On the Effect of Correlated Measurements on the Performance of Distributed Estimation

We address the distributed estimation of an unknown scalar parameter in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Sensor nodes transmit their noisy observations over multiple access channel to a Fusion Center (FC) that reconstructs the source parameter. The received signal is corrupted by noise and channel fading, so that the FC objective is to minimize the Mean-Square Error (MSE) of the estimate. In this paper, we assume sensor node observations to be correlated with the source signal and correlated with each other as well. The correlation coefficient between two observations is exponentially decaying with the distance separation. The effect of the distance-based correlation on the estimation quality is demonstrated and compared with the case of unity correlated observations. Moreover, a closed-form expression for the outage probability is derived and its dependency on the correlation coefficients is investigated. Numerical simulations are provided to verify our analytic results.Comment: 5 page

Organizational Ethics: The Ethical Beliefs of Marketing Managers in Trinidad and Tobago

As a result of the recent corporate scandals involving Bernard Madoff, AIG, Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Health- South, Martha Stewart, and the Wall Street analysts and the accounting firms (such as Arthur Andersen) that supported them, a growing concern has emerged about the quality of today\u27s marketing managers\u27 ethical beliefs. Epistemologists contend that belief is an ethical process that is susceptible to the intellectual virtue or vice of one\u27s own life and personal experiences. Open-mindedness, curiosity, careful thinking, creativity, and intellectual courage are the foundations of epistemic virtues. Closed-mindedness, intellectual overconfidence, intellectual conformity, and wishful thinking are among epistemic vices. The purpose of this investigation is to compare virtue with vice epistemic marketing managers with respect to various ethically challenging situations in organizations in Trinidad and Tobago and to assess their work- related ethics. Structural equations (LISREL) analyses found that epistemic virtues and vices were associated with unethical practices and their combined effect with Machiavellianism influenced moderate and major levels of unethical practices. Implications are designed to develop suggestions for improving ethical behavior in the workplace

Gossybipoma, an overlooked cause of bowel obstruction: a case report and literature review

No Abstrac

Validated Spectrophotometric Methods for the Determination of Oxybuprocaine Hydrochloride

Simple, rapid, accurate and reliable spectrophotometric methods were developed and validated for determination of Oxybuprocaine hydrochloride (OXY) in pure form and in pharmaceutical preparation. The methods depend on charge transfer reaction of OXY as n-electron donor with p-chloranilic acid (p-CA), 2, 3 – dichloro 5, 6 – dicyano 1, 4 benzoquinone (DDQ) and iodine as π and σ acceptors, respectively. These reactions were studied under various conditions and the optimum parameters were selected. Under the optimum reaction conditions, linear relationships with good correlation coefficients (0.9996, 0.9997, and 0.9998) were found between absorbance of the formed complexes and concentrations of OXY in the range of 20.0 - 220.0 μg/mL, 10.0-80.0 μg/mL and 4.0-44.0 μg/mL for (p-CA), DDQ and iodine methods, respectively. The methods were successfully applied for the determination of OXY in pure form and in dosage form. Job’s method was applied to determine the stoichiometry of the reactions. No significant difference was found at p = 0.05 when the obtained results of the proposed methods were statistically compared with those obtained by an official method

Application of AE Techniques in Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis of Rotating Machinery

Condition monitoring (CM) is the process of monitoring a parameter of condition in machinery, such that a significant change is indicative of a developing failure. It is of great practical significance in manufacturing industry since it provides updated information regarding machine status on-line. This allows maintenance to be scheduled in order to avoid accidental outages that cause production loss and may lead to catastrophic machine failure. Rotating machines are recognized as the core and fundamental equipment of most engineering systems such as petrochemical plants, automotive industry, power stations, oil refinery, etc. that necessitate precise and ingenious performance. Bearings represent the most important part in rotating machinery. Major problems in the machines are due to bearing faults. It is therefore necessary to monitor and diagnose the bearing operating condition in order to avoid serious problems in the machinery.  This paper discusses the concept of acoustic emission (AE) monitoring techniques for detection and diagnosis of bearing deterioration and faults.  The acquired AE signals are processed and analyzed using LabVIEW and MATLAB to detect bearing problems at incipient stages

Audit of Radiology Request Cards in a Tertiary Hospital in NorthWest Nigeria

  Background: Radiology request cards are essential communication tools between physicians and  radiation personnel. Clinical audit is part of quality assurance that guarantees patient care. Objective:  To assess the adequacy of patient data and clinical information filled in request cards sent to Radiology Department of our facility by referring clinicians. Material and methods: Four hundred (400) radiology request cards were randomly selected from the records of the department and scrutinized for bio-data/clinical information. Result: Completely filled request cards were 2/267 (ultrasound), 1/40 (computed tomography) and  2/93 (conventional x-ray).  Conclusion: Consistency in complete filliing of radiology request cards in our facility was lacking. The audit revealed actual practice, and the need for improvement.    &nbsp

A new Version of High Stability Output 12-Bit Tracking Analog to Digital Converter

    In this paper a 12-bit tracking analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is designed and its performance is verified. It continuously tests the analog input signal and makes correction when necessary. The resulting digital equivalent of the analog input signal is continuously updated. The least significant bit (LSB) of this converter jumps up and down to track the analog input and this causes the final output to be unstable. To overcome the problem of instability in the digital output the 12-bit tracking ADC is modified by introducing the test bit B0. The test bit is designed to have a voltage equals to that of the LSB. It always sets or resets in tracking the analog value. Using this technique the digital output B1 to B12 of the converter is maintained stable. Test and measurements are performed in the converter circuit to demonstrate the practicality of this version.              &nbsp

Prevalence of physical, verbal and nonverbal sexual harassments and their association with psychological distress among Jimma university female students: A cross-sectional study

Background: A number of studies conducted on sexual harassment focused on general magnitude rather than specific details of the various forms of sexual harassment and their effect on psychological health. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence rates of the various forms of sexual harassments and their associations with psychological distress among Jimma University female students. Methods: Three hundred and eighty five (385) female participants were selected from all colleges using stratified and systematic sampling techniques. A structured questionnaire consisting of items on the various forms of sexual harassment and psychological distress was administered.Results: The prevalence rates of physical, verbal and nonverbal sexual harassments were 78.2%, 90.4% and 80.0%, respectively, while the prevalence rate of psychological distress among students who had experienced sexual harassment was 63.0%. The multivariable logistic regression analyses indicated that students who were physically [adjusted OR = 3.950, 95% CI = (1.979, 7.884)] and nonverbally [(adjusted OR = 12.099, 95% CI= (5.190, 28.205] harassed were 4 and 12 times more likely to experience psychological distress, respectively, adjusted for all other variables. Conclusion: The prevalence of various forms of sexual harassment were higher and strongly associated with psychological distress. Important implications for University officials and policy makers including creating harassment free University have been drawn. Otherwise, female students tend to dropout and their academic achievements suffer a lot as a result of psychological distress; and the government’s effort for realizing the gender parity in education would be compromised.Keywords: Verbal sexual harassment, Nonverbal sexual harassment, Physical sexual harassment, Psychological distres

The Effects of Using Interactive Task-based Activities in Online Eng-lish Writing Classes

This quantitative and qualitative study aims to scrutinize the effectiveness of utilizing interactive task-based activities to teach English writing in Bethlehem Secondary School for Girls. The experiment was conducted at the second semester of the academic year 2016/2017. Two scientific sections from the 11th grade participated in the study; section B was the control group and section C was the experimental one. The former group practiced writing traditionally. The students in the latter group were enrolled in two online platforms, “Facebook” and “PBworks”, to practice the target skill electronically. A questionnaire, pre/posttests, online platforms, a text content analyzer tool and self-reports were administered to investigate the participants’ achievement and attitudes. With regard to the writing skill, the results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control one. Also, the former manifested more positive attitudes towards e-learning than the other one

Seroprevalence of HBsAg among patients with febrile illnessess in Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

The study was carried out between the months of July and December 2013 to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen among patients presenting with febrile illnesses attending Murtala Muhammad  Specialist Hospital, Kano. Two hundred (200) blood samples were obtained from the consented patients with age ranged from 15-64 years, that were processed according to standard operating procedures (SOPs) and screened for the presence of HBsAg using a third generation enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method. A total of 22 (11%) patients were positive for HBsAg. Higher rate of infection was observed among males 72.2% (n=16) than their female counterparts 27.3% (n=6).  Infection rate was found to be higher in age group 25-34 years, 45.4 % (n=10) than 15-24 and 35-44 years each with 27.3% (n=6), and none was found to be positive among 45-54 and 55-64 years age groups. Also more infection was observed among the married population 54.5 % (n=12) than single 40.9 % (n=9) and widow 4.5% (n=1). However, high sero-positivity is also occupationally dependent. More infections were seen among business occupational groups 50 % (n=11) than students 31.8 % (n=7) while 18.2 % (n=4) was seen among civil servants. The major route of transmission among the study group is sexual transmission in those with multiple sexual partners and history of blood transfusions. Those with history of vaccination against hepatitis B had no positive result (n=0). The study revealed a considerable high infection among males, married business occupation class and students these where however not statistically significantly different (p<0.005), and also pointed out potency and importance of vaccination for all vaccine preventable diseases.Key Words: Seroprevalence, Hepatitis B, Febrile Illness, Kan