Variable Permeability Magnetometer Systems and Methods for Aerospace Applications

A magnetometer configured to measure low field strength magnetic fields is provided. Certain embodiments of the magnetometer include a cylindrical coil assembly having a variable permeability core and terminals disposed at both ends. A current source circuit may be operably connected to the terminals and configured to apply a voltage controlled current across the terminals. A voltage readout circuit may be operably connected to the terminals and configured to measure a voltage across the terminals due to the applied current from the current source. An inductance of the coil assembly directly varies as an ambient magnetic field strength varies a permeability of the variable permeability core, and a voltage across the terminals varies directly with the inductance such that the measured voltage across the terminals is a direct measure of the ambient magnetic field strength

Resource allocation in networks via coalitional games

The main goal of this dissertation is to manage resource allocation in network engineering problems and to introduce efficient cooperative algorithms to obtain high performance, ensuring fairness and stability. Specifically, this dissertation introduces new approaches for resource allocation in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) wireless networks and in smart power grids by casting the problems to the coalitional game framework and by providing a constructive iterative algorithm based on dynamic learning theory.  Software Engineering (Software)Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

Aid Effectiveness In Education: A Case Study Of Pakistan From 2005-2015

This study reviews the effectiveness of international aid in improving the performance of government school education sector in the four provinces of Pakistan with a focus on key education indicators from 2005-2015. There has been a steady flow of foreign aid to Pakistan since the 1990s to help the state to assure universalisation of public education delivery. This influx has followed several international agreements that aim at ensuring Education for all. It picked up further momentum after the tragic events of 9-11-2001. While the donors have used different strategies to deliver their aid, all of them have attempted to increase the enrolment, retention, and the quality of learning imparted to children in classrooms. However, the impact of aid on any of these indicators remains unclear as no systematic analyses have been done in this regard that look at the performance of education indicators over a substantial time period in light of international aid. The study findings, reviewed in light of the concept of Steiner-Khamsi’s (2012) policy borrowing and lending and Habermas’ (1964) concept of public sphere in alignment with the Paris Declaration principles (2005) show that the performance of key education indicators in the four provinces during the decade under review has not been satisfactory despite substantial international aid being provided. There have been marginal gains made in some indicators, more in some provinces than others, but the overall performance of the government education sector has remained much below the desired level

Intravesical combination therapies for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: Recent advances and future directions

Bladder cancer is the 10th most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide with 5-year survival rate around 70%. The current first-line treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer is transurethral resection of bladder tumours followed by intravesical Mycobacterium Bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy. However, tumor recurrence rate is still high ranging from 31% to 78% within five years. To avoid radical cystectomy, intravesical combination therapies have been developed as salvage treatments to overcome BCG failure. Recent advances in diagnostics thanks to tumor molecular profiling and in treatment such as development of immunotherapies provides more treatment options beyond BCG treatment. This also goes hand-in hand with formulation advances to deliver these new therapies where traditional drug delivery systems might not be suitable, which in turn is completed by challenges to deliver drugs via the intravesical route. In this article the aim was to provide an in-depth analysis of the current developments of intravesical combination therapies, ranging from relatively simple combinations of mixing existed intravesical therapeutic agents (immunotherapies and chemotherapies) to the combined formulations containing advanced gene therapies and targeted therapies, with special focus on therapies that have made it to the clinical trial stage. In addition, recent attempts to utilize device-assisted treatments and novel drug delivery platforms are included. This review also highlights the limitations that still need to be overcome such as the inadequate studies on newly explored drug carriers and proposes potential directions for future work to overcome BCG-failure

Optimizing a Broad Energy High Purity Germanium (BEGe) Detector Operated at Shallow Depth in Abu Dhabi

In this work we present the characterization of a Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) type High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector, with a carbon fiber entrance window thickness of 0.6 mm and an active area of 6305 mm2, operated at shallow depth (~ 8m) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. A 1.6 keV Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) was obtained for the 662 keV peak of 137Cs. A muon veto was applied, reducing the background by 8 % (for energies greater than 100 keV). Flushing the volume around the detector endcap with nitrogen gas, to remove radon and thus its progeny, further reduced the background by ~3 %. A thorough analysis for the shaping filter parameters showed that the detector has better resolution at low rise-time values (2 - 5 us) especially for low energy gamma (<600keV), keeping the flattop value fixed at 1.1 us

Text Hiding in Coded Image Based on Quantization Level Modification and Chaotic Function

A text hiding method in codded image is presented in this paper that based on quantization level modification. The used image is transformed into wavelet domain by DWT and coefficient of transform is partitioned into predefined block size. Specific threshold has been used to classify these blocks into two types named smooth and complex. Each type has its own method of text hiding (binary data), for smooth blocks, secret bits which represent the text data are switched by the bitmap. In order to reduce distortion, the quantization levels are modified. To reach extra embedding payload the quantization level could carry extra two bits depending on other threshold. The complex block carry one data bit on each block and quantization levels are swapped to reduce distortion with bitmap flipping. The proposed method result shows a high signal to noise ratio, with studying capacity as important in this work

Animated CSS Website for Promoting Student Understanding of Acid Base Chemistry

An educational web site for acid base chemistry has been developed using HTML, CSS, PHP, and JAVA script. The acid base chemistry web site provides students with explanatory material that is augmented by audio visual simulations. The web site also includes pre-classroom activities and linked experiments. There are also quizzes and questions on the various acid base topics discussed. The web site was tested by CHEM 1515 students. The results of this study demonstrate the advantages associated with using web based learning to provide support for students in a large lecture class.Chemistry Departmen

Relationships between self-efficacy and pap smear screening in Iranian women

Cervical cancer is the fourth common cancer among women worldwide. Pap smear screening has resulted in deceasing incidence of cervical cancer in developed countries but low uptake of Pap smear screening among women in developing countries is still a public health challenge. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the relationship between self-efficacy and timely uptake of Pap smear among Iranian women. A total of 580 married women referred to primary health care centers covered administratively by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran were administered a questionnaire by trained staff. Data were analyzed with SPSS (version 16) software, using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. The mean age for participants was 33.1±8.8 years. There was a significant association between self-efficacy and Pap smear screening (P < 0.01). There was also a positive correlation between duration of marriage and husband's education with Pap smear uptake (P < 0.01). In univariate analysis, there was a significant association between Pap smear uptake and level of self-efficacy (OR = 15.3 for intermediate and OR=7.4 for good level), duration of marriage (OR = 5.7 for 5-14 years and OR=10.4 for more than 15), age (OR =2.7 for 27-34 years and OR=7.4 for more than 35 years) and husband education level (OR=2.3 for more than 12 years of education). In multivariate analysis, significant associations persisted between Pap smear uptake and self-efficacy (OR = 23.8; 95 CI: 8.7, 65.5), duration of marriage (OR = 5.9; 95 CI: 2.8, 12.2), age (OR = 3.9; 95 CI: 1.2, 12.9) and husband's education (OR = 2.5; 95 CI: 2.0, 10.3). Efforts are needed to increase women's knowledge about cervical cancer and improve their self-efficacy and perceptions of the Pap smear screening in order to reduce cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates. © 2016, Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention

MicroRNA-146 and cell trauma down-regulate expression of the psoriasis-associated atypical chemokine receptor ACKR2

Chemokines are the principal regulators of leukocyte migration and are essential for initiation and maintenance of inflammation. Atypical chemokine receptor 2 (ACKR2) binds and scavenges proinflammatory CC-chemokines, regulates cutaneous T-cell positioning, and limits the spread of inflammation in vivo. Altered ACKR2 function has been implicated in several inflammatory disorders, including psoriasis, a common and debilitating T-cell–driven disorder characterized by thick erythematous skin plaques. ACKR2 expression is abnormal in psoriatic skin, with decreased expression correlating with recruitment of T-cells into the epidermis and increased inflammation. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern ACKR2 expression are not known. Here, we identified specific psoriasis-associated microRNAs (miRs) that bind ACKR2, inhibit its expression, and are active in primary cultures of human cutaneous cells. Using both in silico and in vitro approaches, we show that miR-146b and miR-10b directly bind the ACKR2 3′-UTR and reduce expression of ACKR2 transcripts and protein in keratinocytes and lymphatic endothelial cells, respectively. Moreover, we demonstrate that ACKR2 expression is further down-regulated upon cell trauma, an important trigger for the development of new plaques in many psoriasis patients (the Koebner phenomenon). We found that tensile cell stress leads to rapid ACKR2 down-regulation and concurrent miR-146b up-regulation. Together, we provide, for the first time, evidence for epigenetic regulation of an atypical chemokine receptor. We propose a mechanism by which cell trauma and miRs coordinately exacerbate inflammation via down-regulation of ACKR2 expression and provide a putative mechanistic explanation for the Koebner phenomenon in psoriasis

Sodium Valproate and Phenobarbitol: Weight Complications of Treatment in Epileptic Children

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of Na Valproate and Phenobarbital on changes in the weight of epileptic patients following treatment for their condition using the drugs mentioned.Materials and methodsSixty epileptics were assigned into two groups of 30 patients each, the case and controls. The diagnosis was made on the basis of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) characteristics. BMI was defined. In the case group, the patients received 20mg/kg/day of Na Valproate, while the 30 controls received 5mg/kg/day of Phenobarbital for 6 months. Using the Mc Nemar and Chi-2 tests, BMI changes were compared after 6 months between the groups. Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate the role of age, sex, and primary weight on the weight increase due to Na Valproate usage.ResultsThere were no specific changes in age, sex, primary BMI and fatness between the 2 groups; in the case group, 20 patients(66.7%) and in the controls 4(13.3%) gained weight (PConclusionThe results indicate that epileptic children, aged over 10 years, and those who are overweight have more chances of gaining weight or becoming fatter, following treatment with Na Valproate. Further studies investigating the issue are warranted