Design of a Wide-Band Microstrip Filtering Antenna with Modified Shaped Slots and SIR Structure

This paper presents a new compact microstrip filtering antenna with modified shaped slots to improve the impedance bandwidth. The proposed microstrip filtering antenna consists of three parts: the monopole radiating patch antenna; the Stepped Impedance Resonator (SIR) filter; and the feeding microstrip line. The designed structure is achieved on one-sided glass epoxy FR-4 substrate with dielectric constant εr = 4.4 and thickness h = 1.6 mm. The design procedure of the proposed filtering antenna starts from the second-order Chebyshev low pass filter (LPF) prototype. The achieved results show an excellent performance of S11-parameter with broadside antenna gain on +z-direction. Having two transmission zeros at 5.4 GHz and 7.7 GHz, good skirt selectivity and a wide-band impedance bandwidth of about 1.66 GHz makes the designed filtering antenna suitable for high-speed data communications. Both the simulation results generated by using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software package and the measurement achieved by using a vector network analyzer (HP 8510C) and the anechoic chamber show good agreement.

Determining Force behind Value Premium: The Case of Financial Leverage and Operating Leverage

The determining force behind the value premium is the matter of debate among the researchers. Some are of the opinion that the financial distress risk determines value premium whereas other theorize that value premium is basically the compensation for operating leverage (investment activity risk). This research provides empirical evidence on this theoretical contradiction by investigating the relationships of financial leverage (FL) and operating leverage (OL) with stock returns, the book to market ratio (B/M), and systematic risk on non-financial sector firms trading at the Pakistan stock exchange (PSE). This research empirically finds significant and direct influence of operating leverage on stock returns, the book to market ratio, and systematic risk respectively. Overall findings provide support for the theoretical models which have a linked book to market effect with operating leverage. Thus, we conclude that investment activity risk seems to be the major factor that determines value premium.

Development of One Pot Strategy for Hyper Production and In Vivo Evaluation of Lovastatin

The aim of this project was to improve the Aspergillus terreus strain and pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse as carrier substrate for bulk production of lovastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, in solid state fermentation. Sugarcane bagasse was treated with alkali (1-3% NaOH) for the conversion of complex polysaccharides into simple sugars for better utilization of carrier substrate by microorganism for maximum lovastatin production. Ethidium bromide (time of exposure 30-180 min) was used to induce mutation in Aspergillus terreus and the best mutant was selected on the basis of inhibition zone appeared on petri plates. Fermented lovastatin was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The fermented lovastatin, produced by parent and mutant Aspergillus terreus strain, was checked on body weight, blood glucose and serum cholesterol, ALT, AST, HDL-C, LDL-C, TG and TC levels of rats for their cholesterol lowering capacity. Our results indicate that selected strain along with 2% NaOH treated sugar cane bagasse was best suitable for bulk production of lovastatin by fermentation and fermented lovastatin effectively lower the cholesterol level of rats.

Optimization of a Method for the Simultaneous Extraction of Polar and Non-Polar Oxylipin Metabolites, DNA, RNA, Small RNA, and Protein from a Single Small Tissue Sample

A more comprehensive picture of tissue biology can be obtained through the application and integration of multiple omic technologies. However, the common challenge in working with a precious sample is having a sample too small to separately extract analytes of interest for each experiment. Considering the high heterogeneity that can be present in a single tissue sample, extracting all biomolecules from a single and undivided tissue is preferable because it allows direct comparison of results. Here, we combined a modified Folch extraction method with DNA, RNA, small RNA, and protein extraction using two commercial kits, which allowed us to extract polar metabolites and non-polar oxylipin metabolites, DNA, RNA, small RNA, and protein simultaneously from a small tissue sample. The method was validated in terms of quantity and quality of analytes for downstream analyses.

Phytochemical Profile, Antioxidant and Antitumor Activities of Green Grape Juice

Characterization and Demulsification of the Oil-Rich Emulsion from the Aqueous Extraction Process of Almond Flour

The aqueous extraction process (AEP) allows the concurrent extraction of oil and protein from almond flour without the use of harsh solvents. However, the majority of the oil extracted in the AEP is present in an emulsion that needs to be demulsified for subsequent industrial utilization. The effects of scaling-up the AEP of almond flour from 0.7 to 7 L and the efficiency of enzymatic and chemical approaches to demulsify the cream were evaluated. The AEP was carried out at pH 9.0, solids-to-liquid ratio of 1:10, and constant stirring of 120 rpm at 50 °C. Oil extraction yields of 61.9% and protein extraction yields of 66.6% were achieved. At optimum conditions, enzymatic and chemical demulsification strategies led to a sevenfold increase (from 8 to 66%) in the oil recovery compared with the control. However, enzymatic demulsification resulted in significant changes in the physicochemical properties of the cream protein and faster demulsification (29% reduction in the incubation time and a small reduction in the demulsification temperature from 55 to 50 °C) compared with the chemical approach. Reduced cream stability after enzymatic demulsification could be attributed to the hydrolysis of the amandin α-unit and reduced protein hydrophobicity. Moreover, the fatty acid composition of the AEP oil obtained from both demulsification strategies was similar to the hexane extracted oil.

Suzuki–Miyaura Reactions of (4-bromophenyl)-4,6-dichloropyrimidine through Commercially Available Palladium Catalyst: Synthesis, Optimization and Their Structural Aspects Identification through Computational Studies

5-(4-bromophenyl)-4,6-dichloropyrimidine was arylated with several aryl/heteroaryl boronic acids via the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction by using Pd(0) catalyst to yield novel pyrimidine analogs (3a-h). It was optimized so that good yields were obtained when 5 mol % Pd(PPh3)4 was used along with K3PO4 and 1,4-Dioxane. Electron-rich boronic acids were succeeded to produce good yields of products. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also applied on these new compounds to analyze their reactivity descriptors and electronic and structural relationship. According to DFT studies, compound 3f is the most reactive one, while 3g is the most stable one. As per DFT studies, the hyperpolarizability (β) values of these compounds do not show them as very good non-linear optical (NLO) materials. Compound 3f has the highest β value among all the compounds under study but still it is not high enough to render it a potent NLO material.

Manager’s Age, Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation and Sustainable Performance: A Conceptual Outlook

Scholars have investigated the direct linkage between manager’s age and sustainable corporate performance, however, the mixed results and conflicting findings on the nature of the relationship demand further explanation through the missing constructs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of sustainable entrepreneurial orientation in the manager’s age and sustainable performance. This study develops a conceptual link by using a dynamic capabilities approach and upper echelon perspective, indicating that younger managers can adopt a more holistic approach towards sustainable practices which can enhance the environmental, social and economic performance of firms. This implies that the relationship between manager’s age and sustainable performance can be explained through sustainable entrepreneurial orientation (SEO) which can play a key role in setting organizational direction towards sustainable development and achieving sustainable business performance. This study contributes to the literature by examining the role of SEO in the relationship between the manager’s age and sustainable performance. This research will help practitioners recognize the importance of minimizing environmental and social problems generating due to organizational production activities. This will lead to profit generation as well as value creation for nature and the local community.

The Impact of OFDI and Institutional Quality on Domestic Capital Formation at the Disaggregated Level: Evidence for Developed and Emerging Countries

In this study, we investigate whether outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) either augments or impedes domestic public and private investment, incorporating the role of institutional quality into the context of developed and emerging countries. To this end, we apply a cross-sectional-autoregressive-distributed lag (CS-ARDL) approach to analyze panel data from the period 1996–2017. Our empirical findings suggest that OFDI augments private capital formation for developed countries. Institutional quality (IQ) is found to be a driving factor that promotes private capital formation in the established economies of developed countries. However, OFDI has a negative association with the public capital formation in the established economies of developed countries, while IQ has a positive association with it. In the context of emerging economies, OFDI is found to be too insignificant to have an effect on private and public capital formation. Interestingly, IQ has a detrimental effect on both private and public capital formation in emerging economies. Our findings are robust. The empirical findings of this study imply that institutional quality should continue to be improved in developed countries, while it should surpass a certain threshold for emerging economies to promote domestic capital formation.

OFDI Impact on Private Investment in the Gulf Economies

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are highly dependent on hydrocarbons, which puts them at great risk to maintain stability in the long run. GCC countries need private investment to reduce their reliance on state and diversify their economies apart from hydrocarbon. The role of private investment is crucial to economic stability and development. Literature suggests that outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) can play a vital role in promoting private investment. Therefore, using feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) and panel corrected standard error (PCSE) techniques, we checked the impact of the GCC countries OFDI on private investment and found that OFDI significantly complement private investment in the GCC countries. The complementary impact of OFDI on private investment in the GCC countries can be used as a tool to promote private investment, diversify their economies and hedge against the pitfalls of addiction to the hydrocarbon.