Design and Analysis of a Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antenna Array and Its Feed Network

There is an ever increasing need for smaller, lighter, more efficient antennas for commercial and military applications. One such antenna that meets these requirements is the dielectric resonator antenna (DRA). In recent years there has been an abundance of research on the utilization of the DRA as a radiating element. However, its practical application - especially pertaining to DRA arrays - is still considered to be at its infancy. The purpose of this work is to present a systematic process to be used in the design, simulation, optimization, fabrication, and testing of a cylindrical DRA array including its associated feed network. The DRA array development cycle begins with a single cylindrical radiating element. ComDRA parameters such as DRA radius, feed type, feed location, and element spacing are investigated. A DRA element in this research is optimized for bandwidth and gain for use at x-band (8-12 GHz). The antenna feed network, being an integral part of all antenna arrays, is also considered. The primary causes of impedance mismatch in the feed network are identified and techniques to improve performance are explored. An improvement in impedance bandwidth is gained through traditional transmission line matching methods. Ultimately, a 16 (4x4) element and 256 (16x16) element array is fabricated, tested, and compared to an existing commercial technology

Choice or no choice? The need for better branded public sector condoms in South Africa.

Condoms are one of the cornerstones to any response to the HIV epidemic. However, targeted marketing strategies that make condoms more attractive to people at high risk of infection are often overlooked. The South African National Department of Health has recently purchased more attractive condoms to distribute in higher-education settings free of charge, targeting at-risk youth including young women. The authors applaud this move but note the importance of expanding better branded condoms to young people elsewhere - for example, via youth clinics and in high schools. Exploratory, routine data from Médecins Sans Frontières in Khayelitsha are presented, showing the popularity of alternatives to the government's 'Choice' brand

Superfast broadband and rural community resilience: examining the rural need for speed

This paper examines the relationship between rural dwellers and Internet technology and aims to understand how that relationship is altered with a significant increase in broadband speed. It presents an argument for using ‘resilience’ as a framework for such technological impact research, positing its potential usefulness for identifying alternative development narratives. Using interview data from 36 individuals in a study conducted with two rural community-based superfast broadband organisations in the UK, it identifies whether superfast broadband plays a role in enhancing rural community resilience. Anticipated outcomes are identified including an increased use of high-capacity services, specifically video services, and also the potential for making new patterns and habits of usage through alternative connection possibilities. Superfast access is equated to increased control over everyday actions, and the need for speed is positioned in relation to the reliability that speed provides for users. Finally, the Internet is perceived broadly as an individualised tool, one that can be accessed for personal skill building, empowerment and ultimately individual scale resilience. These findings highlight the complex, and at times contradictory nature of the relationship between superfast broadband, rural users and potential individual and community resilience. This paper concludes by identifying future research directions

An Approach for Developing National Guidelines for Postsecondary Support Services Programs

This paper presents a case for developing standards for specialized support programs serving deaf students in postsecondary institutions. A step-by-step plan for producing standards for the evaluation, development, and accreditation of these programs is outlined. Criteria for forming flexible standards which (1) account for variations in program size and type and (2) enhance support services which make postsecondary education more accessible for deaf students are clarified. The importance of teamwork between postsecondary specialists and generalists to link standards for special service programs to the process of accrediting regular institutions of higher education is emphasized. An example of accrediting a special college for deaf students is discussed. Results from a process of setting priorities for future actions in developing program standards which emerged from a professional conference are reported. Expected benefits of these standards to enhancing program quality are described

Reforming South Africa’s procedures for granting patents to improve medicine access

Adopting stricter patentability criteria, and implementing patent examination in SA, would significantly reduce the number of patents granted. Granting fewer patents will, in turn, facilitate generic competition, lower medicine prices, and ensure increased access to medicines for individuals who are currently unable to afford the treatments that they need, and for the government in its procurement of medicines for the public sector.

The implementation of Section 5(4) of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Section 5(4) (nurse's holding power) of the Mental Health Act 1983 empowers mental health nurses to legally prevent an informal in-patient from leaving hospital for up to six hours. The section may be applied for the patient's health or safety or the protection of others. Since its introduction in September 1983 there have been 34,000 applications of the section, an average of 1460 per annum. The application of Section 5(4) is likely to: lead to further detention under the Act; have implications for the practice of nurses; and affect the care received by patients in the aftermath of its use. However, the literature review revealed a paucity of research on the subject. The existing research has focused on three main areas: nurses' opinions of their holding power; their knowledge of Section 5(4); and trends associated with the implementation of the section. However, no attempts have been made to examine the events before, during and after the implementation of Section 5(4). This qualitative study sought to address this deficit by examining why and how Section 5(4) was implemented from the perspective of the nurses and patients involved in the process.A collective case study approach was utilised to generate data from one mental health NHS Trust over a period of one year. Data were generated from three sources: archival (statistical) records on 803 applications of the section; documentary accounts of the detention process, for example nursing notes; and interviews with 30 nurses and four patients. Within- and cross-case narrative analysis was undertaken on the data set. The method of narrative analysis employed was developed specifically for this study.The analysis produced a six-part typology of nurses' stories that explained why Section 5(4) was implemented. The six types were: 'health, safety or protection'; Tack of knowledge'; 'catalyst'; 'medical inaction'; 'self-protection'; and 'last resort'. The analysis also constructed a collective story of nurses' experiences that identified the key stages in the detention process. Stories were also constructed from patients' experiences of being detained. These stories generated in-depth accounts of patients' admission to hospital, the events leading up to their detention, the implementation of Section 5(4), and the aftermath of their experiences.The implications of the study's findings are considered for education, policy, practice and research and focus on four main areas: informal admission to hospital; information giving; reasons for implementing Section 5(4); and the consequences of the detention for both nurses and patients

Conceptualizing the impacts of dual practice on the retention of public sector specialists - evidence from South Africa

Abstract Background ‘Dual practice’, or multiple job holding, generally involves public sector-based health workers taking additional work in the private sector. This form of the practice is purported to help retain public health care workers in low and middle-income countries’ public sectors through additional wage incentives. There has been little conceptual or empirical development of the relationship between dual practice and retention. Methods This article helps begin to fill this gap, drawing on empirical evidence from a qualitative study focusing on South African specialists. Fifty-one repeat, in-depth interviews were carried out with 28 doctors (predominantly specialists) with more than one job, in one public and one private urban hospital. Results Findings suggest dual practice can impact both positively and negatively on specialists’ intention to stay in the public sector. This is through multiple conceptual channels including those previously identified in the literature such as dual practice acting as a ‘stepping stone’ to private practice by reducing migration costs. Dual practice can also lead specialists to re-evaluate how they compare public and private jobs, and to overworking which can expedite decisions on whether to stay in the public sector or leave. Numerous respondents undertook dual practice without official permission. Conclusions The idea that dual practice helps retain public specialists in South Africa may be overstated. Yet banning the practice may be ineffective, given many undertake it without permission in any case. Regulation should be better enforced to ensure dual practice is not abused. The conceptual framework developed in this article could form a basis for further qualitative and quantitative inquiry

Analysing the role of Superfast Broadband in enhancing rural community resilience

Superfast broadband services (Internet connections with downstream speeds of thirty megabits per second or more) are becoming a constant presence in marketing and government literature, which often detail the beneficial impacts on individuals’ social and leisure activities, employment options, and overall community well-being. This paper presents findings from a multi-phase project examining community-led superfast broadband initiatives in the United Kingdom. It includes methods of analysis of communities prior to obtaining superfast services as well as following a period of connectivity. The framework for assessing effects on rural community resilience of both the superfast broadband adoption, and the presence of community participation in its physical development, is outlined with early indications given. Finally, this paper postulates several transformative facets of digital connectivity and community-based broadband organisations

Community-led broadband in rural digital infrastructure development: implications for resilience

Community-led broadband initiatives represent a relatively recent shift in rural broadband provision. They are locally-led organisations that voluntarily spring up to respond to the lack, or perceived lack, of adequate broadband in their communities. Particularly present in rural spaces, few studies have investigated this mode of broadband delivery, which is gaining attention in the United Kingdom and internationally. This paper seeks to explore the implications of the participatory nature of such broadband initiatives, identifying a) whether pursuing a participatory community-led model for broadband deployment plays a role in enhancing rural social resilience, and b) specifically how leadership and informal digital champions are positioned and perceived throughout this process, and their relationship with rural social resilience. The conceptual framework of ‘social resilience’ acts as a contemporary analytical tool for understanding the impact of community-led broadband. Using findings from 56 semi-structured interviews across two phases from two community-led broadband organisations, Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) in England and Broadband for Glencaple and Lowther (B4GAL) in Scotland, this paper contributes to both digital scholarship and the theoretical development of ‘resilience’ as a concept. Community-led broadband is shown to reflect a ‘localism’ development approach, and this process has strengthened local rural identity for individuals. The role of digital champions, as leaders in the community-led broadband movement, is key to developing the digital resource within rural communities. However, it can also be problematic, entrenching existing inequalities and feelings concerning exclusion, ultimately detracting from individuals' ability to participate. The process and the eventual presence of new technology have contributed to new spatial understandings of community identity, based on regional linkages, and new communities of interest. We conclude that community-led broadband, and in particular the leadership and participation processes, can contribute to social resilience overall, but ultimately is another example of uneven rural development