A Miniature Implanted Inverted-F Antenna for GPS Application

A miniature implanted Hilbert inverted-F antenna design at the 1.575 GHz; global positioning system (GPS) frequency is proposed, which can be used to track the location of its user, e.g., the elderly with declining mental capacity (alzheimer\u27s disease). A detailed parametric study of the antenna design is performed by considering it to be implanted within a human muscle model. The effects of the substrate, superstrate, and the nearby muscle tissue on antenna performance are carefully investigated. A laboratory prototype of the antenna was built and tested within a muscle equivalent fluid indicating good VSWR performance. Finally the said antenna when placed within the tissue equivalent fluid was also tested to track GPS satellites with the help of a low noise amplifier (LNa). Such field measurements demonstrate that the antenna can easily lock into six or more satellites which are more than enough to determine the location of a person

Development of land value algorithm for establishing an effective cadastral system in Erbil City

Land value is one of the economic issues of cadastral systems which is the base of sustainable urban and regional planning. The current paper concerns the estimation of the land values according to many essential factors, which are adopted as ten variables generally. Among these ten parameters, the frontage of the parcel (width), the value of rent, the width of streets, and the level of services represent the most effective parameters that play the main role in process of land price estimation over the Erbil City. The current research introduces the nature of land values and their homogeneous distribution and evaluates the suggested algorithm of land price estimation as one of the efficient factors that affect the national economic situation. The data collection was done for 100 parcels in different locations within the Erbil city boundary, which is being selected to apply the linear multiple regression equation to find the coefficients of the effective factors and to define the correlation between them. The obtained results of the linear multiple regression equation show that the level of existing services and the value of the rent have the maximum effect among these four factors, and they have the maximum correlation with the land price, whereas the road’s width has the minimum correlation among them. The worked-out algorithm for land price estimation (which is a vital issue of the modern cadastral systems), is recommended to be applied by the institutions and organizations concerning the land prices and land taxes task

Educational Research Issue in English Language Teaching and Learning

English language is considered as the most leading language globally. Previous studies affirmed that English language teaching and learning (ELT) is the most challenging area. A huge number of researches and publications are being published in this area concerning various aspects. Therefore, this study aims to presents a meta-analysis of previously done studies seek to investigate the various aspects in English language teaching and learning. The study is based on qualitative research approach as entire data has been collected from existing journals and research databases. A number of 8 articles have been gathered which have been published from 2012 to 2017. The findings of this meta-analysis provides the value to researcher and academic practitioners as well

Optimization of the Urban Green Area in Erbil Territory for Sustainable Development

This research paper studies the status and condition of the green areas in the city of Erbil, for this purpose all green areas in the city (763 plots) and all population number according to 12 sectors are collected according to their locations and are analyzed spatially by GIS program (Moran I). The researchers have proved that distribution of green areas is random. Moreover, this distribution is not based on the urban planning basics and its criteria: green area per person (GAPP) and green area to the city ratio (GAR) also not based on the basics of urban planning for two criteria , GAPP is optimized from 9.3 to 14 and GAR optimized from 0.06 to 0.09 while the equilateral tringle adopted as optimum distribution for green area units GAU, for 12 sectors adopted combined standards together and the solution was the population density ratio must be 0.01 or less, to obtain criteria and this must preserved and adhered to the planning and laws and regulations strictly. This method can be applied to the study of the spatial distribution in order to compare it with the distribution of schools, health centers and other services or infrastructures

Wideband Smaller Unit-Cell Planar EBG Structures and Their Application

A new low-cost smaller unit-cell planar electromagnetic bandgap (ERG) structure operating at the lower GHz frequencies (below 6 GHz) is proposed. ERG structures based on this new geometry are designed on a number of commonly available substrates. Characteristics of such structures, such as bandgap and reflection phase profile are analyzed. a simple empirical model is proposed to predict the surface wave stopband frequency of the proposed ERG structure. Finally, a low-profile dipole antenna is designed and tested for operation on the ERG structure

Exploring digital teaching tools, including the use of social media, to support teaching; perspectives of M.Pharm. students

Background: The School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of Bradford, is keen to evaluate the potential benefits of digital tools to enhance the teaching and learning of all M.Pharm. students. Students are increasingly using digital technology for both educational and social purposes (Cheston et al., 2013). This project explored the views of pharmacy students about digital technology, including social media, for teaching in the M.Pharm. programme. Method: Convenience sampling was employed to recruit M.Pharm. students for focus groups. Each focus group, facilitated by student researchers with topic guide, was audio-recorded and analysed for themes. Ethics approval was obtained from the University. Results: Year 2 and 3 students from two focus groups (n1=8 (6 male), n2=10 (8 male)) identified three main digital teaching tools used in the current programme: Blackboard, response clickers, and iSTAN. Blackboard, a virtual learning environment, was seen as a hub for holding all required learning materials. However, its use depended on internet access and some felt they would benefit from offline use and improved compatibility with different devices. Audience response systems and a human patient stimulator were well received by students. However, participants strongly felt that they were underutilised. The main benefit of using social media for learning was instant feedback and the encouragement of informal discussions. Participants were not always comfortable posting within the current digital tools used in the programme (e.g. Blackboard) as they felt ‘monitored’. However, participants acknowledged that information obtained through social media might not be as reliable as information from digital tools moderated by academics. Interestingly, participants reported a lack of engagement with programme specific social media pages (e.g. Facebook page). They felt that the information provided was aimed at qualified pharmacists, rather than current students. Conclusion: Participants valued accessibility, flexibility and availability of instant feedback when using digital tools to support their learning. They felt positive about the digital tools used within the programme but emphasised the need of greater integration. References Cheston, C.C., Flickinger, T.E. & Chisom, M.S. (2013). Social media use in medical education: a systematic review. Academic Medicine, 88(6), 893-90