836 research outputs found
Promoting the Use of Library Services: Challenges and Prospects in some Ghanaian Technical Universities
The study examines marketing practices in some selected academic libraries in Ghana which include; Sunyani, Tamale and Accra technical university libraries. The study relied on both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Two hundred and eighty-four (284) students and twenty (20) professional library staff of these universities were studied. The data collected through questionnaire was analyzed with the use of SPSS whiles that of the interviews were recorded, transcribed and interpreted. The findings of the study revealed that the techniques and tools used by these universities were found to be inadequate and social media tools were highly not considered. Inadequate facilities, lack of funds, lack of staff and knowledge of staff in marketing and lack of marketing policies were identified as major challenges faced by the selected libraries in promoting the use of their services. Some recommendations were however suggested and include; advocate for more facilities and funds for marketing, increase number of staff and skills in marketing and develop best marketing policies, tools and techniques for effective promotion activities in their libraries. The study shall be useful to academic libraries and more especially to TUs in terms of policy formulation such as informing library management of the challenges facing their libraries in carrying out promotional activities in their libraries
An Adaptive Energy Efficient Reliable Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network
Wireless sensor networks are networks of tiny sensing devices for communicating in using wireless technology. Wireless sensor networks are deployed in scenarios where any plant information should be available for industrial control applications. Cross-layer interaction is most important factor to gain maximum efficiency and also able to provide difficult interaction among the layers of the protocol stack. Hence to achieve this is challenging issue because latency, energy and reliability are at odds, and also resource constrained does not support complex algorithm. Wireless sensor networks have many protocols. In this paper Breath protocol is proposed for industrial control application .To minimizing energy consumption in network breath is designed for WSNs by which nodes attached to plants must carry information via through multi hop routing to sink. To optimize energy efficiency the protocol is based on randomized routing, medium access control, and duty-cycling. Alternate model of breath protocol ensures a long lifetime of the network by making effective distribution of workload in sensor nodes. Hence it shows as a good terminology for efficient, timely data gathering for industrial control applications.
DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15032
Post-transplantation encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis without inflammation or radiological abnormalities
Post-transplantation encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis without inflammation or radiological abnormalities
Development of Photonic Crystal Fiber Based Gas/ Chemical Sensors
The development of highly-sensitive and miniaturized sensors that capable of
real-time analytes detection is highly desirable. Nowadays, toxic or colorless
gas detection, air pollution monitoring, harmful chemical, pressure, strain,
humidity, and temperature sensors based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) are
increasing rapidly due to its compact structure, fast response and efficient
light controlling capabilities. The propagating light through the PCF can be
controlled by varying the structural parameters and core-cladding materials, as
a result, evanescent field can be enhanced significantly which is the main
component of the PCF based gas/chemical sensors. The aim of this chapter is to
(1) describe the principle operation of PCF based gas/ chemical sensors, (2)
discuss the important PCF properties for optical sensors, (3) extensively
discuss the different types of microstructured optical fiber based gas/
chemical sensors, (4) study the effects of different core-cladding shapes, and
fiber background materials on sensing performance, and (5) highlight the main
challenges of PCF based gas/ chemical sensors and possible solutions
Scottish and Newcastle antiemetic pre-treatment for paracetamol poisoning study (SNAP)
BACKGROUND: Paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning remains the commonest cause of acute liver injury in Europe and North America. The intravenous (IV) N-acetylcysteine (NAC) regimen introduced in the 1970s has continued effectively unchanged. This involves 3 different infusion regimens (dose and time) lasting over 20âhours. The same weight-related dose of NAC is used irrespective of paracetamol dose. Complications include frequent nausea and vomiting, anaphylactoid reactions and dosing errors. We designed a randomised controlled study investigating the efficacy of antiemetic pre-treatment (ondansetron) using standard NAC and a modified, shorter, regimen. METHODS/DESIGN: We designed a double-blind trial using a 2 Ă 2 factorial design involving four parallel groups. Pre-treatment with ondansetron 4âmg IV was compared against placebo on nausea and vomiting following the standard (20.25âh) regimen, or a novel 12âh NAC regimen in paracetamol poisoning. Each delivered 300âmg/kg bodyweight NAC. Randomisation was stratified on: paracetamol dose, perceived risk factors, and time to presentation. The primary outcome was the incidence of nausea and vomiting following NAC. In addition the frequency of anaphylactoid reactions and end of treatment liver function documented. Where clinically necessary further doses of NAC were administered as per standard UK protocols at the end of the first antidote course. DISCUSSION: This study is primarily designed to test the efficacy of prophylactic anti-emetic therapy with ondansetron, but is the first attempt to formally examine new methods of administering IV NAC in paracetamol overdose. We anticipate, from volunteer studies, that nausea and vomiting will be less frequent with the new NAC regimen. In addition as anaphylactoid response appears related to plasma concentrations of both NAC and paracetamol anaphylactoid reactions should be less likely. This study is not powered to assess the relative efficacy of the two NAC regimens, however it will give useful information to power future studies. As the first formal randomised clinical trial in this patient group in over 30âyears this study will also provide information to support further studies in patients in paracetamol overdose, particularly, when linked with modern novel biomarkers of liver damage, patients at different toxicity risk. TRIAL REGISTRATION: EudraCT number 2009-017800-10, ClinicalTrials.gov IdentifierNCT0105027
Recommended from our members
Generation of an ultrabroadband supercontinuum in the mid-infrared region using dispersion-engineered GeAsSe photonic crystal fiber
An ultrabroadband mid-infrared (MIR) region supercontinuum (SC) is demonstrated numerically through dispersion-engineered traditional chalcogenide (ChG) photonic crystal fiber (PCF). By varying structural parameters pitch (hole to hole spacing) and air-hole diameter to pitch ratio, a number of 10-mm-long hexagonal PCFs made employing GeAsSe ChG glass as a core and air-holes of hexagonal lattice running through their lengths as a cladding are optimized to predict an efficient mid-infrared region SC spectral emission by pumping them using a tunable pump source between 2.9 and 3.3 Âľm. Simulations are carried out using an ultrashort pump pulse of 100-fs duration with a low pulse peak powers of between 3 and 4 kW into the optimized designs. It is found through numerical analysis that efficient SC spectral broadening with flattened output can be obtained by increasing the PCF pitch rather than increasing the PCF cladding containing air-hole diameter although a larger nonlinear coefficient could be obtained through increasing air-hole diameter of an optimized design. Simulation results show that the SC spectra can be broadened up to 12.2 Âľm for a certain design with a peak power of 3 kW. Using a peak power of 4 kW, it is possible to obtain SC spectral broadening beyond 14 Âľm with an optimized design spanning the wavelength range from 1.8 to 14 Âľm which covers the electromagnetic spectrum required for MIR molecular fingerprint region applications such as sensing and biological imaging
Rhaponticum acaule (L) DC essential oil: chemical composition, in vitro antioxidant and enzyme inhibition properties
Background: Îą-glucosidase is a therapeutic target for diabetes mellitus (DM) and Îą-glucosidase inhibitors play a
vital role in the treatments for the disease. Furthermore, xanthine oxidase (XO) is a key enzyme that catalyzes
hypoxanthine and xanthine to uric acid which at high levels can lead to hyperuricemia which is an important cause
of gout. Pancreatic lipase (PL) secreted into the duodenum plays a key role in the digestion and absorption of fats.
For its importance in lipid digestion, PL represents an attractive target for obesity prevention.
Methods: The flowers essential oil of Rhaponticum acaule (L) DC (R. acaule) was characterized using gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antioxidant activities of R. acaule essential oil (RaEO) were also
determined using 2,2â-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), reducing power,
phosphomolybdenum, and DNA nicking assays. The inhibitory power of RaEO against Îą-glucosidase, xanthine
oxidase and pancreatic lipase was evaluated. Enzyme kinetic studies using Michaelis-Menten and the derived
Lineweaver-Burk (LB) plots were performed to understand the possible mechanism of inhibition exercised by the
components of this essential oil.
Results: The result revealed the presence of 26 compounds (97.4%). The main constituents include germacrene D
(49.2%), methyl eugenol (8.3%), (E)-β-ionone (6.2%), β-caryophyllene (5.7%), (E,E)-ι-farnesene (4.2%),
bicyclogermacrene (4.1%) and (Z)-Îą-bisabolene (3.7%). The kinetic inhibition study showed that the essential oil
demonstrated a strong Îą-glucosidase inhibiton and it was a mixed inhibitor. On the other hand, our results
evidenced that this oil exhibited important xanthine oxidase inhibitory effect, behaving as a non-competitive
inhibitor. The essential oil inhibited the turkey pancreatic lipase, with maximum inhibition of 80% achieved at
2 mg/mL. Furthermore, the inhibition of turkey pancreatic lipase by RaEO was an irreversible one.
Conclusion: The results revealed that the RaEO is a new promising potential source of antioxidant compounds,
endowed with good practical applications for human health.
Keywords: Îą-glucosidase, Antioxidant activity, Chemical composition, Pancreatic lipase inhibition, Rhaponticum
acaule essential oil, Xanthine oxidase
Azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles at high transverse momenta in PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV
The azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles in PbPb collisions at
nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV is measured with the CMS
detector at the LHC over an extended transverse momentum (pt) range up to
approximately 60 GeV. The data cover both the low-pt region associated with
hydrodynamic flow phenomena and the high-pt region where the anisotropies may
reflect the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the created medium.
The anisotropy parameter (v2) of the particles is extracted by correlating
charged tracks with respect to the event-plane reconstructed by using the
energy deposited in forward-angle calorimeters. For the six bins of collision
centrality studied, spanning the range of 0-60% most-central events, the
observed v2 values are found to first increase with pt, reaching a maximum
around pt = 3 GeV, and then to gradually decrease to almost zero, with the
decline persisting up to at least pt = 40 GeV over the full centrality range
measured.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
- âŚ