Hexa-band MIMO CPW Bow-tie Aperture Antenna Using Particle Swarm Optimization

A MIMO hexa-band Bowtie Antenna for Wi-Fi is proposed. The MIMO antenna can operate at six frequency bands: 2.4, 4.4, 6.1, 8.5, 10.25 and 12.8 GHz. The MIMO antenna consists of four loaded bowtie hexa-band antennas having the same structure. Each single antenna element is loaded with six metallic strips as well as interconnected parasitic rectangular components. The presented HFSS simulations will show that the MIMO loaded antenna can operate at six frequency bands including 2.4 GHz by obtaining the return loss results, radiation patterns, and other antenna parameters. It will be shown also that the MIMO bowtie antenna has a very low mutual coupling at all the operating frequencies for the specific loaded metallic strips width which was obtained using Particle Swarm Optimization technique

The effect of antioxidant supplementation in the treatment of epilepsy

Aim: To assess serum level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant status (TAS) as a representative of oxidative stress in patients with generalized epilepsy and to evaluate the therapeutic effect of the antioxidant (vitamin E and vitamin C) on the levels of MDA,TAS and frequency of seizures attacks after two months therapy. for a period of two months as a supplementation therapy. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted in Iben-seena Hospital in Mosul city-Iraq. Fifty three patients with generalized epilepsy were included in this study (32 male and 21 female). The study included 40 apparently healthy subjects, age and sex matched as a control group. Initially from both the patients and controls, blood samples were taken. Another blood samples were taken from the patients 2 months after vitamin E and vitamin C treatment, blood samples were analysed for serum MDA and serum TAS. Result: Serum MDA was found to be significantly higher (

TCP Performance Analysis in Dynamic GPRS LA

This paper presents the findings on TCP performance measurements in the LA process during the deployment of GPRS CS1 and CS2 coding schemes and after the activation of two more coding schemes, CS3 and CS4. The measurements are done under various network scenarios based on users’ physical locations in one of Malaysia’s commercially deployed live GPRS networks. End-to-end evaluation of FTP application is used for the assessment together with tracing at the GPRS air interface. The results show that TCP works well in the LA process and can cope with the frequent switching between the coding schemes without any problem. Throughput performance is observed to be stable in all scenarios. The activation of higher coding schemes aided by TCP tuning also proves to be beneficial by the 23% increase in average throughput seen for urban areas

Public perception on Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Bill 2007 towards sustainable waste management in Malaysia

Lack of appropriate policy is the main constraint to sustainable waste management in Malaysia. As a result, the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Bill (SWPCM) was approved in 2007. Its aims are to provide an act and regulate the manag ement of solid waste and public cleansing in order to maintain proper sanitation in the country. The Bill provides for the administrative bodies authorized in MSW management and the tribunal for solid waste management services. The objective of this paper is to investigate the perception of the public in regards to the current waste management system in the country and future waste management, particularly in relation to SWPCM Bill 2007. To accomplish this, questionnaires consisting of 45 questions were randomly distributed to 694 respondents to obtain 96% confidence level. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS. Results indicated that 86% of the public is satisfied with the current waste management system. The high satisfactory level probably is related to the fact that only reliable waste management contractors are appointed and renewed after an interim period. Contracts of waste managers with high number of complaints will not be renewed and they are directed to stop their collection services. Since the passing of the Bill, government had declared that unsatisfactory contractors will be terminated from their contract once the SWPCM Bill 2007 is enforced. However, 13% is dissatisfied with the collection frequency. The public (67-78%) has relatively high knowledge on the waste management issues such as final disposal option of the municipal solid waste and others. However, the majority of the public (69%) are not aware of the existence of SWPCM Bill 2007 and its passing by the parliament in August 2007. This is mainly due to the absence of notification to the general public from the ministry level. Responses from public regarding the deposit refund system was mainly negative where majority (87%) disagreed to pay deposit for returnable packaging materials as allocated in Part X of the Bill. This is due to the fact that the system is currently absent in the country and its introduction will affect the consumers’ economy as they will lose the deposits if they did not return the materials to the manufacturer. The majority (64%) of the respondents agreed with the regulation of segregation at source. This probably is due to the high awareness on waste disposal issues. Various campaigns were aired in mass-media indicating the deteriorating quality of the environment due to the indiscriminate disposal of MSW into landfill. Nevertheless, 97% are confident that the Bill will improve the current waste management system and able to promote a more sustainable solid waste management system for the country

Characterizing soil nutrient status and growth performance of planted dipterocarp and non-dipterocarp species on degraded forest land in Peninsular Malaysia

This study aims to assess the soil nutrient status and growth performance of selected six dipterocarp species namely Dryobalanops aromatica , Hopea nervosa , Neobalanocarpus heimii , Shorea parvifolia , S. assamica and S. leprosula and three non-dipterocarp species of Azadirachta excelsa , Cinnamomum iners and Intsia palembanica were performed six years after planting on degraded forest land in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia. This assessment consists of determining soil nutrient status based on physico-chemical properties both in rehabilitated and adjacent secondary forests along with measurement of diameter at breast height and height and survival rate. The results showed that rehabilitating degraded forest land with dipterocarp and non-dipterocarp species had improved both soil nutrient status and valuable timber stocks. The soils were acidic with low levels of organic matter and exchangeable bases associated with high level of Al saturation. The negative charges derived from the organic matter and clay minerals play an important role in retaining soil nutrients and probably influence the soil nutrient status. Principal component analysis revealed three most important PC scores which explained 73.8% of total variation. PC1 represents cation retention capacity and soil organic matter. PC2 infers soil acidity, while PC3 related to physical properties of the soils. In the case of growth performance, A. excelsa and C. iners showed significantly high mean annual increments in diameter and height and survival rate at six years after planting. Irrespective of different ages after planting, the growth performance and survival rate of planted dipterocarp species especially S. leprosula and S. parvifolia were comparable to similar species grown at other planting trials in Malaysia

Epstein-Barr virus: clinical and epidemiological revisits and genetic basis of oncogenesis

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is classified as a member in the order herpesvirales, family herpesviridae, subfamily gammaherpesvirinae and the genus lymphocytovirus. The virus is an exclusively human pathogen and thus also termed as human herpesvirus 4 (HHV4). It was the first oncogenic virus recognized and has been incriminated in the causation of tumors of both lymphatic and epithelial nature. It was reported in some previous studies that 95% of the population worldwide are serologically positive to the virus. Clinically, EBV primary infection is almost silent, persisting as a life-long asymptomatic latent infection in B cells although it may be responsible for a transient clinical syndrome called infectious mononucleosis. Following reactivation of the virus from latency due to immunocompromised status, EBV was found to be associated with several tumors. EBV linked to oncogenesis as detected in lymphoid tumors such as Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), Hodgkin's disease (HD), post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) and T-cell lymphomas (e.g. Peripheral T-cell lymphomas; PTCL and Anaplastic large cell lymphomas; ALCL). It is also linked to epithelial tumors such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), gastric carcinomas and oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL). In vitro, EBV many studies have demonstrated its ability to transform B cells into lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). Despite these malignancies showing different clinical and epidemiological patterns when studied, genetic studies have suggested that these EBV- associated transformations were characterized generally by low level of virus gene expression with only the latent virus proteins (LVPs) upregulated in both tumors and LCLs. In this review, we summarize some clinical and epidemiological features of EBV- associated tumors. We also discuss how EBV latent genes may lead to oncogenesis in the different clinical malignancie

Team dynamics in emergency surgery teams: results from a first international survey

Background: Emergency surgery represents a unique context. Trauma teams are often multidisciplinary and need to operate under extreme stress and time constraints, sometimes with no awareness of the trauma\u2019s causes or the patient\u2019s personal and clinical information. In this perspective, the dynamics of how trauma teams function is fundamental to ensuring the best performance and outcomes. Methods: An online survey was conducted among the World Society of Emergency Surgery members in early 2021. 402 fully filled questionnaires on the topics of knowledge translation dynamics and tools, non-technical skills, and difficulties in teamwork were collected. Data were analyzed using the software R, and reported following the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). Results: Findings highlight how several surgeons are still unsure about the meaning and potential of knowledge translation and its mechanisms. Tools like training, clinical guidelines, and non-technical skills are recognized and used in clinical practice. Others, like patients\u2019 and stakeholders\u2019 engagement, are hardly implemented, despite their increasing importance in the modern healthcare scenario. Several difficulties in working as a team are described, including the lack of time, communication, training, trust, and ego. Discussion: Scientific societies should take the lead in offering training and support about the abovementioned topics. Dedicated educational initiatives, practical cases and experiences, workshops and symposia may allow mitigating the difficulties highlighted by the survey\u2019s participants, boosting the performance of emergency teams. Additional investigation of the survey results and its characteristics may lead to more further specific suggestions and potential solutions

ϒ production in p–Pb collisions at √sNN=8.16 TeV

ϒ production in p–Pb interactions is studied at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision √sNN = 8.16 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The measurement is performed reconstructing bottomonium resonances via their dimuon decay channel, in the centre-of-mass rapidity intervals 2.03 < ycms < 3.53 and −4.46 < ycms < −2.96, down to zero transverse momentum. In this work, results on the ϒ(1S) production cross section as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum are presented. The corresponding nuclear modification factor shows a suppression of the ϒ(1S) yields with respect to pp collisions, both at forward and backward rapidity. This suppression is stronger in the low transverse momentum region and shows no significant dependence on the centrality of the interactions. Furthermore, the ϒ(2S) nuclear modification factor is evaluated, suggesting a suppression similar to that of the ϒ(1S). A first measurement of the ϒ(3S) has also been performed. Finally, results are compared with previous ALICE measurements in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV and with theoretical calculations.publishedVersio

(Anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions at 1as=13TeV

The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at s=13 TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity (d Nch/ d \u3b7 3c 26) as measured in p\u2013Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p\u2013Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and statistical hadronisation models (SHM)

Multiplicity dependence of inclusive J/psi production at midrapidity in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive J/psi yield as a function of charged-particle pseudorapidity density dN(ch)/d eta in pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV with ALICE at the LHC are reported. The J/psi meson yield is measured at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar <0.9) in the dielectron channel, for events selected based on the charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar <1) and at forward rapidity (-3.7 <eta <-1.7 and 2.8 <eta <5.1); both observables are normalized to their corresponding averages in minimum bias events. The increase of the normalized J/psi yield with normalized dN(ch)/d eta is significantly stronger than linear and dependent on the transverse momentum. The data are compared to theoretical predictions, which describe the observed trends well, albeit not always quantitatively. (C) 2020 European Organization for Nuclear Research. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe