Cloud cover, cloud liquid water and cloud attenuation at Ka and V bands over equatorial climate

Cloud cover statistics and their diurnal variation have been obtained from in situ and satellite measurements for three equatorial locations. Cloud liquid water content, 0 °C isotherm height and cloud attenuation have also been obtained from radiosonde measurement using the so-called Salonen model at Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). The results show a strong seasonal variation of cloud cover and cloud liquid water content on the two monsoon seasons. The Liquid Water Content (LWC) obtained from radiosonde and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) is higher during the Northeast Monsoon season, which corresponds to the period of higher percentage cloud cover and high rainfall accumulation. The International Telecommunication Union—Region (ITU-R) model underestimates the cumulative distribution of LWC values at the present station. The relationship of the cloud attenuation, derived from the profiles of liquid water density and temperature within the cloud, shows an underestimate by the data obtained from the ITU-R model. The cloud attenuation at Kuala Lumpur is somewhat underestimated by the ITU-R model up to about 1.2 dB at Ka (30 GHz) and 3.4 dB at V (50 GHz) bands. The results of the specific attenuation can be used for the estimation of cloud attenuation at microwave and millimetre wave over earth-space paths. The present data are important for planning and design of satellite communications at Ka and V bands on the Earth–space path in the equatorial region

Some preliminary results of the fine structure profiles of radio refractivity near the surface at Ota, Southwest Nigeria

Some preliminary results are presented of the fine structure profiles of surface radio refractivity, Ns, over Ota, Southwest Nigeria (6° 42'N, 3° 14'E) computed from in-situ, one minute interval measurements of surface pressure, temperature and relative humidity. A wireless Davis Vantage Pro2 Weather Station instrument installed at the Department of Physics, Covenant University, Ota in April 2012, was used to obtain the measured variables. Hourly, daily and monthly average values of surface water vapour density, dry, wet and total radio refractivity were obtained for the months of April 2012 to March 2013. The distance to the radio horizon for a given transmitter height may be deduced from the observation that Ns is well correlated with the gradient of refractivity over the first kilometer above ground. Refractivity gradients utilized for the work were those obtained in a previous work for Oshodi, a meteorological weather station near the coast and close to Ota

An evaluation of pharmacy education and pre-registration training

This thesis covers two major aspects of pharmacy education; undergraduate education and pre-registration training. A cohort of pharmacy graduates were surveyed over a period of four years, on issues related to undergraduate education, pre-registration training and continuing education. These graduates were the first-ever to sit the pre-registration examination. In addition, the opinions of pre-registration tutors were obtained on pre-registration training, during the year that competence-based assessment was introduced. It was concluded that although the undergraduate course provided a broad base of knowledge suitable for graduates in all branches of pharmacy, several issues were identified which would require attention in future developments of the course. These were: 1. the strong support for the expansion of clinical, social and practice-based teaching. 2. the strong support to retain the scientific content to the same extent as in the three-year course. 3. a greater use of problem-based learning methods. The graduates supported the provision of a pre-registration continuing education course to help prepare for the examination and in areas inadequately covered in the undergraduate course. There was also support for the introduction of some form of split branch training. There was no strong evidence to suggest that the training had been an application of undergraduate education. In general, competence-based training was well regarded by tutors as an appropriate and effective method of skill assessment. However, community tutors felt it was difficult to carry out effectively due to day-to-day time constraints. The assistant tutors in hospital pharmacy were found to have a very important role in provision of training, and should be adequately trained and supported. The study recommends the introduction of uniform training and a quality assurance mechanism for all tutors and assistants undertaking this role

Optimizing the use of oral anticoagulant therapy for atrial fibrilation in primary care: a pharmacist-led intervention.

Background: Updated evidence-based guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation (AF) necessitate patient review, particularly with respect to oral anticoagulants, to ensure maximum health gain around stroke prophylaxis. Objective To quantify the level of anticoagulation utilisation in patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc≥1/≥2 (male/female) according to evidence-based guidelines and to assess the impact of a pharmacist-led intervention to optimise therapy. Setting: Fifteen general medical practices in Liverpool, North-West England with a practice population of 99,129. Method GRASP-AF software was employed to interrogate patient electronic medical records to identify and risk stratify AF patients (using CHA2DS2-VASc). A pharmacist then reviewed the medical records of those of patients not anticoagulated and with a CHA2DS2-VASc≥1/≥2 (male/female). Recommendations were discussed with a general practitioner (GP) and those patients in whom the need for anticoagulation was agreed were invited for a consultation with either the pharmacist or GP and therapy optimised where appropriate. The GPs were responsible for managing those patients referred for diagnosis confirmation or further specialist opinion. Main outcome measure: Proportion of patients eligible/not eligible for anticoagulation; proportions in whom anticoagulants initiated, refused, antiplatelets discontinued. Results: Five hundred and twenty-three patients (31% of patients identified with AF and a CHA2DS2-VASc≥1/≥2 (male/female)) were not receiving an anticoagulant (26 subsequently died or left the practice leaving 497). Three hundred and eighty-two (77%) pharmacist recommendations to a GP were agreed without modification. Following outcomes of diagnostic investigations and specialist referrals, 202 (41%) patients were candidates for anticoagulation, 251 (51%) were not eligible for anticoagulation, 103 (21%) were anticoagulated (56 warfarin, 47 DOAC). Conclusion: A pharmacist-led intervention re-aligned oral anticoagulant therapy to the latest evidence based guidelines for stroke prophylaxis, whilst simultaneously correcting the over-utilisation of antiplatelet therapy

On the accuracy of the Perturbative Approach for Strong Lensing: Local Distortion for Pseudo-Elliptical Models

The Perturbative Approach (PA) introduced by \citet{alard07} provides analytic solutions for gravitational arcs by solving the lens equation linearized around the Einstein ring solution. This is a powerful method for lens inversion and simulations in that it can be used, in principle, for generic lens models. In this paper we aim to quantify the domain of validity of this method for three quantities derived from the linearized mapping: caustics, critical curves, and the deformation cross section (i.e. the arc cross section in the infinitesimal circular source approximation). We consider lens models with elliptical potentials, in particular the Singular Isothermal Elliptic Potential and Pseudo-Elliptical Navarro--Frenk--White models. We show that the PA is exact for this first model. For the second, we obtain constraints on the model parameter space (given by the potential ellipticity parameter $\varepsilon$ and characteristic convergence $\kappa_s$) such that the PA is accurate for the aforementioned quantities. In this process we obtain analytic expressions for several lensing functions, which are valid for the PA in general. The determination of this domain of validity could have significant implications for the use of the PA, but it still needs to be probed with extended sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Tumor metastasis to bone

Establishment of skeletal metastasis involves bidirectional interactions between the tumor cell and the cellular elements in the bone microenvironment. A better understanding of the pathophysiology of bone metastasis will be critical in developing the means to prevent bone metastasis or inhibit its progression. The receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB (RANK)/RANK ligand pathway has emerged as the key pathway regulating osteolysis in skeletal metastasis. A number of candidate factors, including the Wnt (wingless int) proteins, endothelin-1, and bone morphogenetic proteins, have been implicated in the establishment of osteoblastic metastasis. The complex nature of tumor-bone microenvironment interactions and the presence of multiple pathways that lead to bone metastasis suggests that simultaneous targeting of these pathways in the metastatic cascade are required for effective treatment. This review discusses current understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms that underlie the establishment of bone metastasis and potential molecular therapeutic strategies for prevention and treatment of bone metastasis

FPOA Implementation for WSN Energy Efficient Routing

In this paper,a soft computing technique Flower Pollination optimization Algorithm(FPOA) for WSN is proposed.The Sensor Network is heterogeneous in nature. Proposed algorithm is designed and implemented in MATLAB.In this technique some nodes send data directly to base station as local pollination and some by Multihop Routing as global pollination. A routing scheme is process which helps in minimizing the energy consumption. We implemented FPOA and compared the results with techniques that are already developed.(Low Energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH), Stable Election Protocol (SEP) and Zonal-Stable Election Protocol (Z-SEP) Simulation results show that FPOA enhance first node dead time, throughput and overall energy consumes less than existing protocols like LEACH, SEP and Z-SE

Impact of Septoplasty on hearing and middle ear function

Background: Deviated nasal septum affects hearing and middle ear ventilation by altering eustachain tube function. It leads to ear fullness, affects middle ear ventilation and impacts hearing. Septoplasty is commonly done for deviated septum. So, this study aims to find out if Septoplasty can lead to improvement of hearing and middle ear function and reduce patients ear complaints.Methods: Patients with Deviated nasal septum requiring septoplasty surgery were assessed for ear symptoms, hearing and middle ear pressure by detailed history taking, pure tone audiometry and tympanometry. They then underwent septoplasty and were again assessed post operatively after 2days, 4weeks, 8weeks and 12weeks of surgery. The pre-and post-operative results were compared and analysed.Results: The most common symptom in patients at pre-operative visit was ear fullness and hearing loss was of conductive type. Post operatively there was worsening of symptoms, hearing and middle ear functions after 2days but marked improvement was seen in symptom of ear fullness, conductive hearing and normalisation of middle ear pressure at 8-12weeks after surgery.Conclusions: Septoplasty improves hearing and middle ear function in patients with deviated nasal septum and the improvement is seen 8 to 12weeks after surgery