Compact patch MIMO antenna with low mutual coupling for WLAN applications

A compact triband microstrip patch MIMO antenna is proposed for WLAN applications. The antenna consists of two patches antenna elements, which are orthogonally placed to each other for high isolation at 2.4, 2.8 and 5.8 GHz frequency bands. On its ground plane, a Complementary Split Ring Resonators (CSRRs) is etched for size reduction and multiband generation. The proposed compact MIMO antenna covers an entire size of 58 x 45 x 1.6 mm3, with the patch size of 13.3 x 17.1 mm2. A 79% size reduction at 2.45 GHz was achieved for miniaturization, with a very low mutual coupling (S21 and S12) of -32 dB at all bands

Fabrication of Tm2O3/Al2O3-silica preform by improved MCVD-chelate delivery system

The fabrication of Tm/Al-doped silica preforms by an improved MCVD method with metal chelate precursors is discussed. Two fabrication techniques are employed, namely; simultaneous soot-dopant deposition (or standard MCVD) and stepwise soot-dopant deposition. The preforms are characterized by refractive index profiler and EPMA. The results show that the stepwise soot-dopant technique has a higher incorporation of Al2O3 and Tm2O3 as compared to the simultaneous soot-dopant method. This is due to the drawbacks of our chelate delivery system such as the temperature gradient and flow design. For the stepwise technique, the measured index difference of the preform is 0.006 with 0.8 wt% (maximum) Tm incorporated in the core

Detection of Koi herpesvirus (KHV) in Cyprinius carpio (Koi) stocks using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

Koi herpesvirus (KHV), which is also known as Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) infection, is an OIE(international des epizootis) listed disease that caused high losses in common and koi carp in Indonesiaand Japan in 2002 and 2003. Since the mid of 2006, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been usedin Malaysia for surveillance of koi fingerlings to detect virus nucleic acid, but it has been found to produceunreliable results. Following this, an alternative enzyme-link immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique forthe detection of antibody against KHV was used to find evidence of KHV infection in koi carp stocks on farmsthat had been sampled for the PCR. For this purpose, a total of 245 serum samples from koi carp stocks werecollected and tested for the antibody to KHV by the ELISA at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries andAquaculture Science (CEFAS) laboratory, Weymouth, UK. Two hundred and eight samples were found to benegative but 37 others were either definitely positive or close to borderline positive and all were retested. Thefinal results showed that 222 (90%) samples were confirmed as negative and 19 (8%) others were definitelypositive. Meanwhile, four samples (1.6%) were positive at dilutions of 1:400 or 1:200, but cross reactionswith CyHV-1 (causing herpesviral epidermal hyperplasia) could have occurred at those dilutions. Three of thesamples were the only positive fish at two sites, but the fourth sample came from a site at which there were 4definite positive samples (from 20 fish sampled). Thus this study confirmed that Malaysian koi stocks havepreviously been exposed to KHV. With the lack of bio-security measures and awareness, there was a highprobability that the koi carp had been exposed to KHV, leading to subclinical infections and some fish mightpossibly have become carriers of the virus. Hence, further surveillance needs to be conducted to determinethe true situation of the KHV infection in Malaysia

Effects of biomaterials keratin-gelatin and basic fibroblast growth factor-gelatin composite film on wound healing in dogs

Eighteen clinically healthy dogs weighing 10-15 kg body weight were used in this study over a 20-day period. They were allocated randomly into 3 groups of 6 animals each. After the creation of 5 cm x 5cm open wound, Group I was control treated with Gentamycin ointment. Groups II and ill were treated with keratin-gelatin and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-gelatin composite film respectively. On application, the keratin-gelatin and bFGF-gelatin composite film were well accepted by the animals without any adverse reaction. On clinical examination, Group II showed bright beefy red color granulation tissue with angiogenesis when compared to Groups I and ill. On bacteriological examination, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas, Escherichia coli, Proteus and Klebsiella species were isolated from all the groups. Mean percentage of epithelialisation, wound contraction and total healing were significantly better in Group II (P<0.05). Keratin is a biocompatible protein which does not interfere with the body's normal immunologic response and therefore it can be used in extensive wounds and also in non healing chronic wounds which need a trigger to stimulate the normal healing process. In extensive wounds when there is lack of autologous tissue, biomaterials like keratin-gelatin may be beneficial and can be used

Preliminary investigation of myo-inositol phosphates produced by ASUIA279 phytase on MCF-7 cancer cells.

Phytate or myo-inositol hexakisphosphates (IP6) is widely distributed in plants like rice brans. The production of myo-inositol phosphate intermediates has received much attention due to the remarkable potential health benefits offered by the compounds. In this study, the cytotoxicity of the partially purified myo-inositol phosphate fractions and commercial IP1 and IP6 were investigated against MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The study showed that the commercial standard IP1 and IP6 showed good inhibition towards the MCF-7 cell line. The MCF-7 cells growth was inhibited in minimum concentration of myo-inositol phosphates (<1000 µg/ml). However, no inhibition observed on the MCF-7 cell line by the myo-inositol phosphates fractions partially purified from rice bran at concentration <1000 ?g/ml. The inhibition of MCF-7 was only observed at concentration more than 30 mg/ml with more than 40% cells were inhibited. This indicates that the partially purified rice bran myo-inositol phosphates degraded by ASUIA279 phytase on MCF-7 breast cancer cells exhibit positive results towards the inhibition of cancer cells growth at relatively high concentration

Study of artificial intelligence into checkers game using HTML and Javascript

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the game industry matures and continues to expand due to its capabilities to explore and exploit in bringing gaming to life. In this paper, we described the game design for the game Checkers, which is developed by using an AI heuristic approach using HTML and JavaScript. A group of people chosen in this study to test the game, which is a validation process to confirm that the game goes as per requirement. The testing activity ends after the final bug fix and the result shows that the game executes properly as expected. The result indicates that the game meets the objective of the system, which is the game, may learn and explore by itself as a heuristic element

First report of brown widow spider sightings in Peninsular Malaysia and notes on its global distribution

Background The brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus Koch, 1841) has colonised many parts of the world from its continent of origin, Africa. By at least 1841, the species had successfully established populations in South America and has more recently expanded its range to the southern states of North America. This highly adaptable spider has been far more successful in finding its niche around the world than its famous cousins, the black widow, Latrodectus mactans, found in the south-eastern states of North America, and the red-back, Latrodectus hasselti, found mostly in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Methods We performed an extensive web search of brown widow sightings and mapped the location of each sighting using ArcGIS. Specimens reputedly of the species L. geometricus were collected at three localities in Peninsular Malaysia. The spiders were identified and documented based on an examination of morphological characteristics and DNA barcoding. Results The spiders found in Peninsular Malaysia were confirmed to be Latrodectus geometricus based on their morphological characteristics and DNA barcodes. We recorded 354 sightings of the brown widow in 58 countries, including Peninsular Malaysia. Conclusion Reports from the Americas and the Far East suggest a global-wide invasion of the brown widow spider. Herein we report the arrival of the brown widow spider in Peninsular Malaysia and provide notes on the identification of the species and its recently expanded range