An Improved Slant Path Attenuation Prediction Method in Tropical Climates

An improved method for predicting slant path attenuation in tropical climates is presented in this paper. The proposed approach is based on rain intensity data R_0.01 (mm/h) from 37 tropical and equatorial stations; and is validated by using the measurement data from a few localities in tropical climates. The new method seems to accurately predict the slant path attenuation in tropical localities, and the comparative tests seem to show significant improvement in terms of the RMS of the relative error variable compared to the RMS obtained with the SAM, Crane, and ITU-R prediction models

Prevalence of Dyslipidemia among Healthy University Students: Fayoum Governorate, Egypt.

Introduction:. Dyslipidemia is a well known and major modifiable risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Increased prevalence of these abnormalities in young adulthood, increase the prevalence of CHD later on life. Objectives: to estimate the prevalence and patterns of serum lipid profiles and associated factors among university students in Fayoum University students. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a group of 384 Fayoum university students. Fasting blood samples were collected from all participants and assayed for fasting total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low density lipoprotein (LDL). Results: According to the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, the overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 44.3% , hypercholesterolemia prevalence was 38.8%, hypertrigyceridemia 29.7%   low HDL-C 27.1% and high LDL-C 33.1%  Significant associated factors of dyslipidemia among study participants were urban residence, increasing age,  physical inactivity ,overweight&obesity, abdominal obesity frequent fast food consumption and Low fruit and vegetables consumption Conclusion: The prevalence of dyslipidemia is high among Fayoum university students, important associated factors are obesity and overweight,  physical inactivity , unhealthy dietary habits  that need to be tackled through intervention programs

Study of absorption loss effects on acoustic wave propagation in shallow water using different empirical models

Efficient underwater acoustic communication and target locating systems require detailed study of acoustic wave propagation in the sea. Many investigators have studied the absorption of acoustic waves in ocean water and formulated empirical equations such as Thorp's formula, Schulkin and Marsh model and Fisher and Simmons formula. The Fisher and Simmons formula found the effect associated with the relaxation of boric acid on absorption and provided a more detailed form of absorption coefficient which varies with frequency. However, no simulation model has made for the underwater acoustic propagation using these models. This paper reports the comparative study of acoustic wave absorption carried out by means of modeling in MATLAB. The results of simulation have been evaluated using measured data collected at Desaru beach on the eastern shore of Johor in Malaysia. The model has been used to determine sound absorption for given values of depth (D), salinity (S), temperature (T), pH, and acoustic wave transmitter frequency (f). From the results a suitable range, depth and frequency can be found to obtain best propagation link with low absorption loss

Is economic development possible at all : a study of the West Bank olive oil industry development under the Israeli occupation

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1990.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-86).by May Y. Khamis.M.C.P

High serum immunoglobulin g and m levels predict freedom from adverse cardiovascular events in hypertension: a nested case-control substudy of the Anglo-Scandinavian cardiac outcomes trial

Aims: We aimed to determine whether the levels of total serum IgM and IgG, together with specific antibodies against malondialdehyde-conjugated low-density lipoprotein (MDA-LDL), can improve cardiovascular risk discrimination. Methods and Results: The Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT) randomized 9098 patients in the UK and Ireland into the Blood Pressure-Lowering Arm. 485 patients that had cardiovascular (CV) events over 5.5 years were age and sex matched with 1367 controls. Higher baseline total serum IgG, and to a lesser extent IgM, were associated with decreased risk of CV events (IgG odds ratio (OR) per one standard deviation (SD) 0.80 [95% confidence interval, CI 0.72,0.89], p < 0.0001; IgM 0.83[0.75,0.93], p = 0.001), and particularly events due to coronary heart disease (CHD) (IgG OR 0.66 (0.57,0.76); p < 0.0001, IgM OR 0.81 (0.71,0.93); p = 0.002). The association persisted after adjustment for a basic model with variables in the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) as well as following inclusion of C-reactive protein (CRP) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NtProBNP). IgG and IgM antibodies against MDA-LDL were also associated with CV events but their significance was lost following adjustment for total serum IgG and IgM respectively. The area under the receiver operator curve for CV events was improved from the basic risk model when adding in total serum IgG, and there was improvement in continuous and categorical net reclassification (17.6% and 7.5% respectively) as well as in the integrated discrimination index. Conclusion: High total serum IgG levels are an independent predictor of freedom from adverse cardiovascular events, particularly those attributed to CHD, in patients with hypertension

Concentric circular antenna array synthesis using comprehensive learning particle swarm optimizer

Abstract-Concentric circular antenna array (CCAA) is synthesized to generate pencil beam with minimum side lobe level (SLL). The comprehensive learning particle swarm optimizer (CLPSO) is used for synthesizing a ten-ring CCAA with central element. This Synthesis is done by finding the optimum current excitation weights and interelement spacing of rings. The computational results show that sidelobe level is reduced to −40.5 dB with narrow beamwith about 4.1 •

Project management leadership progression : a conceptual framework for Abu Dhabi

The government of Abu Dhabi made a decision to change the focus of the government from executer of the project to manager of projects in 2008. More and more work was sub-contracted and government departments just project managed the operations. Due to this change in focus the demand for project managers increased. Most of these project managers were not specially trained or educated in project management competencies. They primarily were employees from older operations who were reassigned for project management purposes. What has been realised now is that it is important to have a look at the competencies of these employees and make sure they are suitable to be project managers. In addition to them being suitable for project management positions, it is also important that there is a specific progression path and well defined expectations to be promoted to the next level. Therefore, there is a need to clearly identify the career path of a project manager from the inception of their careers until they retire. The path has to have identifiable objective points which could be used to decide if the project manager is ready to move to the next level. A framework is needed that can facilitate the progression of a project manager in their career paths in the Abu Dhabi government departments; and therefore, is the main aim of this thesis. In order to accomplish the aim, a mixed methods approach was taken. The Use of initial interviews established the context for Abu Dhabi. Use of statistical techniques such as multiple regression and mathematical technique of DEMATEL helped identify the career path from an entry level project coordinator position to a programme director position through the end of the career. The major findings of this research in addition to the development of the framework are: 1) the career path of a project manager is quite linear; 2) it is not an add-on role but a career in itself; 3) At the entry level of a project an individual should have high level of behavioural competencies; 4) There is a relationship between project success criteria and programme success factors; Since project success leads to programme success, this relationship could be used to establish the transition between a project manager and a programme manager’s role. 5) The technical and contextual competencies of a project manager should be used to promote them during their time as project managers; and 7) Within the programme management there are some competencies that can be regarded as the cause group of competencies and others that could be regarded as the effect group of competencies. There are several major implications of this work. First of all, the framework developed will act as a good starting point for all the government departments to establish their own project management progression framework which could be modified with their own discipline specific information. This research also establishes the importance of behavioural competencies for project management at the outset of the career itself. The framework also provides an objective way of assessing when an individual is ready to move to the next level of responsibilities within the organisation. This framework will further make the promotion process more transparent and the job of evaluating a promotion application easier

Water quality digital twin survey

Stakeholders’ views on the creation of a Water Quality Digital Twin, for assessing the impacts of multiple stressors on standing and flowing freshwaters, were sought through an anonymous survey composed of closed and open questions. The work was funded as part of the UKSCAPE integration fund (https://ukscape. ceh.ac.uk/about ) and sought to co-develop a blueprint for a UKCEH water quality digital twin. Fifty-nine participants responded and provided a wealth of viewpoints, from academia, industry, regulators, and policy makers’ perspectives. In general, the catchment scale was considered the most feasible, useful, realistic, and deliverable scale for a Water Quality Digital Twin. Respondents considered the desired temporal scale to be dependent on the use envisaged for the digital twin. However, sub-daily or daily scales emerged as providing the most actionable knowledge if data were available and it was computationally feasible. Overall, there was consensus that nutrient concentrations were the most important determinands to include in a water quality digital twin (100% of respondents scoring these as one of their three most important determinand categories). However, several additional abiotic and biotic determinands were also scored highly, partly depending on the required use of the resultant digital twin