A Novel Transparent UWB Antenna for Photovoltaic Solar Panel Integration and RF Energy Harvesting

A novel transparent ultra-wideband antenna for photovoltaic solar-panel integration and RF energy harvesting is proposed in this paper. Since the approval by the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) in 2002, much research has been undertaken on UWB technology, especially for wireless communications. However, in the last decade, UWB has also been proposed as a power harvester. In this paper, a transparent cone-top-tapered slot antenna covering the frequency range from 2.2 to 12.1 GHz is designed and fabricated to provide UWB communications whilst integrated onto solar panels as well as harvest electromagnetic waves from free space and convert them into electrical energy. The antenna when sandwiched between an a-Si solar panel and glass is able to demonstrate a quasi omni-directional pattern that is characteristic of a UWB. The antenna when connected to a 2.55-GHz rectifier is able to produce 18-mV dc in free space and 4.4-mV dc on glass for an input power of 10 dBm at a distance of 5 cm. Although the antenna presented in this paper is a UWB antenna, only an operating range of 2.49 to 2.58 GHz for power scavenging is possible due to the limitation of the narrowband rectifier used for the study

The Syrian public opinion versus frames in news media

The study aims at analyzing frames used by the media to report news about the Syrian crisis with the aim of understanding whether the Syrian voice -represented in public opinion data- finds its place in the media. The study conducts content analysis of 276 news stories\u27 frames divided across two periods of time -during 2015 (Obama\u27s administration) and 2017 (Trump\u27s administration). A content analysis methodology is applied to three online newspapers: the American New York Times, the Syrian Syria Times and the Russian Russia Beyond The Headlines. Each of these newspapers represents the governmental stance and policies in relation to the Syrian Crisis. The study attempts to have a deeper understanding of the interplay of powerful elites represented by the governments of the three countries and the Syrian people represented in public opinion polls. The media\u27s ultimate goal is serving public interest; however, and per the literature, the media can be used by elites to achieve wider acceptance of their policies regardless of the public interest (and their opinion in the matter)

Influence of certain carbon and nitrogen sources on antagonistic potentiality of Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtillus against Botrytis allii the incitant of onion neck rot

Gliotoxin Fermentation Agar (GFA) Medium and Nutrient Glucose Agar   (NGA) medium with different carbon and nitrogen sources were used to study the impact of carbon and nitrogen sources on Trichoderma harzianum Rifai and Bacillus subtillus Cohn antagonistic efficiency against growth of Botrytis allii Munn. Results indicated that Trichoderma harzianum gave the highest inhibition % in growth of Botrytis allii when Sucrose was used as a carbon source while the lowest values of inhibition% were appeared by application of Mannitol as a carbon source. Trichoderma harzianum gave the highest inhibition% in growth of B.allii when use Potassium nitrate  as a nitrogen source while the lowest values of inhibition% in growth of B.allii were obtained by application of Beef extract as a nitrogen source. Results showed also that Bacillus subtillus gave the highest inhibition% in growth of B.allii when Mannitol was used as a carbon source while the lowest values of inhibition% in growth of B.allii were appeared by application of Sucrose as a carbon source. Bacillus subtillus gave the highest inhibition% in growth of B.allii when use Glutamic acid as a nitrogen source while the lowest values of inhibition% in growth of B.allii were appeared by application of Tryptophan as a nitrogen source.

Development of Mission Control Unit Prototype for Small Class Satellite Payloads

In this paper, Mission Control Unit (MCU) prototype for small class satellite payloads is developed with the goal of providing schools and institutions to low cost design that could be easily integrated and augmented for mission–specific needs. Basic design platform has been developed to demonstrate the proof of concept model of MCU for small satellites by using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Many commercial companies have emerged to cater this objective however most of them provide expensive on-the-shelf solution, therefore this paper proposed a low cost, compact platform design. This paper presents the design of payload-ready prototype unit of mission control subsystem that is built on Arduino based microcontroller with wireless transmission by using COTS components. This platform is intended mainly for educational purposes, specifically to expose high school and university students or researchers to satellite engineering concept. Other than that, it is developed to provide platform for spacecraft developers, researchers and others to test their scientific missions or perform their research with reduced costs. In addition, the end-product of this project can be used for public outreach mission involving local communities of amateur radio operators and school students. This project has produced a prototype that is compatible with 2U CubeSat platform standard, requires no external wiring with all subsystems, and can be customized to perform many mission themes over amateur radio band

Design of Serial-Fed Bend-Array and Measured Results

For the next generation mobile system (5G), a cylindrical lens antenna is developed for mobile base station application. As for the feed radiator for this lens antenna, bendarray configuration that produces a bifurcated beam is also developed. The bend-array configuration consisting of four rectangular patch array elements with serial feed network. In previous work, achievement of the bifurcated beam by bendarray configuration was shown by electromagnetic simulations. In this paper, a practical bend-array composed of four numbers of patch elements is fabricated. To verify the radiation characteristics, measured results of antenna input characteristic and radiation pattern are compared with the designed results. Through good agreement of measured and designed results, achievement of practical antenna is ensured

An active downlink photonic antenna

This paper presents an active photonic antenna concept whereby an interface circuit is introduced in order to integrate the antenna with the photodiode. The operating frequencies ranges are 1.8 to 3.5 GHz which support the GSM 1800, WLAN and WiMAX applications. The simulated and measured results of interface circuit and antenna are presented. Thus, the photonic antenna is developed by integrating photodiode, interface circuit, RF amplifier and printed antenna and fabricated on FR4 board. The experiment was setup and spectrums at desired frequencies were measured. Measurement results show that an active downlink photonic antenna (ADPha) is successfully developed

Pilot-scale recovery of low molecular weight organic acids from anaerobically treated palm oil mill effluent (POME) with energy integrated system

Low molecular weight organic acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acids generated from partial anaerobic treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) were recovered using pilot scale filtration and evaporation system. Mechanical filter press (14 L) was used for removing solid fractions and fraction distillation unit (40 L) for evaporation and clarification of concentrated acid from POME. Clarification using rotary evaporator was found to be more suitable than distillation column. Due to the presence of more than 90% of water in POME, the final clarified product comprises only 7% of the total volume. The material balance for the overall process was estimated and integrated system for the bioconversion of organic acids into polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) was proposed. The recovery of organic acids has a significant and economical impact, since around 50% cost of PHA production is believed to be associated with the substrate itself

Awareness of vesicovaginal fistula among health workers in some health facilities of Zamfara state, Northwest Nigeria

The prevalence of obstetric fistula in Nigeria was found by 2008 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) to be 0.4%, suggesting there are approximately 150,000 women of reproductive age currently living with, or who have previously had, obstetric fistula. Fistula prevalence is higher in Northern than in Southern Nigerian zones. For instance, the prevalence of fistula in North Central Nigeria is 0.8%, followed by 0.5% in the North East and 0.3% in North West Nigeria. This study aimed at understanding the knowledge and level of understanding of Health workers in some selected hospitals and clinics in Zamfara State, North West Nigeria. The study was both a descriptive cross sectional and qualitative study of health personnel working in some health facilities in Zamfara State to gain an insight of their understanding and practice about vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) which is a common obstetric and maternal health complication among women in Nigeria during or after delivery. 68.3% of the respondents were females while 31.7% were males. There is no specialist consultant or fistula surgeon among the health personnel interviewed as only 11.7% of them were medical doctors while the remaining are nurses, midwives or community health extension workers. On their knowledge of fistula, 97.6% of them have heard of VVF, and 87% of them were of the opinion that early marriage causes complications during delivery or giving birth. Also 88% of them were aware of VVF as one of the problems associated with early girl-child marriage while only 61% of them knew that obstructed or delayed labour causes VVF. It is important to train and equip the lower cadre health and clinic personnel on VVF and how to prevent it as the management of VVF requires a specialized knowledge and expertise

Dynamic Mechanical and Gel Content Properties of Irradiated ENR/PVC Blends with TiO2 Nanofillers

Numerous studies reported on irradiated epoxidized natural rubber/polyvinyl chloride (ENR/PVC) blends and the blends were found miscible at all compositional range thus it offers a broad of opportunity in modifying the blend characteristic. Addition of low loading titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanofillers in the ENR/PVC blends has shown a remarkable increment in tensile strength. Thus, this study was initiated to address the effect of TiO2 nanofillers on ENR/PVC blends dynamic mechanical and gel content properties and its morphology upon exposure to electron beam irradiation. ENR/PVC blends with addition of 0, 2 and 6 phr TiO2 nanofillers were first blended in a mixing chamber before being irradiated by an electron beam accelerator at different 0-200 kGy irradiation doses. The influence of TiO2 nanofillers on the irradiation crosslinking of ENR/PVC blends was study based on the dynamic mechanical analysis which was carried out in determining the glass transition temperature and the storage modulus behavior of ENR/PVC blends incorporated with TiO2 nanofillers. Formations of irradiation crosslinking in the blend were investigated by gel content measurement. While, the TiO2 nanofillers distribution were examined by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Upon irradiation, the ENR/PVC/6 phr TiO2 formed the highest value of gel fraction. For dynamic mechanical analysis, it was found that electron beam radiation increased the Tg of all the compositions. The relationship between the crosslinking and the stiffness of the nanocomposites also can be found in this study. The enhancement in the storage modulus and Tg at higher amount of TiO2 in the blend could be correlated to the enhancement of the irradiation-induced crosslinking in the nanocomposites characteristic and also with the higher agglomerations of TiO2 evidence shown from the TEM micrograph examination. Lastly, the dimensions of TiO2 in the blends were found less than 100 nm in diameter which indicates incorporation of TiO2 nanofillers in ENR/PVC blends is potentially to provide the nanocomposites features. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.6.1.24-30 [How to cite this article: Ramlee, N.A., Ratnam, C.T., Alias, N.H., Rahman, M.F.A.. 2014. Dynamic Mechanical and Gel Content Properties of Irradiated ENR/PVC blends with TiO2 Nanofillers. International Journal of Science and Engineering, 6(1),24-30. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.6.1.24-30

Analysis on Wearable Antenna Performance on Different Radiating Elements for GPS Application

This paper presents a study on the performance of self-manufactured electro-textile (SME-T) antenna that was designed at 1.575 GHz based on the allocated spectrum for Global Positioning System (GPS) application. However, due to its known low-conductivity characteristic, the ability of the newly developed material to perform as a good antenna shall be verified. Therefore, the performance of the antennas are compared and studied with respect to established materials such as adhesive copper tape and commercial conductive fabric named SHIELDITTM as the radiating elements. Here, four e-textile antennas having approximately the same size are fabricated and tested. The performance of all antennas, in terms of return loss, radiation pattern, gain, and efficiency; manufactured by using different radiating elements, such as copper, SHIELDITTM and SME-T fabricated on polyester fabric as the substrate are analyzed. The measured return loss and radiation pattern of SME-T antenna has proven that the antenna is well suited for wearable application. The measured antenna gain and efficiency of 0.61 dB and 25.95% are obtained and it is proven that the fabricated SME-T antenna can act as a receiving antenna designed for GPS applications which requires low gain antenna for passive monitoring