance among them (0.22λ0), where mutual coupling can be very poor (S21 = –7.81 dB). To overcome such weakness, a simple and efficient method is used: one neutralization line (NL) is introduced to increase the decoupling between both ports, reaching up to –29 dB at the central frequency, and below –20 dB over a large bandwidth. The whole MIMO antenna array has dimensions of 1.56λ0 × 0.3λ0 and has a gain of 9.11 dBi. Its diversity parameters describe it as a useful radiator for MIMO communications systems

Distribution of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Genotypes in HIV-Negative and HIV-Positive Women with Cervical Intraepithelial Lesions in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

South African women have a high rate of cervical cancer cases, but there are limited data on human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. A total of 193 cervical specimens with confirmed CIN from women aged 18 years or older, recruited from a referral hospital, were tested for HPV infection. The cervical specimens, smeared onto FTA cards, were screened for 36 HPV types using an HPV direct flow kit. HPV prevalence was 93.5% (43/46) in CIN2 and 96.6% (142/147) in CIN3. HIV-positive women had a significantly higher HPV prevalence than HIV-negative women (98.0% vs. 89.1%, p = 0.012). The prevalence of multiple types was significantly higher in HIV-positive than HIV-negative women (p = 0.034). The frequently detected genotypes were HPV35 (23.9%), HPV58 (23.9%), HPV45 (19.6%), and HPV16 (17.3%) in CIN2 cases, while in CIN3, HPV35 (22.5%), HPV16 (21.8%), HPV33 (15.6%), and HPV58 (14.3%) were the most common identified HPV types, independent of HIV status. The prevalence of HPV types targeted by the nonavalent HPV vaccine was 60.9% and 68.7% among women with CIN2 and CIN3, respectively, indicating that vaccination would have an impact both in HIV-negative and HIV-positive South African women, although it will not provide full protection in preventing HPV infection and cervical cancer lesions

WNT10B/β-catenin signalling induces HMGA2 and proliferation in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer

Wnt/β-catenin signalling has been suggested to be active in basal-like breast cancer. However, in highly aggressive metastatic triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) the role of β-catenin and the underlying mechanism(s) for the aggressiveness of TNBC remain unknown. We illustrate that WNT10B induces transcriptionally active β-catenin in human TNBC and predicts survival-outcome of patients with both TNBC and basal-like tumours. We provide evidence that transgenic murine Wnt10b-driven tumours are devoid of ERα, PR and HER2 expression and can model human TNBC. Importantly, HMGA2 is specifically expressed during early stages of embryonic mammogenesis and absent when WNT10B expression is lost, suggesting a developmentally conserved mode of action. Mechanistically, ChIP analysis uncovered that WNT10B activates canonical β-catenin signalling leading to up-regulation of HMGA2. Treatment of mouse and human triple-negative tumour cells with two Wnt/β-catenin pathway modulators or siRNA to HMGA2 decreases HMGA2 levels and proliferation. We demonstrate that WNT10B has epistatic activity on HMGA2, which is necessary and sufficient for proliferation of TNBC cells. Furthermore, HMGA2 expression predicts relapse-free-survival and metastasis in TNBC patients

Anomaly in the dielectric response at the charge orbital ordering transition of crystalline Pr0.67Ca0.33MnO3

The complex impedance of a Pr0.67Ca0.33MnO3 crystal has been measured. The frequency dependence is studied for a wide range of temperatures (50K-403K) and is found to be characteristic of relaxation process with a single Debye time relaxation constant, which is interpreted as a dielectric constant of the material. A strong peak is observed in this dielectric constant (up to two millions) at the charge ordering transition suggesting an interpretation in terms of ordering of electric dipoles at TCO or in term of phase separation. Comparison with Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3 - in which the phase separation is much smaller and the peak in the dielectric constant is absent - suggests an interpretation in term of phase separation between insulating and metallic states.Comment: pdf fil