DIRECT DATA COLLECTION METHOD BY TELECOMMUNICATIONS AERIAL PLATFORMS FROM THE WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK NODES

Background. To collect monitoring data from the nodes of the wireless sensor network in the absence of public telecommunications infrastructure, it is proposed to use telecommunications aerial platforms (TA), built on the basis of UAVs. Each telecommunication aerial platform acts as a mobile gateway, dynamically creates virtual clusters in the network, determines the data collection points in the clusters and their flight paths, forms a schedule and exchanges data with cluster nodes depending on their location coordinates relative to the TA flight path, battery power level and volume of monitoring data. Objective. The aim of the paper is to improve the efficiency of data collection from wireless sensor network nodes by telecommunication aerial platforms. Methods. Unlike existing data collection methods, the proposed method: uses the FOREL (FORmal ELement) cluster analysis method for clustering the network, new rules for selecting data collection points and rules for data transmission between TA and cluster nodes to achieve the specified target control functions: minimization of TA data collection time, maximization of network operation time, minimization of used TA. Results. The proposed monitoring data collecting method by TA from the nodes of the wireless sensor network allows increasing the efficiency of achieving a given target control function (reduce the time of data collection, increase the time of network operation, reduce the number of telecommunication aerial platforms used). Conclusions. The implementation of the proposed method into the specialized software of the wireless sensor network control system will improve the efficiency of the sensor node data collection process by telecommunication aerial platforms. Keywords: wireless sensor network; data collection method; network clustering; telecommunication aerial platform.

The effects of acarbose therapy on reductions of myocardial infarction and all-cause death in T2DM during 10-year multifactorial interventions (The Beijing Community Diabetes Study 24)

To investigate the potential benefits of acarbose therapy on cardiovascular events (CVD) in Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in an urban community over 10-year follow-up. The study population of Beijing Community Diabetes Study (BCDS) were type 2 diabetes (T2DM) living in 21 communities in Beijing. All patients received comprehensive intervention in accordance with the Chinese guidelines for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Professors in endocrinology from top tier hospitals regularly visited the communities for consultations, which was a feature of this study. A total of 1797 T2DM in BCDS study had complete screening data, including blood glucose, blood pressure, lipid profiles and acarbose continuous therapy. After 10-year follow-up, the risks of CVD outcomes were assessed according to whether patients had received acarbose therapy or not. All patients were followed-up to assess the long-term effects of the multifactorial interventions. At baseline, compared with the acarbose therapy free in T2DM, there was no significant difference in achieving the joint target control in patients with acarbose therapy. From the beginning of 8th year follow-up, the joint target control rate in patients with acarbose therapy was significantly higher than that of acarbose therapy free. During the 10-year follow-up, a total of 446 endpoint events occurred, including all-cause death, cardiovascular events, cerebrovascular events. The incidences of myocardial infarction (from the 4th year of follow-up) and all-cause death (from the 2nd year of follow-up) in patients who received acarbose therapy were significantly lower than that of acarbose therapy free respectively. In Cox multivariate analyses, there were significant differences in incidences of myocardial infarction and all-cause death between afore two groups during the 10-year follow-up, and the adjusted HRs were 0.50 and 0.52, respectively. After multifactorial interventions, T2DM with acarbose therapy revealed significant reductions of myocardial infarction and all-cause death. The long-term effects of with acarbose therapy on improving joint target control might be one of the main reasons of myocardial infarction and all-cause death reduction.Trial Registration: ChiCTR-TRC-13003978, ChiCTR-OOC-15006090.

Current Arboviral Threats and Their Potential Vectors in Thailand

Arthropod-borne viral diseases (arboviruses) are a public-health concern in many regions of the world, including Thailand. This review describes the potential vectors and important human and/or veterinary arboviruses in Thailand. The medically important arboviruses affect humans, while veterinary arboviruses affect livestock and the economy. The main vectors described are mosquitoes, but other arthropods have been reported. Important mosquito-borne arboviruses are transmitted mainly by members of the genus Aedes (e.g., dengue, chikungunya, and Zika virus) and Culex (e.g., Japanese encephalitis, Tembusu and West Nile virus). While mosquitoes are important vectors, arboviruses are transmitted via other vectors, such as sand flies, ticks, cimicids (Family Cimicidae) and Culicoides. Veterinary arboviruses are reported in this review, e.g., duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV), Kaeng Khoi virus (KKV), and African horse sickness virus (AHSV). During arbovirus outbreaks, to target control interventions appropriately, it is critical to identify the vector(s) involved and their ecology. Knowledge of the prevalence of these viruses, and the potential for viral infections to co-circulate in mosquitoes, is also important for outbreak prediction.

“Who Guards the Guards?”

The studies about panopticism have a highlighted spot on organizational researches. Recently, with the inclusion of information technology, it creates the digital panopticon, in which informational systems perform the control, including on the vigilantes themselves (managers). Thus, this study addresses hierarchy, power, and the insertion of information technology in banking organizations to understand the perception of managers about their power over the team on this new kind of materialization of power. For such, this qualitative exploratory research used interview and observation as data collection and triangulation techniques. The treatment of information performed was by speech analysis. The analysis of collected data revealed that the manager is not responsible for the conception of work anymore, because they became a task performer, showing their subjection to the system of the establishment and target control; after all, the power is in the system.

Development of a Gradient Descent Algorithm for Pathway Routing Based on Functional-Voxel Modeling

This paper considers a pathfinding algorithm using the gradient method for functional-voxel modeling problems. The basic principles of constructing gradient lines based on the functional voxel model are investigated. The tool to describe the scene with obstacles is the mathematical apparatus of R-functions. To solve the problem of pathfinding in a weakly deterministic environment, we propose an algorithm that is based on the use of: gradient method analyzing the color palette of images of local features of the function; mathematical apparatus of R- functions describing the topography of the solution surface at the current moment in time. An algorithm of target control that solves the problem of getting out of possible "trapped objects" is considered. For this, the principle of changing the position of the target was developed to control the gradient direction.

Effect of using green fluorescent protein double-stranded RNA as non-target negative control in Nasonia vitripennis RNA interference assays

RNA interference (RNAi) is a technique used in many insects to study gene function. However, prior research suggests possible off-target effects when using Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) sequence as a non-target control. We used a transcriptomic approach to study the effect of GFP RNAi (GFP-i) in Nasonia vitripennis, a widely used parasitoid wasp model system. Our study identified 3.4% of total genes being differentially expressed in response to GFP-i. A subset of these genes appears involved in microtubule and sperm functions. In silico analysis identified 17 potential off-targets, of which only one was differentially expressed after GFP-i. We suggest the primary cause for differential expression after GFP-i is the non-specific activation of the RNAi machinery at the injection site, and a potentially disturbed spermatogenesis. Still, we advise that any RNAi study involving the genes deregulated in this study, exercises caution in drawing conclusions and uses a different non-target control.