System Development For Low Cost Data Acquisition For Mobile Satellite Signal Performance Measurement In Low-Latitude

Mobile Satellite (MS) Signal performance is affected by many factors such as ionospheric effect, multipath fading tree-shadowed and buildingshadowed. These cause variations in the received signal quality. Although many studies have been carried out in order to improve the performance of MS signal, there are still many areas lacking data especially from the less-developed and developing countries. Furthermore, costly data acquisition method hinders more study to be carried out in these regions. This paper discusses the cost effective alternative method for MS data acquisition for satellite operating in the L-band by utilizing the GPS satellites data. Details methodology for doing the experimental works will be discussed. The measurements of the signal performance are performed for open space environment in Sarawak. The analysis of the signal performance under different MS environments is performed with respect to the information such as elevation and azimuth angles. The analysis produced forms an important part in the studies of the signal performance. From this research work, we characterized the MS received signal for Sarawak

EPIdemiology of Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) : Study protocol for a multicentre, observational trial

More than 300 million surgical procedures are performed each year. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after major surgery and is associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes. However, there is a large variation in the incidence of reported AKI rates. The establishment of an accurate epidemiology of surgery-associated AKI is important for healthcare policy, quality initiatives, clinical trials, as well as for improving guidelines. The objective of the Epidemiology of Surgery-associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) trial is to prospectively evaluate the epidemiology of AKI after major surgery using the latest Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) consensus definition of AKI. EPIS-AKI is an international prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study including 10 000 patients undergoing major surgery who are subsequently admitted to the ICU or a similar high dependency unit. The primary endpoint is the incidence of AKI within 72 hours after surgery according to the KDIGO criteria. Secondary endpoints include use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), mortality during ICU and hospital stay, length of ICU and hospital stay and major adverse kidney events (combined endpoint consisting of persistent renal dysfunction, RRT and mortality) at day 90. Further, we will evaluate preoperative and intraoperative risk factors affecting the incidence of postoperative AKI. In an add-on analysis, we will assess urinary biomarkers for early detection of AKI. EPIS-AKI has been approved by the leading Ethics Committee of the Medical Council North Rhine-Westphalia, of the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster and the corresponding Ethics Committee at each participating site. Results will be disseminated widely and published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at conferences and used to design further AKI-related trials. Trial registration number NCT04165369

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Transfer factors of

Transfer factors of 226Ra, 210Pb and 210Po from soil contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in oilfields to some grazing plants were determined using pot experiments. Contaminated soil was collected from a dry surface evaporation pit from a Syrian oilfield in the Der Ezzor area. Five types of plants (Atriplex halimus L., Atriplex canescens, Atriplex Leucoclada Bioss, Alfalfa and Bermuda grass) were grown and harvested three times over two years. The results show that the mean transfer factors of 226Ra from the contaminated soil to the studied plant species were 1.6 × 10-3 for Atriplex halimus L., 2.1 × 10-3 for Atriplex canescens, 2.5 × 10-3 for Atriplex Leucoclada Bioss, 8.2 × 10-3 for Bermuda grass, and the highest value was 1.7 × 10-2 for Alfalfa. Transfer factors of 210Pb and 210Po were higher than 226Ra TFs by one order of magnitude and reached 7 × 10-3, 1.1 × 10-2, 1.2 × 10-2, 3.2 × 10-2 and 2.5 × 10-2 for Atriplex halimus, Atriplex canescens, Atriplex Leucoclada Bioss, Bermuda grass and Alfalfa, respectively. The results can be considered as base values for transfer factors of 226Ra, 210Pb and 210Po in semiarid regions

Chemical composition of clays for pottery in Malaysia: a review

Pottery in Malaysia is been known for its utilized functions and unique properties. Clays as the pottery’s raw materials are a major factor that affecting the quality and reliability of some pottery products. Observations on clays’ elements and phases are very helpful for productions of the good pottery. Hence, in this review, chemical compositions of clays in terms of elements and phases structures are discussed. Basically, the most elements found in clays are Si, Al, Fe, Ti, K and Ca. Depends on location, the concentrations for those clays elements in Malaysia are at range of 24.8 – 32.4 for Si, 10.8 – 19.0 for Al, 0.09 – 2.12 for Fe, 0.08 – 1.13 for Ti and 0.45 – 3.39 for K. Several studies reported, they exist in form of oxide compound which are SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, TiO2, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O and P2O5. The percentages of elements in clays do not only determine the clays characteristics, but also influence the physical, mechanical and chemical properties of the end product. Increase of major element like silica arises the melting point, lowers the fluidity, and enhances the hardness and tensile strength. Meanwhile, increase alumina content enables the green body to withstand the sintering temperature and also increase the hardness of the pottery

Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of epoxy resin toughened with epoxidized soybean oil

Biobased toughened thermosetting polymer blend was prepared by incorporating epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) into a petroleum-based epoxy (DGEBA) in different composition ratios. The mechanical properties (tensile and flexural tests) of the ESO/DGEBA thermoset blends were determined. Thermal properties of the blends were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis. The result showed that, the tensile and flexural properties decreased with increasing of ESO content. However, a slight increase in the strength properties was observed at 10% of ESO content. A significant enhancement in impact strength proves the role of ESO acting as a plasticizer in the blends as well as improve the toughness properties of ESO/DGEBA thermoset blend. As the ESO content increase, the thermal stability of ESO/DGEBA thermoset blend has decreased might be due to reduced cross-linking density of the epoxy network. Further investigations on morphological properties were also done to correlate the mechanical properties of ESO/DGEBA thermoset blend