Innovative Techniques for 60-GHz On-Chip Antennas on CMOS Substrate

The 60-GHz band has a 7-GHz of bandwidth enabling high data rate wireless communication. Also, it has a short wavelength allowing for passive devices integration into a chip, that is, fully integrated system-on-chip (SOC) is possible. This chapter features the design, implementation, and measurements of 60-GHz on-chip antennas (OCAs) on complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. OCAs are the primary barrier for the SOC solution due to their limited performance. This degraded performance comes from the low resistivity and the high permittivity of the CMOS substrate. We present here two innovative techniques to improve the CMOS OCAs’ performance. The first method utilizes artificial magnetic conductors to shield the OCA electromagnetically from the CMOS substrate. The second methodology employs the PN-junction properties to create a high resistivity layer. Both approaches target the mitigation of the losses of the CMOS substrate; hence, the radiation performance characteristics of the OCAs are enhanced

Exact αs\alpha _s Calculation of b→s+γb\rightarrow s + \gamma , \ b→s+gb\rightarrow s + g

We present an exact $\alpha_s$ calculation of the Wilson coefficients associated with the dipole moment operators. We also give an estimate of the branching ratio for $b\rightarrow s \gamma$. We find that higher dimensional effects are under control within $9\%$ for $BR(b\rightarrow s \gamma)=(4.3\pm 0.37 )\times 10^{-4}$.Comment: 12 pages (plain TeX), 2 postscript figures available upon request. UM-TH-93-20 , IP-ASTP-29-9

Oil palm leaf fibre and its suitability for paper-based products

Due to the shortage of wood as origin materials for paper-based production, agro-residue materials have been explored in the quest of finding the best alternative fibre. Oil palm leaf (OPL) is one of agro-residue that has potential due to its comparable characteristics with wood fibre. Studies on chemical compositions, fibre morphology, and mechanical property of OPL have been carried out aiming to evaluate its potential as a substitute raw material for pulp and paper-based production. The chemical compositions were analysed according to the TAPPI standard, Kurscher-Hoffner and chlorite methods accordingly. The mechanical property (tensile, tearing and bursting strengths) were determined as described in TAPPI test methods. Fibre dimensions were determined using Franklin method and analysed under the optical microscope. The content of cellulose in the OPL is determined to be 43.8%. Although, this result is lower than wood fibre (53%), OPL has higher hemicellulose content (36.4%) than the wood fibre (27.5%). In addition, the lignin content (19.7%) of OPL is in the low range of those in wood resources (18 - 25%). These parameters are important components to produce good quality pulp and will provide high mechanical strength of the paper-based products. The measured fibre length of oil palm leaf (1.13 mm) is shorter than the wood fibre (1.90 mm). Meanwhile, the mechanical property of OPL showed lower indexes than wood resources, however, tear (1.80 mN.m2/g) and burst (0.95 kPa.m2/g) indexes of OPL are higher than other published and successful wood resources (Eucalyptus). Based on the analyses, the oil palm leaf is indeed a suitable alternative of raw material for pulp and paper-based industries

The impact of smoking on inflammatory biomarkers in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

AbstractBackgroundChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible (Nillawar et al., 2012). The pathophysiology of COPD is not completely understood. Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Elevated CRP has been increasingly used as a surrogate marker of systemic inflammation in diverse conditions. TNF-α, a powerful pro-inflammatory cytokine primarily produced by activated macrophages, is thought to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of COPD (Higashimoto et al., 2008; Churg et al., 2002).The aim of the workTo evaluate the impact of smoking on inflammatory biomarkers and relations between these biomarkers and the decline of lung function in COPD patients.MethodsThis case–control observational prospective study was conducted on fifty-eight clinically stable COPD patients (26 non-smokers and 32 current smokers; at different stages ranged from mild to very severe), their mean age 53.1±14.25 and 53.9±5.95years respectively), recruited from Chest Department, Assiut University Hospitals. All patients met the Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) (Battaglia et al., 2007). All participants were subjected to thorough history taking, full clinical examination, anthropometric measurements with spirometry and chest X-ray. Peripheral hemogram, liver function tests, kidney function tests, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs CRP) and serum level of TNF-α were measured for both patients and controls.ResultsThe concentrations of circulating hs-CRP and TNF-α, were highly significantly elevated in patients with COPD in comparison to the control group (3.74±0.2 vs. 1.30±0.14 for hs-CRP; 33.88±5.97 vs. 8.79±0. 57 for TNF-α with p<0.0001 for each) and the levels of measured TNF-α were significantly increased with the increased degree and severity of COPD and increased severity of smoking status. Regarding the smoking status of COPD patients, there was a highly significant difference for the measured TNF-α (53. 74±9.52 versus 12.73±1.20 with p<0.0001) with no significant difference for the measured hs-CRP (3.87±0.29 versus 3.58±0.27 with p>0.05). Interestingly, there were significant negative correlations between the levels of TNF-α and hs-CRP, and FEV1 in stages II, III, and IV of COPD.ConclusionsThe circulating levels of the inflammatory markers hs-CRP and TNF-alpha are significantly elevated in patients with stable COPD and these biomarkers could be used as predictor factors for severity of inflammation in COPD patients. Longitudinal studies evaluating the effects of smoking cessation on bronchial and systemic inflammation are needed to allow better understanding of these relationships and their consequences

Synthesis, characterization, and Optical properties of 3, 3', 3'', 3'''-tetra poly (1, 4-diaminobenzen phthalate) phthalocyanine copper (II) thin films prepared by spin-coating method

In the present work a thin film of new 3, 3', 3'', 3'''-tetra poly (1, 4-diaminobenzen phthalate) phthalocyanine copper (II)  (300–900 nm) have been prepared by spin-coating technique and studied the optical properties. The optical properties and optical constants have been investigated means of transmittance and reflectance spectra were measured in the wavelength range (300-900) nm. The optical energy gap Eg was estimated from the absorption coefficient values using Tauc’s procedure. The optical absorption spectra shows that the absorption mechanism is a direct allowed transition. The oscillator energy Eo, dispersion energy Ed and other parameters have been determined by the Wemple–DiDomenico method

Heavy fermions and two loop electroweak corrections to b→s+γb\rightarrow s+\gamma

Applying effective Lagrangian method and on-shell scheme, we analyze the electroweak corrections to the rare decay $b\rightarrow s+\gamma$ from some special two loop diagrams in which a closed heavy fermion loop is attached to the virtual charged gauge bosons or Higgs. At the decoupling limit where the virtual fermions in inner loop are much heavier than the electroweak scale, we verify the final results satisfying the decoupling theorem explicitly when the interactions among Higgs and heavy fermions do not contain the nondecoupling couplings. Adopting the universal assumptions on the relevant couplings and mass spectrum of new physics, we find that the relative corrections from those two loop diagrams to the SM theoretical prediction on the branching ratio of $B\rightarrow X_{_s}\gamma$ can reach 5% as the energy scale of new physics $\Lambda_{_{\rm NP}}=200$ GeV.Comment: 30 pages,4 figure

Hamiltonian Approach to 2D Dilaton-Gravities and Invariant Adm Mass

The formula existing in the literature for the ADM mass of 2D dilaton gravity is incomplete. For example, in the case of an infalling matter shockwave this formula fails to give a time-independent mass, unless a very special coordinate system is chosen. We carefully carry out the canonical formulation of 2D dilaton gravity theories (classical, CGHS and RST). As in 4D general relativity one must add a boundary term to the bulk Hamiltonian to obtain a well-defined variational problem. This boundary term coincides with the numerical value of the Hamiltonian and gives the correct mass which obviously is time-independent.Comment: revised, 12 pages, PUPT-1379; we added a reference and corrected some minor typo

Multi-Objective Optimization of AISI P20 Mold Steel Machining in Dry Conditions Using Machine Learning—TOPSIS Approach

In the present research, AISI P20 mold steel was processed using the milling process. The machining parameters considered in the present work were speed, depth of cut (DoC), and feed (F). The experiments were designed according to an L$_{27}$ orthogonal array; therefore, a total of 27 experiments were conducted with different settings of machining parameters. The response parameters investigated in the present work were material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (Ra, Rt, and Rz), power consumption (PC), and temperature (Temp). The machine learning (ML) approach was implemented for the prediction of response parameters, and the corresponding error percentage was investigated between experimental values and predicted values (using the ML approach). The technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach was used to normalize all response parameters and convert them into a single performance index (Pi). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted using the design of experiments, and the optimized setting of machining parameters was investigated. The optimized settings suggested by the integrated ML–TOPSIS approach were as follows: speed, 150 m/min; DoC, 1 mm; F, 0.06 mm/tooth. The confirmation results using these parameters suggested a close agreement and confirmed the suitability of the proposed approach in the parametric evaluation of a milling machine while processing P20 mold steel. It was found that the maximum percentage error between the predicted and experimental values using the proposed approach was 3.43%