In this paper, we have developed simple method for adaptive filtering of the motion artifact on ECG signal obtained from conductive textile. The textile electrodes were placed on left and the right wrist to measure ECG through lead-2 configuration. The motion artifact was induced by simple hand movement. The reference signal for adaptive filtering was obtained by placing additional electrodes at one hand to simulate the motion of the hand. The adaptive filtering was compared to independent component analysis (ICA) algorithm. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) for the adaptive filtering was higher than independent component analysis in most cases.
This paper presents a survey of different sample and hold (S/H) circuits for analog-to-digital converters. It aims to illustrate the suitable sample and hold (S/H) circuit for low voltage operation and Bluetooth application. A simulation was done for the different sample and hold (S/H) circuits using 90nm CMOS technology on LT Spice IV. According to the simulation results, the simple sample and hold circuit has a signal to noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) of 40 dB. While the sample and hold circuit with bootstrapped switch technique has 56.56 dB for a 1MHz-500 mVp-p input sine wave. In addition to that, the clock frequency is 40 MS/sec, and the supply voltage is 1V. The simulation results show that the sample and hold (S/H) circuit with bootstrapped switch is the best candidate for low voltage operation and high frequency signals.
The basic requisite of wearable hardware platforms for continuous congestive heart-failure monitoring is the accuracy and low power operation. Low-power noninvasive monitoring of body fluids and gait abnormalities is generally very hard using the traditional techniques. In this paper, we present a novel mechanism followed by a demonstrator setup to monitor the body fluids in the form of weight measurements using wearable foot mounted sensors and a processing unit named as personal digital assistant. Energy and architectural efficient interfacing of these two and a low-power communication in-between using the human body as a communication medium is promising for accurate and low power operation.
Bacterial contamination is one of the major challenge faced by bioethanol production plants as it reduces the viability of yeast and hence ethanol yields. The primary bacterial contaminants of ethanol fermentations are lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Currently, bioethanol industries use antibiotics to control the contamination. This has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. This is of considerable concern for environmental pollution and an economic problem for bioethanol industries. This project aims at identifying potential antimicrobial products from various native biomass in Abu Dhabi for contamination control. Extracts and pretreated liquids of parts of date palm and mangrove were analyzed to see if LAB could be inhibited but still allowing growth of the yeast. The analysis was carried out using plating technique. The pretreated liquids of the date palm rachis and that of the mangrove stem and leaf were the promising natural antimicrobial agents identified in the study
Composition analysis as well as elemental analysis of three sampled macro algae from Abu Dhabi showed a significant amount of glucan ranging from 7.3% in Ulva sp., and 8.05% in Padina boergeseni to 9.5% in Colpomenia sinuosa. The theoretical biogas potential was calculated at 411 ml/gVS for Ulva sp., 368 ml/gVS for Padina boergeseni, 388 ml/gVS for Colpomenia sinuosa. Anaerobic digestion of the three macro algae samples digesting with was carried out at two different loadings; 0.2% and 0.5%. The results show a high methane yield for all three sampled species at 0.2 and 0.5% VS, with Ulva Sp yielding much higher methane production compared to Padina boergeseni and Colpomenia sinuosa. Biogas production for Ulva. sp. was carried out at 1%, 3%, and 5% VS loading. These results showed that the highest specific methane production for Ulva sp. was observed for samples with 1% VS.
Dyes have a wide range of applications. But, it has huge adverse effect on flora and fauna. Therefore, remediation of dye polluted waters remains of importance. One technique to rid water from dye-stuff is by adsorption of dye onto stationary phase. In this work, activated carbon is obtained from treated date palm leaf wastes which can be used as a sorbent for a number of dyes. Leaves have been treated with sulfuric acid . Prepared activated carbon has been characterized by BET, FT-IR, and SEM techniques. For sorption, the focus has been on crystal violet as dye component where the remaining dye concentration in the water has been followed up by UV-VIS spectrometry. Batch and dynamic sorption experiments have been carried out to obtain the maximum loading of the dye per gram activated carbon and to understand the underlying kinetics of the adsorption of the dye onto the carbon material.
Benzonitriles have been synthesized from benzamides and benzaldoximes, using BrCCl3-PPh3. Also, esters, N-acyloximes, amides and acid anhydrides have been prepared from the respective carboxylic acids, oximes, amines and alcohols by use of the reagent combination BrCCl3-PPh3. The reactions obviates the handling acyl halides or the more aggressive reagents PCl3, POCl3, or SOCl2. Furthermore, it replaces the environmentally hazardous CCl4 in the Appel reaction with BrCCl3, a reagent of less environmental concern.
This work focuses on the measurement of reaction kinetics of a blend of piperazine (PZ) with aqueous sterically-hindered amine, 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP). This blend is evaluated and confirmed to be a promising solvent for CO2 removal in gas streams. This evaluation considers the CO2 reaction kinetics of the blend at concentration ranges of 6.11-24.00 mol?m-3 for AMP and 7.09-47.92 mol?m-3 for PZ forming a blend (AMP/PZ). The stopped-flow technique is used to measure the direct pseudo first-order reaction kinetics of the blend over a temperature range of 298.15?313.15 0K. Different proposed reaction mechanisms such as zwitterion and termolecular reaction mechanisms for the reaction of CO2 with aqueous solutions of amines are used to correlate the experimental data. Hybrid of zwitterion mechanism correlated the blend of AMP/PZ perfectly
Sukuk are securities that are asset-backed and Shari'a compliant. Since their inception in 2002, Sukuk markets have experienced dramatic growth rates attracting the attention of investors, analysts and researchers alike. Despite Islamic bonds (thereafter termed as Sukuk) which held successfully their place in the international bond markets, the literature survey reveals that there are limited empirical studies on the Sukuk market risk from the investors' perspectives. Both the conventional bonds and Sukuk as financial instruments are exposed to various types of financial and market risks. The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible market risks in regards to the Sukuk as compared to the risks of traditional bonds. Based on value at risk (VaR) approach, we examine whether Islamic Sukuk exhibit a different market risk performance to conventional benchmarks.
This study examines wealth effects and changes in the systematic risk associated with the return structure of the Segmented "Two-Pillar" system in the UAE, resulting from the introduction of several major UAE "Banking-Directives" over the period 2004 to 2014. The empirical findings indicate that the systematic risk for the investment firms increased, while the systematic risk for the commercial banks slightly increased through the passage of these "Banking-Directives". The empirical evidence stipulates that all these "Banking-Directives" have created significant wealth effects for the investment firms, but insignificant wealth effects for the commercial banks. Conversely, the empirical results suggest that the introduction of the "Banking-Directives" produced positive wealth effects on the Segmented "Two- Pillar" UAE financial system.
