Generalized Relativistic Wave Equations with Intrinsic Maximum Momentum

We examine the nonperturbative effect of maximum momentum on the relativistic wave equations. In momentum representation, we obtain the exact eigen-energies and wavefunctions of one-dimensional Klein-Gordon and Dirac equation with linear confining potentials, and the Dirac oscillator. Bound state solutions are only possible when the strength of scalar potential are stronger than vector potential. The energy spectrum of the systems studied are bounded from above, whereby classical characteristics are observed in the uncertainties of position and momentum operators. Also, there is a truncation in the maximum number of bound states that is allowed. Some of these quantum-gravitational features may have future applications.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Discounted Payback and Time to Breakeven Are Two Different Measures

The capital budgeting chapter teaches discounted payback as a corollary to net present value. Time-to-breakeven is taught in the time-value-money chapter which normally precedes the capital budgeting chapter. Due to myriad reasons, there are growing calls to simplify the curriculum by dropping the capital budgeting chapter as a requirement for non-finance majors to spend more time perfecting the delivery of the time-value-money chapter, which is a significant challenge to many students. This manuscript illustrates such calls are misplaced because the capital budgeting chapter is an essential chapter whose curricular contents include the discounted payback which is different and distinct from the time-to-breakeven taught in the time-value-money chapter

Medication use by early-stage breast cancer survivors: a 1-year longitudinal study.

PurposeThe aim of this study is to characterize the patterns of medication use by early-stage breast cancer (ESBC) survivors from diagnosis to 1 year post-chemotherapy.MethodsA single-center longitudinal study was conducted with ESBC patients diagnosed between December 2011 and June 2014. Data on the medication use of individual patients were retrieved from prescription databases, supplemented by records from the National Electronic Health Records. The data covered the period from ESBC diagnosis to 1 year post-chemotherapy. Medication types were classified according to the World Health Organization's Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system, and medication for chronic diseases was created by adapting a list of 20 chronic diseases provided by the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services.ResultsOf the 107 patients involved in the study (mean age 51.1 ± 8.4 years; 78.5 % Chinese), 46.7 % manifested non-cancer comorbidities, of which hypertension (24.3 %) was the most prevalent, followed by hyperlipidemia (13.1 %) and diabetes (5.6 %). Calcium channel blockers (12.1 %) and lipid-modifying agents (11.2 %) were the most common chronic medication types used before chemotherapy, and their use persisted during chemotherapy (10.3 and 11.2 %, respectively) and after chemotherapy (11.2 and 13.1 %, respectively). Hormonal therapy was the predominant post-chemotherapy medication (77.6 %). A statistically significant increase (p < 0.0001) was observed in the mean number of chronic disease medication classes prescribed to patients between the pre-chemotherapy (0.53 ± 1.04) and chemotherapy (0.62 ± 1.08) periods and between the chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy (1.63 ± 1.35) periods.ConclusionsThere is an increase in trend of chronic medication usage in breast cancer survivors after cancer treatment. This study provides important insights into the design of medication management programs tailored to this population. Future studies should incorporate a control population to improve the interpretation of study results

Design and Analysis of a Dynamic Space-Code Multiple Access with Large Area Synchronous Scheme Using the Smart Antenna System

The most important property in wireless systems, when it comes to increase the system capacity and spectrum efficiency, is eliminating interference. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is considered interference-limited system. Spatial filtering using smart antenna has emerged as a promising technique to improve the performance of cellular communication systems; hence, Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) has recently received increasing interest in improving the performance of wireless systems. These interference-limited systems are susceptible to time of arrival (TOA) and angle of arrival (AOA) of individual user signals, thus, a non-uniform traffic can severely degrade the performance of CDMA and SDMA systems. In this thesis, new approach of the joint multiple access system arising from the combination of CDMA and SDMA systems is designed, and its system performances are then investigated. An innovative approach to eliminate the existing interferences in this joint multiple access system is proposed. The spreading sequences of Large Area Synchronous Even Ternary (LAS-ET) which exhibited an interference free window (IFW) in their correlation are exploited here. The spatial signature from smart antenna narrower beam is exploited to drive all the multipath propagation signals to arrive within the IFW in reverse link transmission. The size of IFW is adaptable with the size of smart antenna beamwidth through dynamic space code (DSC) algorithm. Hence, this double signatures scheme forms a novel multiple access scheme called Dynamic Space Code Multiple Access (DSCMA) system. From the nature of spatial filtering of smart antenna systems, a dynamic sequence reuse assignment is possible in DSCMA to increase its spectrum efficiency. The non-zero pulse intervals and sequence length of LAS-ET are arranged in even numbers which has demonstrated some performance improvements in ternary phase shift keying (TPSK) signalling. On the other hand, the combined spreading sequence and spatial signature scheme also prompts a possibility of developing a novel Space Division Duplexing (SDD) scheme. The reverse and forward links are transmitted within a narrower beam of smart antenna, and both links are distinguished by different LAS-ET sequences. The simulation results indicate that the reverse link system capacity in DSCMA using LAS-ET spreading sequences together with smart antenna system is increased dramatically compared to traditional binary spreading sequences. The results also showed that the spectrum efficiency of DSCMA is increased when the number of elements in smart antenna system is increased. Finally, it can be concluded that the system capacity and spectrum efficiency are increased significantly from DSCMA using smart antenna systems due to its perfect interference cancellation scheme

The Role Of The Microflora And Microfauna Communities In The Production Of Udang Galah (Macrobrachium Rosenbergii (De Man) Juveniles Using The 'Modified Static "Green-Water" System'

The modified static " green-water " system ' for the production of udang galah juveniles was developed by Ang and Cheah (1986) .However , studies on the microbial community are scant . There fore , experiments were conducted to study the functioning of the 'modified static " green-water " system ' with respect to the microflora and microfauna community and the effect of light intensity on the system.Four series of experiments were conducted at various light intensities to study the effect of light intensity on the system with respect to community structure . Experiments were conducted for the duration of the larviculture period which ranged from 20 to 25 days . Results were compared using Morosita's index of similarity

Principal Leadership and Educational Excellence

This study, which was qualitative in nature, seek to find a better understanding on how and why the seven experienced secondary school principals being interviewed, who were considered to be high performers, had run their schools successfully and efficiently. Data collected was organized into different themes and categories, which was then compared to various school leadership and management theories observed in the literature. The main literature and research finding which prompted this survey were: i) the concept of school leadership as suggested by Pounder et. al. (1995), where the researchers contented that school leaders might include the Principal, senior teachers, parents or even students; ii) the concept of 'policy leadership' as suggested by Azahari (1994); and iii) the Burke-Litwin's Model of change and performance (1992). In this study, seven experienced secondary school principals (having a 00-2 grade in average) in and around the Klang valley were interviewed and asked on a series of questions regarding current educational issues and topics. Additional information was obtained through observations and documents in the schools. This study was intended to categorize opinions and experiences of the principals so as to have a better understanding on the concept of 'effectiveness' in their schools and its relation to certain traits of the principals. Hence data collected was used to facilitate the discovery of knowledge about how leadership behaviour of administrators was organized. This was then discussed under six main categories, namely: 1) the principals' perceptions of their leadership roles and responsibilities; 2) the principals' perceptions on educational policies; 3) the principals' perceptions on role accountability; 4) the principals' perceptions on management theories; 5) the principals' administrative approaches; and 6) the principals' approaches to improve school effectiveness. Some of the opinions of the principals interviewed were summarized as follow: 1) School effectiveness depended on the academic achievement of the schools, and it depended on the 'input' or the qualities of the students; 2) The 'popularity' of a school does not equate to its effectiveness; 3) The objectives of the schools were more 'shaped' and 'influenced' by the aspirations of the parents, rather than the national objectives of the country; 4) School principals do not participate in deciding on policy' matters, as these are decided at the top. The school principals are 'policy leaders'; 5) Performing principals had the capability of exercising the 'limited power' as policy leaders to instruct their subordinates to perform. This they do it through the exercise of' informal powers' like being informative, leadership by example, having a 'good network' with the people in high positions etc.; 6) The New Remuneration System (SSB) is good in theory, but it is tedious and time-consuming to have it fully carried out in the schools; 7) The SMART-school concept was received generally with skepticism. The concept was perceived as one that links to high-tech aids like computers, Internet communications etc. 8) Soliciting external funds was of the utmost priority and responsibility of the ambitious school principals; 9) School principals and school leadership should have a shift in the paradigm to adjust to the changing times of the Information Technology era and 10) School principals should be leaders and managers in their own right

Design and Analysis of Phased Array Antenna Beam Steering For Satellite Tracking

Nowadays achievements on mobile satellite system (MSS) communication give a great concern for research in global wireless communication fields. This has prompted the development of several Non Geostationary Earth Orbit (Non-GEO) satellite systems that promises worldwide connectivity for real-time communications. The mobility of Non-GEO satellite systems require a high directivity satellite tracking technique and a reliable inter satellite handover algorithm to ensure that connectivity between two end users are not interrupted as a result of satellite movement. In this thesis, phased array antenna has been proposed to obtain high directivity beam for satellite tracking. In order to do this, the phased array antenna mathematical model has been developed. This mathematical model has demonstrated that a narrow beam with high directivity could be generated. By changing the phase of the exciting currents in each element of antenna array, the radiation pattern could be varied through space. Thus, the generation of multiple and steerable beams also could be depicted by varying the phase shift of phase shifter with appropriate spacing between each elements to be sufficiently large. It is also shown here that the generated radiation beamwidth can be controlled by varying the number of antenna elements. It was found that the beamwidth reduces exponentially with the increment of the number of antenna elements

Recovery of interest / financing charges due to prolongation in construction contract

It is a common occurrence for construction contracts to be delayed for one reason or another. This may be due to neutral event that beyond the control of the contracting parties or due to some act of prevention that cause by the employer or its authorized agent. In some circumstances, contractor requires more working capital and longer duration to accomplish the project is both increased and had to deployed over a longer period of time. As a result, when the project is prolonged, the contractor has to necessarily sustain cost of his working capital to ensure the contract can be fulfilled over the additional period of delay. Under the general principle of common law, financial loss in the form of interest charges is not recoverable without any express contractual or statutory provisions except claim under special damages. Since there are no express provision under the contract, can the additional interest/ financing charges incurred recoverable under ‘loss and/or expense’ provision? Hence, this research is conducted to reducing the uncertainty and difficulties in the event of recovery of interest/finance charges in the event the project is prolonged and additional working capital is required to sustain the project. This study classified as doctrinal research is an essentially a library-based study. It was found that interest which contractor has suffered during the period between the loss and/or expense being incurred and the making of an application for reimbursement is recoverable. It is also important to serve a notice to the contract administrator to inform the disruption of the regular progress of the work under loss and/or expense clause in the successful recovery of interest/financing charges

Assessment of externally bounded fibre reinforced polymer strengthening reinforced concrete beams at elevated temperature using finite element modelling

Over the years, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) had been found as one of the structural rehabilitation methods that widely used in infrastructures and buildings to strengthen and retrofit the reinforced concrete (RC) structural elements such as RC beams. However, the mechanical properties of FRP such as strength and stiffness as well as the bonding interface between FRP and concrete will be badly deteriorated when exposed to high temperature. This study is to assess the thermal-structural behaviour of insulated FRP strengthened RC beam exposed to elevated temperature using numerical modelling ABAQUS. The proposed numerical model of 200mm x 300mm RC beam subjected to 2 hours standard fire time-dependent curve (ISO 834) had been validated with the experimental test data carried out by previous study. The validated numerical model then is used in parametric study to investigate the behaviour of fire damaged normal strength concrete (40MPa) and high strength concrete (60MPa)of reinforced concrete beam strengthened with FRP using various fire insulation thickness of 0mm, 12.5mm, 25mm and 40mm respectively. The result of steel characteristic strength reduction factor is compared with analytical using 500?C Isotherm methods. The parametric studies indicated that the fire insulation layer is essential to provide fire protection to the CFRP strengthened RC beams when exposed to elevated temperature. The insulation layer thickness of 25mm had been found to be the optimum thickness to be used as it is able to meet the criteria in term of temperature distribution, displacement requirement and retention of beam mechanical properties regardless the use of normal or high strength concrete. In conclusion, the numerical model developed using the FE software (ABAQUS) in this study is able to carry out assessment on the thermal-structural behaviour of the insulated CFRP-strengthened RC beams at elevated temperature