Recharging of Flying Base Stations using Airborne RF Energy Sources

This paper presents a new method for recharging flying base stations, carried by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), using wireless power transfer from dedicated, airborne, Radio Frequency (RF) energy sources. In particular, we study a system in which UAVs receive wireless power without being disrupted from their regular trajectory. The optimal placement of the energy sources are studied so as to maximize received power from the energy sources by the receiver UAVs flying with a linear trajectory over a square area. We find that for our studied scenario of two UAVs, if an even number of energy sources are used, placing them in the optimal locations maximizes the total received power, while achieving fairness among the UAVs. However, in the case of using an odd number of energy sources, we can either maximize the total received power, or achieve fairness, but not both at the same time. Numerical results show that placing the energy sources at the suggested optimal locations results in significant power gain compared to nonoptimal placements.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, conference pape

Incidence of Iatrogenic Injuries to the Doctors Caused by Needles

Objective: The main aim of this study was to find the incidence of iatrogenic injuries to the doctors caused by needles during different procedures.Place and duration of study: This study was carried out in different hospitals of Lahore in a duration of 3 months from March 2019 to May 2019.Material and Methods: A total of 125 patients were included in this study. Both male and female doctors were included in this study. A pre-designed proforma was used to collect the data and later analysis was done using SPSS. Informed consent was taken from all the candidates after explanation about the study. Ethical committee approval was taken.Results: Mean age of the doctors was 34 years. Among 125 doctors, 61 (48.8%) suffered needle injuries while working. Among these house officers were 42 (33. 65%) and post graduate trainee were 19 (15.2%). Among 125 doctors, house officers were 82 while post graduate trainee were 43. 23 (18.4%) among 82 house officers told that no proper training or safety precautions were taught to avoid the needle injuries. Needle injuries were seen in 61(48.8%) of the patients while working. Among these post graduate trainees were 19(15.2%) while house officers were 42(33.65%).Conclusion: During the start of the training more injuries are suffered by house officers due to lack of awareness about safety measures and education about safe handling of the needles and instruments

Consumer Rights Protection: Degree of Awareness and its Present Status in Bangladesh

Consumer rights are considered as the basic human right and violation of consumer rights is considered as the violation of the human rights. The ignorance of the consumers regarding their rights is a contributing factor to poor consumer rights protection in our country. This study aims at measuring the awareness and status of Bangladesh on consumer rights protection. Primary data has been collected from 450 representative samples besides analyzing available secondary data. It has been revealed through our study that 53.3 percent of the population is totally ignorant about their rights as consumer and the remaining 46.7 percent are knowledgeable about rights to a limited extent. 52 percent of the consumers of our country think that they are constantly being deceived by the egoistic businessmen. These consumers can’t do anything other than remaining silent. Our study has suggested a set of action plan classified into four categories i.e.: awareness building program, infrastructure development, legislative based action plan and law enforcing team development, to ensure the protection of consumer rights in Bangladesh. Keywords: Consumer Bill of Rights, Consumer Activist Group, Consumer Awareness, Anti-consumer Rights Practice

Oil Prices and Real Exchange Rates in Oil-Exporting Countries: A Bounds Testing Approach

We test the validity of the Dutch disease hypothesis by examining the relationship between real oil prices and real exchange rates in a sample of fourteen oil exporting countries. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds tests of cointegration support the existence of a stable relationship between real exchange rates and real oil prices in all countries, suggesting a strong support for the Dutch disease hypothesis

Decoding Neural Signals with Computational Models: A Systematic Review of Invasive BMI

There are significant milestones in modern human's civilization in which mankind stepped into a different level of life with a new spectrum of possibilities and comfort. From fire-lighting technology and wheeled wagons to writing, electricity and the Internet, each one changed our lives dramatically. In this paper, we take a deep look into the invasive Brain Machine Interface (BMI), an ambitious and cutting-edge technology which has the potential to be another important milestone in human civilization. Not only beneficial for patients with severe medical conditions, the invasive BMI technology can significantly impact different technologies and almost every aspect of human's life. We review the biological and engineering concepts that underpin the implementation of BMI applications. There are various essential techniques that are necessary for making invasive BMI applications a reality. We review these through providing an analysis of (i) possible applications of invasive BMI technology, (ii) the methods and devices for detecting and decoding brain signals, as well as (iii) possible options for stimulating signals into human's brain. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities of invasive BMI for further development in the area.Comment: 51 pages, 14 figures, review articl

Interhospital Transfer Before Thrombectomy Is Associated With Delayed Treatment and Worse Outcome in the STRATIS Registry (Systematic Evaluation of Patients Treated With Neurothrombectomy Devices for Acute Ischemic Stroke)

BACKGROUND: Endovascular treatment with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is beneficial for patients with acute stroke suffering a large-vessel occlusion, although treatment efficacy is highly time-dependent. We hypothesized that interhospital transfer to endovascular-capable centers would result in treatment delays and worse clinical outcomes compared with direct presentation. METHODS: STRATIS (Systematic Evaluation of Patients Treated With Neurothrombectomy Devices for Acute Ischemic Stroke) was a prospective, multicenter, observational, single-arm study of real-world MT for acute stroke because of anterior-circulation large-vessel occlusion performed at 55 sites over 2 years, including 1000 patients with severe stroke and treated within 8 hours. Patients underwent MT with or without intravenous tissue plasminogen activator and were admitted to endovascular-capable centers via either interhospital transfer or direct presentation. The primary clinical outcome was functional independence (modified Rankin Score 0–2) at 90 days. We assessed (1) real-world time metrics of stroke care delivery, (2) outcome differences between direct and transfer patients undergoing MT, and (3) the potential impact of local hospital bypass. RESULTS: A total of 984 patients were analyzed. Median onset-to-revascularization time was 202.0 minutes for direct versus 311.5 minutes for transfer patients (P\u3c0.001). Clinical outcomes were better in the direct group, with 60.0% (299/498) achieving functional independence compared with 52.2% (213/408) in the transfer group (odds ratio, 1.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–1.79; P=0.02). Likewise, excellent outcome (modified Rankin Score 0–1) was achieved in 47.4% (236/498) of direct patients versus 38.0% (155/408) of transfer patients (odds ratio, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–1.92; P=0.005). Mortality did not differ between the 2 groups (15.1% for direct, 13.7% for transfer; P=0.55). Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator did not impact outcomes. Hypothetical bypass modeling for all transferred patients suggested that intravenous tissue plasminogen activator would be delayed by 12 minutes, but MT would be performed 91 minutes sooner if patients were routed directly to endovascular-capable centers. If bypass is limited to a 20-mile radius from onset, then intravenous tissue plasminogen activator would be delayed by 7 minutes and MT performed 94 minutes earlier. CONCLUSIONS: In this large, real-world study, interhospital transfer was associated with significant treatment delays and lower chance of good outcome. Strategies to facilitate more rapid identification of large-vessel occlusion and direct routing to endovascular-capable centers for patients with severe stroke may improve outcome

Anaemia in acute coronary syndrome: a cross-sectional study

Background: Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are an imbalance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand, and the presence of anaemia further potentiates this imbalance. The burden of anaemia in patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is significant. Anaemia has the potential to worsen myocardial ischemic insult by decreasing the oxygen content of the blood supplied to the jeopardized myocardium. Present study investigates the prevalence of anaemia in ACS patients attending a tertiary health care institute.Methods: A total of 148 patients with ACS were recruited in the study from July 2018 to October 2018 in Multan institute of cardiology, Pakistan. All patients were subjected to a detailed history and thorough clinical examination and investigations after obtaining informed consent. Patient having any other diseases known to cause anaemia were excluded.Results: Mean age of patients was 49 years. Out of 148, 114 (77%) were males and 34(23%) were females. Prevalence of anaemia was 38% in Male and 58.8% in Female. Among Male, 18.8% were microcytic, 4.54% were macrocytic and 77.27% were normocytic. Among Female, 50% were microcytic and 50%% were normocytic. Prevalence of ACS was higher is patients with diabetes and hypertension combined (31%) than in patient with diabetes alone (17.56%) or hypertension alone (21.62%). 13.51% were pure vegetarians  while 78.37% were on mixed diet consisting of vegetables+meat+pulses.Conclusions: Higher incidence of anaemia was reported in subjects having acute coronary syndrome. Incidence of anaemia in STEMI patients was greater than NSTEMI and unstable angina patients. Severe form of acute coronary syndrome i.e. STEMI was associated with higher incidence of anaemia

Effect of combined siRNA of HCV E2 gene and HCV receptors against HCV

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background/Aim</p> <p>Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major threat as almost 3% of the world's population (350 million individual) and 10% of the Pakistani population is chronically infected with this virus. RNA interference (RNAi), a sequence-specific degradation process of RNA, has potential to be used as a powerful alternative molecular therapeutic approach in spite of the current therapy of interferon-α and ribavirin against HCV which has limited efficiency. HCV structural gene E2 is mainly involved in viral cell entry via attachment with the host cell surface receptors i.e., CD81 tetraspanin, low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1), and Claudin1 (CLDN1). Considering the importance of HCV E2 gene and cellular receptors in virus infection and silencing effects of RNAi, the current study was designed to target the cellular and viral factors as new therapeutic options in limiting HCV infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study the potential of siRNAs to inhibit HCV-3a replication in serum-infected Huh-7 cells was investigated by combined treatment of siRNAs against the HCV E2 gene and HCV cellular receptors (CD81 and LDLR), which resulted in a significant decrease in HCV viral copy number.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From the current study it is concluded that the combined RNAi-mediated silencing of HCV E2 and HCV receptors is important for the development of effective siRNA-based therapeutic option against HCV-3a.</p

A Silver Lining: Women in Reserved Seats in Local Government in Bangladesh

The system of reserved seats with direct elections to local government bodies has been in place for women since 1997. This article investigates how perceptions have changed about the role of women representatives in local government. By exploring the accounts of women's views, experiences and how they negotiate various structural and attitudinal obstacles, and the changes in the wider sociopolitical context, the article shows that women representatives have gained greater voice and social legitimacy in representing specific types of‘women's issues.’These gains were partly a result of the supportive policy directives and mechanisms created by the state. Despite these gains, the centralised and andocentric nature of Bangladeshi government and politics may limit the transformatory potential of these changes