6,020 research outputs found

    Effect of conductive area trimming on the read range of inkjet printed Epidermal RFID tags

    Get PDF
    The effect of reducing the volume of conductive ink used in the fabrication of Epidermal RFID tags on the read range of the tag is investigated in this paper. The ink usage reduction is achieved by redesigning of the conductive parts of the designed tag

    Geoelectrical investigation and hydrochemical analysis of groundwater in a waste dump environment, Isolo, Lagos

    Get PDF
    Geoelectrical and hydrochemical analysis of groundwater in a waste dump environment was carried out to investigate the effect of the infiltrations of leachates and other sources of pollution from waste dump on groundwater. This was done by engaging the vertical electrical sounding method and laboratory water sample analysis. An Abem SAS 3000 terrameter was used to acquire the geophysical data from the vicinity of a major dumpsite called Oke Afa refuse dumpsite at Isolo, Lagos. The WINRESIST (version1.0) software was adopted in the interpretation of the survey data. Groundwater samples from boreholes were collected from the vicinity of the dumpsite with the aim of assessing the physiochemical impacts of the waste dumps on the quality of groundwater. Levels of various physiochemical parameters investigated include total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and hardness using standard analytical methods. Traces of metals like Fe, Cu, Zn, Mg and Na were equally determined using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Unicam model 911). Many of the parameters determined following the specification of the World Health Organisation (WHO), groundwater samples in the area were found to be inadmissible for human consumption. This raises the question of toxicities of these elements, hence it is a threat to man. This shows that the groundwater is polluted because of the high conductivity of the water samples. This was confirmed by the water analysis from the study area in the laboratory.Key words: Geoelectrical investigation, hydrochemical analysis, major dumpsite, groundwater

    Pedological perspective of gully erosion sites within Kendu escarpment-Sondu Miriu Region, West Kenya

    Get PDF
    Gully erosion is a common feature in western Kenya, rendering large expanses of otherwise arable land uncultivable and uninhabitable. Gully erosion in the area was classified into two types: the Awach-type and the Sondu-type. The current study aimed at providing insight into physical and chemical properties of soil that promote soil erosion and determine the gully formation type. Field studies were conducted at 4 sites (3 eroded and 1 non- eroded). Physical (particle size distribution, structure stability, infiltration rate, dispersibility, and soil hardness), and chemical (pH, exchangeable cations, total-C, and total-N) properties of soil samples collected from the sites were analyzed in the laboratory. The results showed alkaline pH; high exchangeable sodium (Na) percentage (ESP); fragile soil structure; high dispersibility; and low infiltration rate are major factors contributing to the formation of Awach-type of gully. In contrast, impermeable top layer of hard crust and coarse-textured soil layers beneath it in addition to high ESP facilitated the formation of Sondu-type of gully. Soils of the eroded sites and the non-eroded sites differed mainly in the ESP, which influenced the soil structure stability, water infiltration rate, and soil dispersibility. Susceptibility of soil layers to erosion depended on the magnitude of ESP and sand content.Keywords: Exchangeable sodium percentage, gully erosion, infiltration rate, Kenya, soil dispersion, soil structure

    Practicing doctors' perceptions on new learning objectives for Vietnamese medical schools

    Get PDF
    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As part of the process to develop more community-oriented medical teaching in Vietnam, eight medical schools prepared a set of standard learning objectives with attention to the needs of a doctor working with the community. Because they were prepared based on government documents and the opinions of the teachers, it was necessary to check them with doctors who had already graduated and were working at different sites in the community.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Each of the eight medical faculties asked 100 practising recent graduates to complete a questionnaire to check the relevance of the skills that the teachers considered most important. We used mean and standard deviation to summarize the scores rated by the respondents for each skill and percentile at four points: p50, p25, p10 and p5 to describe the variation of scores among the respondents. Correlation coefficient was used to measure the relationship between skill levels set by the teachers and the perception of practicing doctors regarding frequency of using skills and priority for each skill. Additional information was taken from the records of focus group discussions to clarify, explain or expand on the results from the quantitative data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In many cases the skills considered important by teachers were also rated as highly necessary and/or frequently used by the respondents. There were, however, discrepancies: some skills important to teachers were seldom used and not considered important by the doctors. In focus group discussions the doctors also identified skills that are not taught at all in the medical schools but would be needed by practising doctors. </p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although most of the skills and skill levels included in the learning objectives by the teachers were consistent with the opinions of their graduates, the match was not perfect. The experience of the graduates and their additional comments should be included as inputs to the definition of learning objectives for medical students.</p

    A note on the robust control of Markov jump linear uncertain systems

    Get PDF
    This note addresses a robust control problem of continuous-time jump linear Markovian systems subject to-norm bounded parametric uncertainties. The problem is expressed in terms of a H-infinity control problem as in the purely deterministic case. The present formulation is simpler and it contains previous results in the literature as particular cases. Robust state feedback controllers are parameterized by means of a set of linear matrix inequalities. The result is illustrated by solving some examples numerically. Copyright (C) John Wiley Sons, Ltd.23210511

    Requirement of JNK1 for endothelial cell injury in atherogenesis

    Get PDF
    AbstractObjectiveThe c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) family regulates fundamental physiological processes including apoptosis and metabolism. Although JNK2 is known to promote foam cell formation during atherosclerosis, the potential role of JNK1 is uncertain. We examined the potential influence of JNK1 and its negative regulator, MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1), on endothelial cell (EC) injury and early lesion formation using hypercholesterolemic LDLR−/− mice.Methods and resultsTo assess the function of JNK1 in early atherogenesis, we measured EC apoptosis and lesion formation in LDLR−/− or LDLR−/−/JNK1−/− mice exposed to a high fat diet for 6 weeks. En face staining using antibodies that recognise active, cleaved caspase-3 (apoptosis) or using Sudan IV (lipid deposition) revealed that genetic deletion of JNK1 reduced EC apoptosis and lesion formation in hypercholesterolemic mice. By contrast, although EC apoptosis was enhanced in LDLR−/−/MKP-1−/− mice compared to LDLR−/− mice, lesion formation was unaltered.ConclusionWe conclude that JNK1 is required for EC apoptosis and lipid deposition during early atherogenesis. Thus pharmacological inhibitors of JNK may reduce atherosclerosis by preventing EC injury as well as by influencing foam cell formation

    A low balance between microparticles expressing tissue factor pathway inhibitor and tissue factor is associated with thrombosis in Behçet’s Syndrome

    Get PDF
    Thrombosis is common in Behçet’s Syndrome (BS), and there is a need for better biomarkers for risk assessment. As microparticles expressing Tissue Factor (TF) can contribute to thrombosis in preclinical models, we investigated whether plasma microparticles expressing Tissue Factor (TF) are increased in BS. We compared blood plasma from 72 healthy controls with that from 88 BS patients (21 with a history of thrombosis (Th+) and 67 without (Th−). Using flow cytometry, we found that the total plasma MP numbers were increased in BS compared to HC, as were MPs expressing TF and Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor (TFPI) (all p 0.7 had a history of clinical thrombosis. We conclude that TF-expressing MP are increased in BS and that an imbalance between microparticulate TF and TFPI may predispose to thrombosis
    • 

    corecore