Estimation of Rain Attenuation at EHF bands for Earth-to-Satellite Links in Bangladesh

Due to heavy congestion in lower frequency bands, engineers are looking for new frequency bands to support new services that require higher data rates, which in turn needs broader bandwidths. To meet this requirement, extremely high frequency (EHF), particularly Q (36 to 46 GHz) and V (46 to 56 GHz) bands, is the best viable solution because of its complete availability. The most serious challenge the EHF band poses is the attenuation caused by rain. This paper investigates the effect of the rain on Q and V bands' performances in Bangladeshi climatic conditions. The rain attenuations of the two bands are predicted for the four main regions of Bangladesh using ITU rain attenuation model. The measured rain statistics is used for this prediction. It is observed that the attenuation due to rain in the Q/V band reaches up to 150 dB which is much higher than that of the currently used Ka band. The variability of the rain attenuation is also investigated over different sessions of Bangladesh. The attenuation varies from 40 dB to 170 dB depending on the months. Finally, the amount of rain fade required to compensate the high rain attenuation is also predicted for different elevation angles.Comment: Int'l Conf. on Electrical, Computer and Communication Engineering (IEEE sponsored), Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, February 2017, pp. 589-59

Under Pressure: Ambulatory Blood Pressure Control

Smart AIM: Improve hypertension control with the following goal: Within three months 60% of patients with hypertension will have a blood pressure less than 140/90 during their most recent office visit.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1029/thumbnail.jp

ST2 and Multimarker Testing in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

Most data on heart failure biomarkers have been derived from patient cohorts with chronic disease. However, risk prediction in patients admitted with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) remains a challenge. ADHF is not a single disease: it presents in various manners, and different causes may underlie ADHF, which may be reflected by different biomarkers. Soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) has been shown to be a strong independent predictor of short-, mid-, and long-term outcome in ADHF. Furthermore, combining biomarkers may help further improve the prognostic power of ST2. The ProBNP Investigation of Dyspnea in the Emergency Department study showed that elevated plasma levels of ST2 together with elevated levels of 4 other biomarkers have clear incremental values to predict outcome in ADHF. The Multinational Observational Cohort on Acute Heart Failure study is an international collaborative network that recruited 5,306 patients hospitalized for ADHF that demonstrated that ST2 and midregional pro-adrenomedulin had independently strong value to predict 30-day and 1-year outcome in patients with ADHF. The Multinational Observational Cohort on Acute Heart Failure study also showed that C-reactive protein plus ST2 better classified risk in patients with ADHFs than ST2 alone. Combining biomarkers for risk prediction or risk stratification might have clinical and more importantly pathophysiological meaning

Endovascular Cure of a Locked-In Patient

We report the case of a 60 year-old right-handed gentleman who became acutely “Locked-In” several days after a lower extremity orthopedic procedure. He underwent emergent endovascular treatment and had complete resolution of his neurologic findings except for mild dysarthria and dysphagia. Endovascular intervention for posterior circulation thrombosis is highly effective when patients are treated within 24 hours

The Use of Palliative Performance Score in Patients with End-Stage Liver Disease

● Palliative Care services are often underutilized in patients with End-Stage Liver Disease (ESLD) and often only initiated at the end of life ● The Palliative Performance Score (PPS) is an important tool used in Palliative Care to assess functional status ● PPS has five functional dimensions: ambulation, activity level and evidence of disease, self-care, oral intake, and level of consciousness ● The aim of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score and PPS in ESLD patients ● MELD is used to predict mortality and to prioritize liver transplant allocation in ESLD patientshttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/medposters/1011/thumbnail.jp

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and perioperative complications: a systematic review of the literature.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common sleep related breathing disorder. Its prevalence is estimated to be between 2% and 25% in the general population. However, the prevalence of sleep apnea is much higher in patients undergoing elective surgery. Sedation and anesthesia have been shown to increase the upper airway collapsibility and therefore increasing the risk of having postoperative complications in these patients. Furthermore, the majority of patients with sleep apnea are undiagnosed and therefore are at risk during the perioperative period. It is important to identify these patients so that appropriate actions can be taken in a timely fashion. In this review article, we will discuss the epidemiology of sleep apnea in the surgical population. We will also discuss why these patients are at a higher risk of having postoperative complications, with the special emphasis on the role of anesthesia, opioids, sedation, and the phenomenon of REM sleep rebound. We will also review how to identify these patients preoperatively and the steps that can be taken for their perioperative management

A Week Devoted to Wellness in the Preclinical Phase: Lessons Learned

Background During the 2017-2018 academic year, a large private medical college underwent a complete transformation of its curriculum from a primarily lecture based, traditional format to an integrated, longitudinal format that included both time limited blocks and longitudinal threads of content. Wellness, conceptualized at both wellness of the provider and the patient, is one of the eight threads. Goals Provide a structured pause in medical school for you to reflect on your own wellness Allow time to explore the ideas of resilience Provide time for rejuvenation Allow you to start building productive habits to last you throughout your entire medical careershttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/rmposters/1005/thumbnail.jp

Got Sugar? Pharmacist Intervention to Improve A1c

AIM: Within 6 months, we aim to decrease by 10% the number of our diabetic patients with an A1c \u3e8 through Clinical Pharmacist referrals.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/patientsafetyposters/1033/thumbnail.jp

Service quality in alcohol treatment: a research note

Purpose - To evaluate service quality in a UK privately funded alcohol treatment clinic. Methodology - Data were gathered via interviews with two groups of participants using the SERVQUAL questionnaire. The first group comprised 32 patients and the second 15 clinic staff. The SERVQUAL instrument measures service quality expectations and perceptions across five service dimensions and identifies gaps between service expectations and perceptions of what was delivered. Findings – Patients’ service quality expectations were exceeded on four of five dimensions. However, staff members felt services fell below expectations on four of five dimensions with the ‘reliability’ service dimension emerging as the common service element falling below expectations for both participant groups. It was concluded that achieving consistent service delivery and increasing empathy between staff and patients improves overall service quality perceptions. Research limitations - Relies on self-report methods from a relatively small number of individuals. Originality - There have been limited research studies measuring alcohol treatment service quality in the private sector