A novel design of circularly polarized pentagonal planar antenna for ISM band applications

This paper presents a new circular polarized micro-strip antenna with a pentagonal shape radiator. The proposed antenna is designed to operate in the industrial scientific medical (ISM) band at the frequency of 2.45GHz for Wireless applications. The antenna consists of a radiating pentagon patch with appropriate dimensions on the upper side of a dielectric substrate and a defective ground structure (DGS) on the other side. The pentagon patch is fed through a 50Ω microstrip line. The structure is implemented on an FR-4 substrate with a relative permittivity of 4.4, loss tangent equal to 0.025 and thickness 1.58 mm. The antenna is designed and simulated by using advanced design system (ADS) electromagnetic solver and the achieved results are validated by using another electromagnetic solver. The simulation results indicate that the designed circularly polarized (CP) pentagonal microstrip patch antenna gives good results in terms of the reflection coefficient, voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and, axial ratio of 1.025 at 2.45 GHz

A New Planar Multiband Antenna for GPS, ISM and WiMAX Applications

In this paper a design of a new antenna with modified ground plane is validated for multiband applications. The proposed modified ground structure is incorporated with a patch antenna to boost the performance. The antenna’s entire area is 59.5x47mm2 and is printed on an FR-4 substrate and fed by a 50 Ohm microstrip line.  This structure is validated in the GPS (1.56-1.58 GHz) band at 1.57 GHz, in the ISM (2.43-2.49 GHz) band at 2.45GHz and in the WiMAX (3.50-3.56 GHz) band at 3.53 GHz. These three frequency bands have good matching input impedance for, S11≤-10 dB. The antenna presents a good performance in terms of radiation pattern, and it is designed, optimized, and miniaturized by using CST-MW whose results are compared with other solvers HFSS and ADS. The results obtained by the use of the three EM solvers are in good agreement. After realization, we have tested and validated this antenna. The measurement results of the antenna present a good agreement with the numerical results

The barite ore deposits of Bou Ouzzal (Moroccan Hercynian Massif-Central)

The deposit of Bou Ouzzal’s barite is located in the eastern extreme of the Moroccan Hercynian Massif- Central, to approximately 7 km to the south of Khénifra. The mineralization occurs in the paleozoic schists and late Visean limestones. The barite appears in the shape of veins and karst associated with oxides and iron hydroxides. This deposit is distinguished by his great heterogeneity and the variability of his composition. In spite of the fact that the region has been an object of numbers mining works from 1922, date in which the deposit was discovered, the analytical studies are scarce and half-close to the mineralization. The aim of the present note is concentrated on the detailed description of the different generations of barite, his distribution and relation with the iron’s minerals. The samples have been studied by polarizing microscopy, SEM, XRD, XRF and EPMA. This work is the preliminary result of the collaboration established between the University Mohammed VAgdal and the University Complutense of Madrid within the framework of the Spanish-Moroccan Intervarsity Cooperation’s program of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation «AECI

Fractional order sliding mode controller based on supervised machine learning techniques for speed control of PMSM

Tracking the speed and current in permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) for industrial applications is challenging due to various external and internal disturbances such as parameter variations, unmodelled dynamics, and external load disturbances. Inaccurate tracking of speed and current results in severe system deterioration and overheating. Therefore, the design of the controller for a PMSM is essential to ensure the system can operate efficiently under conditions of parametric uncertainties and significant variations. The present work proposes a PMSM speed controller using machine learning (ML) techniques for quick response and insensitivity to parameter changes and disturbances. The proposed ML controller is designed by learning fractional-order sliding mode control (FOSMC) controller behavior. The primary purpose of using ML in FOSMC is to avoid the self-tuning of the parameters and ensure the speed reaches the reference value in finite time with faster convergence and better tracking precision. Furthermore, the ML model does not require the mathematical model of the speed controller. In this work, several ML models are empirically evaluated on their estimation accuracy for speed tracking, namely ordinary least squares, passive-aggressive regression, random forest, and support vector machine. Finally, the proposed controller is implemented on a real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation platform from PLECS Inc. Comparative simulation and experimental results are presented and discussed. It is shown from the comparative study that the proposed FOSMC based on ML outperformed the traditional sliding mode control (SMC), which is more commonly used in industry in terms of tracking speed and accuracy

Methylation of WTH3, a possible drug resistant gene, inhibits p53 regulated expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous results showed that over-expression of the <it>WTH3 </it>gene in MDR cells reduced <it>MDR1 </it>gene expression and converted their resistance to sensitivity to various anticancer drugs. In addition, the <it>WTH3 </it>gene promoter was hypermethylated in the MCF7/AdrR cell line and primary drug resistant breast cancer epithelial cells. <it>WTH3 </it>was also found to be directly targeted and up regulated by the <it>p53 </it>gene. Furthermore, over expression of the <it>WTH3 </it>gene promoted the apoptotic phenotype in various host cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To further confirm <it>WTH3</it>'s drug resistant related characteristics, we recently employed the small hairpin RNA (shRNA) strategy to knockdown its expression in HEK293 cells. In addition, since the <it>WTH3 </it>promoter's p53-binding site was located in a CpG island that was targeted by methylation, we were interested in testing the possible effect this epigenetic modification had on the <it>p53 </it>transcription factor relative to <it>WTH3 </it>expression. To do so, the <it>in vitro </it>methylation method was utilized to examine the <it>p53 </it>transgene's influence on either the methylated or non-methylated <it>WTH3 </it>promoter.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results generated from the gene knockdown strategy showed that reduction of <it>WTH3 </it>expression increased <it>MDR1 </it>expression and elevated resistance to Doxorubicin as compared to the original control cells. Data produced from the methylation studies demonstrated that DNA methylation adversely affected the positive impact of <it>p53 </it>on <it>WTH3 </it>promoter activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Taken together, our studies provided further evidence that <it>WTH3 </it>played an important role in MDR development and revealed one of its transcription regulatory mechanisms, DNA methylation, which antagonized <it>p53</it>'s positive impact on <it>WTH3 </it>expression.</p

Aberrant expression of RAB1A in human tongue cancer

This study was designed to identify specific gene expression changes in tongue squamous cell carcinomas (TSCCs) compared with normal tissues using in-house cDNA microarray that comprised of 2304 full-length cDNAs from a cDNA library prepared from normal oral tissues, primary oral cancers, and oral cancer cell lines. The genes identified by our microarray system were further analysed at the mRNA or protein expression level in a series of clinical samples by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (qRT–PCR) analysis and imuunohositochemistry. The microarray analysis identified a total of 16 genes that were significantly upregulated in common among four TSCC specimens. Consistent with the results of the microarray, increased mRNA levels of selected genes with known molecular functions were found in the four TSCCs. Among genes identified, Rab1a, a member of the Ras oncogene family, was further analysed for its protein expression in 54 TSCCs and 13 premalignant lesions. We found a high prevalence of Rab1A-overexpression not only in TSCCs (98%) but also in premalignant lesions (93%). Thus, our results suggest that rapid characterisation of the target gene(s) for TSCCs can be accomplished using our in-house cDNA microarray analysis combined with the qRT–PCR and immunohistochemistry, and that the Rab1A is a potential biomarker of tongue carcinogenesis

Tight junctions and the modulation of barrier function in disease

Tight junctions create a paracellular barrier in epithelial and endothelial cells protecting them from the external environment. Two different classes of integral membrane proteins constitute the tight junction strands in epithelial cells and endothelial cells, occludin and members of the claudin protein family. In addition, cytoplasmic scaffolding molecules associated with these junctions regulate diverse physiological processes like proliferation, cell polarity and regulated diffusion. In many diseases, disruption of this regulated barrier occurs. This review will briefly describe the molecular composition of the tight junctions and then present evidence of the link between tight junction dysfunction and disease

WTH3 is a direct target of the p53 protein

Previous results showed that overexpression of the WTH3 gene in multidrug resistance (MDR) cells reduced MDR1 gene expression and converted their resistance to sensitivity to various anticancer drugs. The WTH3 gene promoter was found to be differentially regulated in paired MDR vs non-MDR MCF7 cells owing to epigenetic modifications and transcription factor modulations. To understand further the mechanisms that govern WTH3's differential expression, we uncovered a p53-binding site in its promoter, which indicated that WTH3 could be regulated by the p53 gene. This hypothesis was then tested by different strategies. The resulting data revealed that (1) the WTH3 promoter was upregulated by the p53 transgene in diverse host cells; (2) there was a correlation between WTH3 expression levels and p53 gene status in a cell line panel; (3) a WTH3 promoter region was directly targeted by the p53 protein in vitro and in vivo. In addition, overexpression of the WTH3 gene promoted the apoptotic phenotype in host cells. On the basis of these findings, we believe that the negative role played by the WTH3 gene in MDR development is through its proapoptotic potential that is regulated by multiple mechanisms at the transcription level, and one of these mechanisms is linked to the p53 gene

Adverse Drug Reactions in Children—A Systematic Review

Adverse drug reactions in children are an important public health problem. We have undertaken a systematic review of observational studies in children in three settings: causing admission to hospital, occurring during hospital stay and occurring in the community. We were particularly interested in understanding how ADRs might be better detected, assessed and avoided