FPGA Implementation of UFMC based baseband transmitter: case study for LTE 10MHz channelization

Universal filtered multicarrier (UFMC) is a low complexity promising waveform that provides quasi-orthogonal property among subcarriers. In addition, it can achieve much better out-of-band emission performance than orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. Authors have proposed a hardware platform to implement a UFMC transmitter in this paper. Highly reduced complexity schemes for IFFT, filtering, and spectrum shifting are realized on actual hardware. This helps to achieve overall architecture of the transmitter at the cost of minimal FPGA resource usage. Hence, the overall design uses only 1038 slice registers, 1154 slice LUTs, and 64 multipliers of Xilinx Virtex-7 XC7VX330t device. A throughput of 773.5 Msamples/sec at an operational frequency of 364 MHz is achieved. This throughput is adequate for processing 50 Physical Resource Blocks (PRB) of LTE 10 MHz channelization in required time. The presented architecture provides a latency of only 2% of one LTE 10MHz channelization symbol due to the implementation of pipelining at different levels. Although the presented hardware design in its current form meets LTE 10MHz channelization throughput requirements, further increase in throughput is possible due to the scalable nature of the architecture. To the best of our knowledge, this work is first ever FPGA solution for UFMC transmitter presented in the literature

Statistical analysis of machining parameters on burr formation, surface roughness and energy consumption during milling of aluminium alloy Al 6061-T6

Due to the increasing demand for higher production rates in the manufacturing sector, there is a need to manufacture finished or near-finished parts. Burrs and surface roughness are the two most important indicators of the surface quality of any machined parts. In addition to this, there is a constant need to reduce energy consumption during the machining operation in order to reduce the carbon footprint. Milling is one of the most extensively used cutting processes in the manufacturing industry. This research was conducted to investigate the effect of machining parameters on surface roughness, burr width, and specific energy consumption. In the present research, the machining parameters were varied using the Taguchi L9 array design of experiments, and their influence on the response parameters, including specific cutting energy, surface finish, and burr width, was ascertained. The response trends of burr width, energy consumption, and surface roughness with respect to the input parameters were analyzed using the main effect plots. Analysis of variance indicated that the cutting speed has contribution ratios of 55% and 47.98% of the specific cutting energy and burr width on the down-milling side, respectively. On the other hand, the number of inserts was found to be the influential member, with contribution ratios of 68.74% and 35% of the surface roughness and burr width on the up-milling side. The validation of the current design of the experiments was carried out using confirmatory tests in the best and worst conditions of the output parameters.Web of Science1522art. no. 806

In Vitro Release Studies of Diclofenac Potassium Tablet from Pure and Blended Mixture of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Polymers

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of pure and blended mixtures, with different compositions of hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and carnauba wax (CW) on the release of diclofenac potassium from matrix tablets. Fifteen different matrix tablet formulations were prepared by direct compression process by using Carver Hydraulic laboratory press having 13 mm flat dies set at constant pressure. The paddle dissolution apparatus II (Curio DL 2020) was used to assess the dissolution of drug in phosphate buffer, pH 7.4 for 8 h. The release data was fitted to different release models. Zoom stereo micrography was done to evaluated the release mechanism of drug from polymers. The interaction of polymer mixture and different ratios of drug in polymer mixture was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The type and content of polymer in the matrix system influenced the release characteristics. Higher polymeric content in the matrix decreased the drug release rate because of increased tortuosity and decreased porosity. Retardation of drug release from pure carnauba was higher as compared to that with pure HPMC matrices. The polymers blends controlled drug release pattern effectively. The drug released showed better linearity with Higuchi release kinetics. The Korsmeyer equation revealed n value ranged from 0.388-0.627 or non - Fickian transport mechanism of drug release was predominant. The FTIR and DSC suggested that there were no chemical interaction between drug and polymers.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Knowledge and Awareness about Cervical Cancer and Its Prevention amongst Interns and Nursing Staff in Tertiary Care Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan

Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst the gynecological cancers worldwide, especially in developing countries. It is imperative for at least health professionals in developing countries like Pakistan to have a sound knowledge about the disease. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge and awareness about cervical cancer and its prevention amongst health professionals in tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan.A cross-sectional, interview based survey was conducted in June, 2009. Sample of 400 was divided between the three tertiary care centers. Convenience sampling was applied as no definitive data was available regarding the number of registered interns and nurses at each center.Of all the interviews conducted, 1.8% did not know cervical cancer as a disease. Only 23.3% of the respondents were aware that cervical cancer is the most common cause of gynecological cancers and 26% knew it is second in rank in mortality. Seventy-eight percent were aware that infection is the most common cause of cervical cancer, of these 62% said that virus is the cause and 61% of the respondents knew that the virus is Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Majority recognized that it is sexually transmitted but only a minority (41%) knew that it can be detected by PCR. Only 26% of the study population was aware of one or more risk factors. Thirty seven percent recognized Pap smear as a screening test. In total only 37 out of 400 respondents were aware of the HPV vaccine.This study serves to highlight that the majority of working health professionals are not adequately equipped with knowledge concerning cervical cancer. Continuing Medical Education program should be started at the hospital level along with conferences to spread knowledge about this disease

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care

Chapter 16 "UWB antennas: design and modeling"

International audienceno abstrac

Multiple-input multiple-output antennas for ultra wideband communications

La radio Ultra Large Bande (ULB) promet de nouveaux marchés dans les domaines des réseaux personnels hauts débits et de capteurs. De sorte à améliorer la robustesse du lien radio et le débit, l association des techniques MIMO à l ULB a été envisagée. En vue d une réalisation pratique, un challenge fondamental reste la conception des antennes qui doivent répondre aux contraintes de l ULB et des systèmes multi-antennaires, et aux contraintes physiques et économiques. Dans ce contexte, plusieurs nouveaux designs d antennes MIMO ULB sont proposés. Leur caractérisation s appuie sur les parame tres conventionnels utilisés en conception d antennes ainsi que des paramètres spécifiques à l ULB et au MIMO. En particulier, un nouveau design compact présentant une forte isolation grâce à l insertion d un stub sur le plan de masse est proposé. Une nouvelle méthode de modélisation du couplage mutuel, qui présente l avantage d offrir de nouvelles approches pour le compenser, est également introduite.UWB technology has rapidly emerged in the areas of WPAN and sensors networks featuring high data rate communications. The applications of UWB are limited to very short-range communications due to the extremely low transmitted power. The combination of MIMO techniques with UWB has been considered as a solution to improve the range. However, a fundamental challenge arises for the design of antennas that faces the constraints offered by UWB systems and multi-antennas systems, and the constraints of size and cost. In this context, several new UWB-MIMO antennas are proposed. Their characterization is based on the parameters relevant to conventional antenna design and the specific parameters relevant to the UWB-MIMO antenna design. In particular, a new compact design with high isolation by inserting the inverted-Y shaped stub on the ground plane is proposed. A new method for modelling the mutual coupling, is also introduced which has the advantage of offering new approach to compensate it.GRENOBLE1-BU Sciences (384212103) / SudocSudocFranceF

Design &characterization of an antenna system for UWB-MIMO communications systems

International audienceIn this paper, an antenna system is presented which is designed and analyzed for the wireless communication systems using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology combined with Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technique. The proposed planar antenna system consists of two heterogeneous antenna elements integrated on the same substrate. The presented antenna system works efficiently in the frequency range of 3.1–10.6 GHz. The parameters like reflection coefficient, gain, mutual coupling between the elements, correlation coefficients, diversity gain and total active reflection coefficient have been simulated to verify the functionality of the antenna system having the dimensions of 30 × 85 mm2