Active noise control using glow discharge plasma panels

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-87).by Christopher Ali Merchant.S.M

Spot urine protein: creatinine ratio versus 24 hour urine protein at various levels of GFR patients referred to a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation of random single voided urine protein: creatinine ratio to twenty four hour urine protein at different levels of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in Pakistani population. METHODS: A total of 107 patients were included in this cross section study. Patients were divided into five groups according to the GFR. Spot urine protein: creatinine ratio and 24 hour urine protein was measured by the standard methods. The correlation coefficient ( r) between the two was calculated in each group separately. RESULTS: The GFR in groups 1 to 5 was \u3e or =90, 60-89, 30-59, 15-29, and /minute/1.73 m2 respectively. In group one correlation coefficient r was 0.96, in group two r was 0.81, in group three r was 0.94, in group four r was 0.82 and in group five r was 0.80. CONCLUSION: Random single voided urine protein: creatinine ratio may be used as an alternative to 24 hour urine collection for protein at all levels of GFR in Pakistani population

Bilateral Moyamoya Disease in a 2-Year-Old Pakistani Male Treated with Bilateral Encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis: A Positive Outcome.

Background. We present a rare case of bilateral moyamoya disease presenting as multiple strokes and neurological deficits, treated with the neurosurgical procedure, encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS), in a 2-year-old male Pakistani minor. A positive outcome was achieved and the patient recovered fully. Case Summary. Our patient presented with a history of seizures and multiple episodes of hemiparesis (on and off weakness) at the age of 2 years. He had a delayed speech development and could not speak more than a few words. He had a slight slurring of speech too. He was diagnosed with bilateral moyamoya disease on Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA). Bilateral EDAS was done in the same year, after which his symptoms improved and patient had moderate functional recovery. Conclusion. A rare disease, moyamoya has been left unexplored in Pakistan; physicians and surgeons when dealing with cases in the pediatric population presenting with symptoms of stroke, signs of generalized weakness, and seizures should consider moyamoya disease as a possibility. Furthermore, this case demonstrates the effectiveness of EDAS procedure for the treatment of moyamoya disease

The Achievable Rate of Interweave Cognitive Radio in the Face of Sensing Errors

Cognitive radio (CR) systems are potentially capable of mitigating the spectrum shortage of contemporary wireless systems. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of CR systems and the important research milestones of their evolution, along with their standardization activities, as a result of their research. This is followed by the detailed analysis of the interweave policy-based CR network (CRN) and by a detailed comparison with the family of underlay-based CRNs. In the interweave-based CRN, sensing of the primary user's (PU) spectrum by the secondary user's (SU) has remained a challenge, because the sensing errors prevent us from fulfilling the significant throughput gains that the concept of CR promises. Since missed detection and false alarm errors in real-time spectrum sensing cannot be avoided, based on a new approach, we quantify the achievable rates of the interweave CR by explicitly incorporating the effect of sensing errors. The link between the PU transmitter and the SU transmitter is assumed to be fast fading. Explicitly, the achievable rate degradation imposed by the sensing errors is analyzed for two spectrum sensing techniques, namely, for energy detection and for magnitude squared coherence-based detection. It is demonstrated that when the channel is sparsely occupied by the PU, the reusing techniques that are capable of simultaneously providing low missed detection and false alarm probabilities cause only a minor degradation to the achievable rates. Furthermore, based on the achievable rates derived for underlay CRNs, we compare the interweave CR and the underlay CR paradigms from the perspective of their resilience against spectrum sensing errors. Interestingly, in many practical regimes, the interweave CR paradigm outperforms the underlay CR paradigm in the presence of sensing errors, especially when the SNR at the SU is below 10 dB and when the SNR at the PU is in the range of 10-40 dB. Furthermore, we also provide rules of thumb that identify regimes, where the interweave CR outperforms the underlay CR

Variation of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate with Body Mass Index in Medical Students of Karachi, Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of our study was to assess the variation of PEFR with BMI in normal medical students of Karachi, PakistanDESIGN: Cross-sectional studySetting: Medical students of Karachi Medical and Dental CollegeParticipants: 138 non-smoker healthy medical students composed of 111 females and 27 males. VARIABLE PARAMETERS: They include mean age, body height and body weight and PEFR. They were marked separately for each genderRESULTS: The mean BMI in females was found out to be 18.54±2.10 corresponding with that of mean PEFR value 431.62±56.62 whereas in males the mean BMI was 25.07±2.96 corresponding with that of mean PEFR value 533.70±23.22. Also there is a statistically significant variation in PEFR with an increase in BMI.CONCLUSION: The study concludes that PEFR is affected positively by variation in BMI. Also young males have more BMI and PEFR values than their young female counterparts. A large sample size with accurate peak flow meter is required along with ethnic consideration of the study population for better and accurate result

Conceptual framework for a cardiac surgery simulation laboratory and competency-based curriculum in Pakistan - a short innovation report

Simulation is a commonly utilized technique in healthcare education as it provides trainees a realistic, but safe, environment to learn a variety of skills. Trainees belonging to fields known for high stakes with low margins for error, such as cardiac surgery, can greatly benefit from simulation-based education. We propose the establishment of the first multi-tier high fidelity cardiac surgery simulation lab with a structured curriculum that will eventually provide multidisciplinary training to promising cardiac surgeons across Pakistan. The simulation lab may also be used for research, grant acquisition and patent development. Our setup will include the following levels of simulation: a simple bench model, a virtual reality simulator and a unique human performance simulator. Our multitiered approach allows for appropriate sequential trainee skill progression. Finally, we hope that our model inspires the development of similar curricula and modules for trainees belonging to other surgica

Social Aspects of Violence: Cultural Dowry Practices and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Pakistan

Dowry is a transfer of materialistic goods or money from bride’s parents to bridegroom family at the time of marriage. However, as dowry demand rises, it has a significant detrimental impact on the lives of women. This chapter discusses the history of dowry and its practices, the positive and negative impact, and policy implications. The keywords used for this search were: “Dowry AND Pakistan,” “Pakistan culture AND Violence against women,” “social aspects AND Dowry practices,” and “Intimate-partner violence AND Pakistan.” To ensure that readers would receive valid information on the subject, authors searched from reliable engines. Dowry is a common tradition, particularly in South Asian countries. It is originated from Hindu culture, but later adopted and practiced by other Islamic and European-American nations. Though it provides an opportunity for women to get their share of pre-mortem inheritance from their parent’s property. However, it may be the leading cause of violence and abuse that poses an enormous burden on the brides. Violence prevention is achievable, but it requires efforts by the government, health institutions, and civil society. This is an additional contribution by the authors to raise awareness regarding “Dowry,” which is one of the preventable predictors of violence