199 research outputs found
Energy-Efficient Internet of Drones Path-Planning Study Using Meta-Heuristic Algorithms
No full textThe increasing popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, in various fields is primarily due to their agility, quick deployment, flexibility, and excellent mobility. Particularly, the Internet of Drones (IoD)-a networked UAV system-has gained broad-spectrum attention for its potential applications. However, threat-prone environments, characterized by obstacles, pose a challenge to the safety of drones. One of the key challenges in IoD formation is path planning, which involves determining optimal paths for all UAVs while avoiding obstacles and other constraints. Limited battery life is another challenge that limits the operation time of UAVs. To address these issues, drones require efficient collision avoidance and energy-efficient strategies for effective path planning. This study focuses on using meta-heuristic algorithms, recognized for their robust global optimization capabilities, to solve the UAV path-planning problem. We model the path-planning problem as an optimization problem that aims to minimize energy consumption while considering the threats posed by obstacles. Through extensive simulations, this research compares the effectiveness of particle swarm optimization (PSO), improved PSO (IPSO), comprehensively improved PSO (CIPSO), the artificial bee colony (ABC), and the genetic algorithm (GA) in optimizing the IoD's path planning in obstacle-dense environments. Different performance metrics have been considered, such as path optimality, energy consumption, straight line rate (SLR), and relative percentage deviation (RPD). Moreover, a nondeterministic test is applied, and a one-way ANOVA test is obtained to validate the results for different algorithms. Results indicate IPSO's superior performance in terms of IoD formation stability, convergence speed, and path length efficiency, albeit with a longer run time compared to PSO and ABC.The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Computer Engineering Department at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals for the support of this work
Oncological outcomes of multimodality treatment for patients undergoing surgery for locally recurrent rectal cancer: A systematic review
No full textThere are several strategies in the management of locally recurrent rectal cancer (LRRC) with the optimum treatment yet to be established. This systematic review aims to compare oncological outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for LRRC who underwent neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy (CRT), adjuvant CRT, surgery only or surgery and intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT)
Detect and Avoid for Autonomous Agents in Cluttered Environments
No full textAutonomous agents are the future of many services and industries such as delivery systems, surveillance and monitoring, and search and rescue missions. An important aspect in an autonomous agent is the navigation system it uses to traverse the environment. Not much emphasis has been paid in the past on autonomous agent navigation in cluttered environments. Cluttered and unknown environments such as forests and subaquatic environments need to have autonomous navigation systems developed just for them due to their uncertain and changing nature. Path planning algorithms are used for the navigation of an autonomous agent in an environment. The agent needs to reach a target location while avoiding the obstacles it detects along the path. Such a system is called a Detect and Avoid (DAA) system and there are different implementations for it of which some are explored in this thesis. The Artificial Potential Fields method or APF for short is a method for mobile agent navigation which is based on generating an attractive force on the agent from the target and a repulsive force from the obstacles. This leads to the agent reaching the target while avoiding the obstacles along the way. The Classical APF (CAPF) method works for structured environments well but not for cluttered environments. The CAPF method can be replaced with a modified version where the agent is surrounded by a set of points (called bacteria points) around its current location and the agent moves by selecting a bacteria point as a future location. This method is named the Bacteria APF (BAPF) method. This selection happens through combinatorial optimization based on the potential value of each bacteria point. In this thesis, we propose two distinct contributions to the BAPF method. The first one being the use of an adaptive parameter in the repulsive cost function which is determined through a brute-force search. The second addition is a branching cost function that changes the value of the repulsive potential based on predefined perimeters around each obstacle. We show through simulations on densely and lightly cluttered environments that this Improved BAPF (IBAPF) method significantly improves the performance of the system in terms of the convergence to the target by almost 200% and reduced the time it takes to converge by around 25% as well as maintain the safety of the navigation route by keeping the average distance from obstacles around the same value.Airborne Data Collection on Resilient System ArchitecturesElectrical Engineering | Signals and System
Proficiency of Gates Method in Relation to Other Routine Renal Function Assessment Methods in Renal Transplant Donors Attending Ibn Sina Hospital from January 2010 to October 2019
Full text linkالخَلْفِيَّة: تعتبر زراعة الكلى هي الملاذ العلاجي الأخير للفشل الكلوي و هو الأمر الذي يتطلب تقييما مكثفا للمتبرعين بالكلى لتقليل مخاطر و مضاعفات عملية التبرع. معدل الترشيح الكبيبي هو جزء مهم و لا يتجزأ من عملية تقييم المتبرع و يمكن قياسه بشكل دقيق باستخدام فحص التكلم الكلوي نظرا لأنه يعطي معلومات عديدة و قيمة عن وظائف الكلى و بشكل أوضح من الفحوصات الروتينية المعمول بها عادة.
الأهداف:تقييم كفاءة طريقة قيتس في قياس معدل الترشيح الكبيبي و مقارنتها بالمعدل المحسوب بواسطة الفحوصات الروتينية الأخرى .
الأساليب او الطُرُق: يقوم بروتوكول هذه الدراسة من خلال دراسة وصفية تفصيلية مقرها في المستشفى بن سينا لدراسة كفاءة و دقة طريقة قيتس في قياس معدل الترشيح الكبيبي في الراغبين بالتبرع بالكلى . تم جمع البيانات بواسطة ورقة جمع تحتوي على معلومات مختلفة بما في ذلك العمر, الجنس, القياسات البشرية (الطول, الوزن, كتلة الجسم و ضغط الدم), معدل الترشيح الكبيبي المقدر و معدل الترشيح الكبيبي المقاس النسبي و الأشعة المقطعية.
النتائج: تم قياس وظائف الكلى باستخدام معدل الترشيح الكبيبي النسبي بواسطة طريقة قيتس لكل كلية و ظهرت متوسط نتيجة القياس في الكلية اليسرى بما يساوي 50.3±5.2% و 49.6±5.2% في الكلية اليمنى. كما أظهر معدل الترشيح الكبيبي بواسطة معادلة CKD-EPI 2009 للكرياتينين ان المتوسط بلغ 137.5±31.7 مل\دقيقة. كشفت عدم وجود فرق أو علاقة مهمة بين معدل الرشيح الكبيبي المقدر و المقاس و مقياس الكتلة الجسدية على مختلف مجموعاتها . حيث كان متوسط معدل الترشيح الكبيبي المقاس للكلية اليسرى 50.3±5.2% و اليمنى 49.6±5.2% لكل المتبرعين. أما بالنسبة للكلى المختارة للتبرع من قبل المانحين فاختيرت الكلية اليسرى في 83% من المتبرعين فيما شكلت اليسرى 17% المتبقية. متوسط الفرق في معدل الترشيح الكبيبي المقاس بين الكليتين كان 8.98±5.4% مع تراوح مدى الفرق ما بين صفر إلى 22% , حيث كان 41.9% من المتبرعين لديهم فرق بين وظائف الكليتين أعلى من 10% . 22.08% من المتبرعين وجد لديهم تشوهات في الأوعية الدموية المكتشفة بواسطة التصوير المقطعي.
الاستنتاجات: قياس معدل الترشيح الكبيبي بطريقة قيتس يعطي معلومات دقيقة و أكثر من الطرق الأخرى المستعملة تقليديا مما يساعد في قرار اختيار الكلية من المتبرع و يقلل المضاعفات بعد جراحة الزراعة لكل من المتبرع و المريض. تدعم نتائج هذه الدراسة الدراسات الأخرى التي تؤكد على سلامة و دقة معدل الترشيح الكبيبي المقاس بواسطة طريقة قيتس في تحديد و قياس وظائف الكلى في الراغبين بالتبرع بالكلى
Quarterly bulletin on food price dynamics, inflation, and the food security situation in Sudan: 2021Q1- 2022Q4
No full text-Average international prices of wheat, sorghum, rice, and sugar slightly increased in Q4 of 2022 compared to Q3. Import parity prices decreased during the same period because of the reduction in the freight cost to Port Sudan.
-Annual inflation2 decreased from three-digit inflation (260.6 percent) in 2022Q1 to 92.6 percent in 2022Q4.
-Quarterly changes in the price of non-volatile commodities (core inflation) 3 increased slightly in Q4 compared to Q3 of 2022 due to the increase in the housing rents, education, communication, and processed food prices.
-Retail prices of food commodities were relatively stable during the last two quarters of 2022 com pared to the previous quarters of 2021 and 2022.
-Nominal wholesale prices of grains in Khartoum State increased gradually from 2021Q2 to reach a peak in 2022Q3, before dropping in real and nominal terms in 2022Q4.
-Although the national average of causal labor daily wage was increasing over time nominally (2021Q2–2022Q4), it was decreasing in real terms in 2022Q4.
-Poorer urban and rural households (bottom 40 percent) were more affected by the changes in the prices of food and beverage commodities during 2022Q4 than richer households (top 60 percent).
-Blue Nile, Darfur, and Eastern regions have the highest food insecure population classified in crisis or emergency
COMPARISON BETWEEN GENERIC DRUGS AND BRAND NAME DRUGS FROM BIOEQUIVALENCE AND THERMOEQUIVALENCE PROSPECTIVE
No full textThe belief that generic drugs are inferior to brand name drugs has been always under debate. Especially since the price of generic drugs is generally far cheaper than brand-name drugs. Although, this is because of waiving the preclinical studies and clinical trials for the generic drug, the quality, and purity of materials used for generic drug preparation is still arguable. Thus, the objective of this overview was to find out the tolerable deviations between generic and brand name drugs which should not alter the pharmacology. Using inactive additives in the generic drug different than in the brand name drug, such as binders, glidants, diluents, anti-adherents, disintegrants or polymer carrier material and filler should not change the drug bioavailability and pharmacokinetic parameters as long as both products using the identical active ingredient(s) in equivalent amounts. Even if both drug products are bioequivalent to each other in terms of active ingredient, they are not in terms of inactive ingredients. Hence, the probability of unexpected adverse drug reaction and allergies from the generic formulation are possible, especially, when people react sensitive toward specific component. Therefore, the occasional negative response occurring upon the switch from brand-name drug to the generic drug can be attributed to intra-and inter-patient variations toward inactive ingredients. Variations toward inactive ingredients can be obtained experimentally by utilizing a proper thermoanalytical technique. As a result, thermoequivalence of generic drugs to brand name drugs can be determined based on thermal information obtained from both products. In conclusion, thermoequivalence study can be a useful tool to demonstrate any possible variation between the inactive ingredients of both products.</jats:p
COMPARISON BETWEEN GENERIC DRUGS AND BRAND NAME DRUGS FROM BIOEQUIVALENCE AND THERMOEQUIVALENCE PROSPECTIVE
Full text linkThe belief that generic drugs are inferior to brand name drugs has been always under debate. Especially since the price of generic drugs is generally far cheaper than brand-name drugs. Although, this is because of waiving the preclinical studies and clinical trials for the generic drug, the quality, and purity of materials used for generic drug preparation is still arguable. Thus, the objective of this overview was to find out the tolerable deviations between generic and brand name drugs which should not alter the pharmacology. Using inactive additives in the generic drug different than in the brand name drug, such as binders, glidants, diluents, anti-adherents, disintegrants or polymer carrier material and filler should not change the drug bioavailability and pharmacokinetic parameters as long as both products using the identical active ingredient(s) in equivalent amounts. Even if both drug products are bioequivalent to each other in terms of active ingredient, they are not in terms of inactive ingredients. Hence, the probability of unexpected adverse drug reaction and allergies from the generic formulation are possible, especially, when people react sensitive toward specific component. Therefore, the occasional negative response occurring upon the switch from brand-name drug to the generic drug can be attributed to intra-and inter-patient variations toward inactive ingredients. Variations toward inactive ingredients can be obtained experimentally by utilizing a proper thermoanalytical technique. As a result, thermoequivalence of generic drugs to brand name drugs can be determined based on thermal information obtained from both products. In conclusion, thermoequivalence study can be a useful tool to demonstrate any possible variation between the inactive ingredients of both products
Bulletin on food price dynamics, inflation, and the food security situation in Sudan: January 2023
No full textInternational prices of food commodities continued to decrease in January 2023 especially for vegetable oils, sugar, dairy, and meat. Resulting in further sluggish overall price inflation in January 2023 of 83.6 compared to 87.3 percent in December 2022. The national retail prices of food commodities in January 2023 increased slightly compared to December 2022. Fluctuations in the exchange rate were associated with the change in local prices of imported commodities such as wheat and sugar. Food prices in relatively unstable states were higher than the national average. The monthly inflation rate of food and beverages decreased by 0.2 percent in January 2023 compared to December 2022 driven by the declining CPI for the vegetables and fruits
DETERMINATION OF NIFEDIPINE IN RAT PLASMA USING HPLC-UV DETECTOR: A SIMPLE METHOD FOR PHARMACOKINETICS AND ORAL BIOAVAILABILITY STUDIES
Full text linkObjective: To develop and validate a high-performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC) for the determination of nifedipine (NFD) concentration in rat plasma.Methods: 1.5 mol of sodium hydroxide solution was added to each plasma sample, followed by the addition of an extraction solvent based on n-hexane and dichloromethane (70: 30, v/v). The organic layer was transferred and evaporated to dryness under nitrogen flow. The residue was reconstituted with 0.5 mol of acetic acid, followed by the addition of n-hexane. After centrifuging the mixture, the supernatant organic layer of n-hexane was discarded, and the aqueous solution was injected onto the HPLC using A Phenomenex Luna-C18 reversed phase analytical column (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 µm). The mobile phase consisted of 0.01 mol aqueous ammonium formate: methanol: acetonitrile (55: 43: 2, v/v) with pH adjusted to 4.9 using formic acid. The flow rate was 0.8 ml/min; UV detector set at 235 nm and the samples were quantified using the peak area.Results: A well-resolved NFD peak was achieved free of interference from endogenous compounds in rat plasma. Recovery of NFD was more than 93 % over concentrations ranged from 5.00 to 200 ng/ml. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of this assay was 6 ng/ml and, intra-and inter-day coefficient of variation (CV) were 5.75 % and 7.93 %, respectively. NFD was found to be stable in rat plasma after being stored at -30 °C over 90 d.Conclusion: The stability, sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of this method make it suitable for the determination of NFD plasma concentration in pharmacokinetics and oral bioavailability studies
Bulletin on food price dynamics, inflation and the food security situation in Sudan: November-December 2022
No full textHighlights: • The decline in international prices, especially for food commodities, helped to limit overall price inflation in Sudan in November and December 2022. Consequently, the annual inflation rates in these months were lower than the inflation rate in October 2022. • Local prices of some food commodities noticeably decreased in November 2022 compared to October 2022, especially for cereals (wheat, millet, and sorghum). This decline continued in December 2022. • Local prices of internationally traded food commodities were affected by the fluctuations in the exchange rate during December 2021 to December 2022. • Higher inflation rates are observed in relatively unstable states (in urban and rural areas) compared to the national average. • The monthly inflation rate of food and beverages decreased to 59 percent in November from 70 percent in October 2022 driven by the declining CPI for the bread and cereals group
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