Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial System Capacity Over Mix Shadowed Rician and Nakagami Channels

In this paper, we evaluate the ergodic capacity analysis of a integrated satellite-terrestrial cooperative communication system under independent and non-identical shadowed Rician and Nakagami-m fading channels. Multiple cooperative relay nodes are assumed between satellite and the destination node. Amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative protocol is used at each fixed relay node for signal amplification. While for signals combining at the destination node, the maximum ratio combining(MRC) technique is exploited. An analytical approach is derived to evaluate the performance of the system in terms of ergodic capacity. We derive the approximate closed-form expression for calculating the ergodic capacity of the proposed system. It is shown that the derived analytical expression is very tight and applicable to the general operating conditions with the help of satellite channel date available from the literature. The analytical results are compared with Monte Carlo simulations, and they seem to agree well

Materials Inventory Database for the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program

Scientific research involves the purchasing, processing, characterization, and fabrication of many sample materials. The history of such materials can become complicated over their lifetime – materials might be cut into pieces or moved to various storage locations, for example. A database with built-in functions to track these kinds of processes facilitates well-organized research. The Material Inventory Database Accounting System (MIDAS) is an easy-to-use tracking and reference system for such items. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program (LWRS), which seeks to advance the long-term reliability and productivity of existing nuclear reactors in the United States through multiple research pathways, proposed MIDAS as an efficient way to organize and track all items used in its research. The database software ensures traceability of all items used in research using built-in functions which can emulate actions on tracked items – fabrication, processing, splitting, and more – by performing operations on the data. MIDAS can recover and display the complete history of any item as a simple report. To ensure the database functions suitably for the organization of research, it was developed alongside a specific experiment to test accident tolerant nuclear fuel cladding under the LWRS Advanced Light Water Reactor Nuclear Fuels Pathway. MIDAS kept track of materials used in this experiment from receipt at the laboratory through all processes, test conduct and, ultimately, post-test analysis. By the end of this process, the database proved to be right tool for this program. The database software will help LWRS more efficiently conduct research experiments, from simple characterization tests to in-reactor experiments. Furthermore, MIDAS is a universal tool that any other research team could use to organize their material inventory

Affordable Rural Coalitions for Health (ARCH): An Application of Sociology

The rural context for health care systems has been experiencing substantial stress in recent times. The population, from which providers must obtain patients, is no longer growing as it had during the 1970s, but rather is likely to be either stable or decline where agriculture or energy are the primary economic sectors (Agresta, 1985, Johnson, 1989). Accompanying depopulation, in farming and energy producing communities an economic stagnation or depression has also been occurring. Both the loss of population base and restricted economies serve to limit patient use of clinics and hospitals, reducing their revenues and contributing to a further limitation of service

Seasonal variation of mixed layer depth in the north Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is unique due to the extremes in atmospheric forcing that lead to the semi-annual seasonal changes. The reversing winds of summer and winter monsoon induce the variation in the characteristics of mixed layer depth. The importance of mixed layer depth is recognized in studying the biological productivity in the ocean. In this paper variability of mixed layer depth in the north Arabian Sea have been discussed. The study is based on the data collected under North Arabian Sea Environment and Ecosystem Research (NASEER) program. The results of the study indicate that there is a significant variation in the mixed layer depth from summer to winter monsoon as well as coast to offshore

Coverage and predictors of vaccination among children of 1-4 years of age in a rural sub-district of Sindh

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the proportion of children 1-4 years of age vaccinated in the first year of their life and determine socio-demographic factors associated with vaccination in the rural sub-district Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan.STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was conducted in 9 Union Councils of sub-district Gambat, district Khairpur, Sindh, from August to October 2008.METHODOLOGY: A questionnaire based representative multi-stage cluster survey was conducted. A total of 549 children aged 1-4 years were assessed for coverage and predictors of vaccination. Univariate and multivariate analysis was done using logistic regression to determine the unadjusted and adjusted relationship between socio-demographic predictor and outcome (vaccination status).RESULTS: The coverage for complete vaccination was 71.9% (95%CI=68.1%-75.7%). Educational level of mother (p=0.042), father (p=0.001) and child birth at hospital (p=0.006) were significantly associated with the vaccination status. Mother\u27s educational level of intermediate and above was the strongest predictor (OR=12.19, 95%CI=1.57-94.3) for vaccination.CONCLUSION: Education of parents, particularly mother\u27s education was important determinant of vaccination status of the children. In addition, distance from taluka health facility and misconception of parents were among the main reasons of not getting the children vaccinated. There is a need to educate the parents especially mothers about the importance of vaccination and organize EPI services at Basic Health Unit level to improve the vaccination coverage in rural areas of Pakistan

Reservoirs of faecal indicator bacteria in well-head hand pumps in Bangladesh

The majority of the population of Bangladesh (90%) rely on untreated groundwater for drinking and domestic use. At the point of collection, 40% of these supplies are contaminated with faecal indicator bacteria (FIB). Recent studies have disproved the theory that latrines discharging to shallow aquifers are the major contributor to this contamination. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that hand pumps are a reservoir of FIB. We sampled the handle, spout, piston and seal from 19 wells in Araihazar Upazila, Bangladesh and identified that the spout and seal were reservoirs of FIB. These findings led to our recommendation that well spouts be regularly cleaned, including the removal of precipitated deposits, and that the seals be regularly changed. It is envisaged that one or both of these interventions will reduce the numbers of FIB in drinking water, thereby reducing the burden of diarrhoeal disease in Bangladesh

Blood pressure and its associated factors: a comparative study among rural and urban adolescents in Bangladesh

Background: Hypertension in adolescents may lead to irreversible damages in vital organs, such as heart, brain, kidney and may cause death if treatments are not given despite early diagnosis. The aim of this study is to identify the status of blood pressure and its associated factors among adolescents.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. 810 adolescents of 8 schools and colleges in Chittagong district were collected by stratified cluster sampling technique. Ages of the respondents were 14 to 19. Status of Blood pressure and its associated factors in urban and rural area were the main outcome of interest.Results: The study found the significant difference in physical activities and overweight statistics between urban and rural adolescents (P<0.001). Obesity was found only in the urban area that was 1.2%. The mean systolic blood pressure (114.53 mmHg, 110.61 mmHg) and mean diastolic blood pressure (69.87 mmHg, 68.58 mmHg) of boys and girls in urban respondents were more than rural (109.79 mmHg, 68.97 mmHg and 105.02 mmHg, 67.941 mmHg respectively) and was statistically significant (P<0.001). The mean SBP and DBP were 126 mmHg and 79 mmHg respectively among obese. In the study prevalence of hypertension was 1.5% in urban adolescents and 0.2% in rural adolescents. Consumption of fast food, living area, physical activity, paternal hypertension and BMI were found significantly associated (p<0.05) with hypertension among urban adolescents.Conclusions: The results suggest that hypertension and pre-hypertension is an important public health problem among adolescents in urban than rural. The main associated factors are fast food consumption, living area, physical activity, paternal hypertension and BMI

Factors influencing poor academic performance among urban university students in Bangladesh

Poor academic performance is challenging for students, parents, and teachers. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the factors associated with the poor academic performance of 661 undergraduate students who scored CGPA ≤2.5 from a selected private university of Dhaka City, Bangladesh, using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a pretested and self-administered questionnaire. Of the study participants, male preponderance (88.4%) was found, and 77.9% of them selected the study programs by themselves. Poor academic performance was found significantly correlated with irregular class attendance (p=0.003), father’s low education level (

Explicit finite difference analysis of an unsteady magnetohydrodynamics heat and mass transfer micropolar fluid flow in the presence of radiation and chemical reaction through a vertical porous plate

The investigation of this paper is undertaken to study of the problem of chemical reaction on MHD unsteady heat and mass transfer effects of micropolar fluid flow through a vertical plate. Different effects such as thermal diffusion, Soret and Dufour effects in the presence of radiation and chemical reaction are permitted in this observation. Firstly, the governing partial differential equations (PDEs) are transformed into a system of dimensionless coupled partial differential equations by the procedure of mathematical transformation. Then the obtained dimensionless equations are solved by explicit finite difference method (EFDM). Further, the momentum, temperature and concentration distributions are permitted by the variations of various parameters with the help of computer programming language FORTRAN. By using initial boundary conditions U = 0, V = 0, Γ = 0, T = 1, C = 1 and for Δτ = 0.0005, ΔX = 0.83 and ΔY = 0.50, the convergence criteria are exhibited Pr ≥ 0.205 and Sc ≥ 0.045. In addition, the streamlines and isotherms are evaluated for different interesting parameters. Finally, after stability convergence test (SCT) the profiles of velocity, angular velocity, temperature and concentration are analysed and scrutinized graphically by using graphs software tacplot-9