Energy-Efficient Cooperative Protocols for Full-Duplex Relay Channels

In this work, energy-efficient cooperative protocols are studied for full-duplex relaying (FDR) with loopback interference. In these protocols, relay assistance is only sought under certain conditions on the different link outages to ensure effective cooperation. Recently, an energy-efficient selective decode-and-forward protocol was proposed for FDR, and was shown to outperform existing schemes in terms of outage. Here, we propose an incremental selective decode-and-forward protocol that offers additional power savings, while keeping the same outage performance. We compare the performance of the two protocols in terms of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio cumulative distribution function via closed-form expressions. Finally, we corroborate our theoretical results with simulation, and show the relative relay power savings in comparison to non-selective cooperation in which the relay cooperates regardless of channel conditions

Maximum Principle and Existence of Weak Solutions for Nonlinear System Involving Singular (p,q)-Laplacian Operators

We investigate in this work necessary and sufficient conditions for having the maximum principle for nonlinear system involving singular (p,q)-Laplacian operators on bounded domain Ω of Rn. Moreover, we prove the existence  of  positive weak solutions by the Browder theorem method for the considered syste

Faith-based organizations: humanitarian mission or religious missionary

This paper analyzes Islamic FBOs’ humanitarian approaches, programs, and challenges. Politicalized religious interpretations are also on board to investigate their missionary aspects. I design my argument based on Michael Barnett and Janice Grass Stein’s assumption on the impact of social constructions on establishing sacred and secular concepts and spaces. Thus, I study the UK-based Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) and the Kuwaiti Direct Aid Society (DAS) to examine the influence of their social settings on their humanitarian experiences. My question is “do different social settings shape various humanitarian approach, although of sharing the same religious mission?” I argue that Islamic rules encourage Muslims to be religiously committed to paying charity and showing human and religious solidarity. In this regard, flexible Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence) allows Muslima to set various socially constructed implementations of these religious commitments. Humanitarian relief is not an exception in this regard. Therefore, Islamic FBOs lay down on a continuum based on their socially constructed models which reflect different interpretations of religious texts and their applications to understanding societal issues as well as various employed strategies of these civil society actors

Changing systems and challenging inequalities: The ford foundation\u27s mission and programs

© Common Ground Research Networks, Riham Ahmed Khafagy, All Rights Reserved. Since the 1950s, the Ford Foundation has been one of the most influential international philanthropic actors. The Foundation pays special attention to the educational and learning process; as appears in its annual grants. Thus, it has an extensive domestic as well as global impact. In this article, I investigate the Ford Foundation\u27s philosophy and vision in influencing the educational process based on its mission and programs and critically evaluating their relevance to the targeted societies. According to its literature, the Foundation has a holistic philosophy, which targets changing disruptive systems of learning as well as fundamentally challenging inequalities of youths\u27 social and economic settings. This, supposedly, should enhance their maintainable potentials of learning. I argue that despite its idealistic mission, the Foundation\u27s programs have been inadequately structured or well-defined to fundamentally challenge inequalities in the targeted societies and less relevant to their actual problems and potentials. Therefore, these programs have achieved short-term goals, with limited commitment to profound sustainable success

The Effects of Natural Disinfectant Solutions on Dimensional Stability of Silicon Impression Material.

Introduction It is important to disinfect impression to prevent infection. Accuracy is directly proportion to adaptation of the future prosthesis to the oral mucosa. Most of chemical disinfectant solutions are irritant and, therefore inhalation of disinfectant vapor may present risks to the dental team. Materials and methods Thirty six high viscosity putty polysiloxane impression were obtained from special designed master model. The impression were grouped according to natural disinfectant solution into lemon juice and apple vinegar solution and then subgroup according to immersion time into 5, 10, 15 min immersion. All impressions were poured with type 4 dental stone then nine measurements were obtained from each cast. Results All casts obtained from high viscosity putty polysiloxane impressions which immersed in lemon juice were discarded due to bad surface texture and brittle casts. Statistical analysis reveals no significant differences between master model and casts obtained from pouring high viscosity putty polysiloxane impressions after 5 min with and without immersion in apple vinegar solution while, for 10 min group shows significant differences in 5 measurements and no significant differences in 4 measurement. The 15 min group shows highly significant differences between groups regarding all tested measurements. Percentages of changes of all casts were increased with time of pouring the high viscosity putty polysiloxane impressions either with or without immersion in apple vinegar solution. Discussion Minimizing the risk of disease transmission in the dental workplace has today become a high priority for the dental profession. Dimensional stability of the impression materials used in prosthetics presents an important factor for the accuracy of dental devices. Generally, the high viscosity putty polysiloxane impressions shows dimensional changes which inceased with time of pouring. However, there were no significant differences between casts without immersion and casts immersed in apple vinegar solution for 5, 10, 15 min. Conclusion High viscosity putty polysiloxane impressions can be disinfected effectively for uses of primary impression for completely or partially edentulous arches, as well as producing opposing casts in prosthodontics treatment, making interocclusal devices, and surgical guides. Key words:disinfection, polysiloxane impressions, apple vinega