Performance evaluation and comparison study of adaptive MANET service location and discovery protocols for highly dynamic environments

A critical requirement in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) is its ability to automatically discover existing services as well as their locations. Several solutions have been proposed in various communication domains which could be classified into two categories: (1) directory based, and (2) directory-less. The former is efficient but suffers from the amount of control messages being exchanged to maintain all directories in an agile environment. However, the latter approach attempts to reduce the amount of control messages to update directories, by simply sending broadcast messages to discover services; which is also a non-desirable approach in MANETs. This research work builds on top of our prior work (Nazeeruddin et al. in IFIP/IEEE international conference on management of multimedia networks and services, Springer, Berlin, 2006)) where we introduced a new efficient protocol for service discovery in MANETs (MSLD); a lightweight, robust, scalable, and flexible protocol which supports node heterogeneity and dynamically adapts to network changes while not flooding the network with extra protocol messages—a major challenge in today’s network environments, such as Internet of Things (IoT). Extensive simulations study was conducted on MSLD to: (1) initially evaluate its performance in terms of latency, service availability, and overhead messages, then (2) compare its performance to Dir-Based, Dir-less, and PDP protocols under various network conditions. For most performance metrics, simulation results show that MSLD outperforms Dir-Based, Dir-less, and PDP by either matching or achieving high service availability, low service discovery latency, and considerably less communication overhead.

Expanding the Horizons of Wireless Sensing

All interactions of objects, humans, and machines with the physical world are via contact forces. For instance, objects placed on a table exert their gravitational forces, and the contact interactions via our hands/feet are guided by the sense of contact force felt by our skin. Thus, the ability to sense the contact forces can allow us to measure all these ubiquitous interactions, enabling a myriad of applications. Furthermore, force sensors are a critical requirement for safer surgeries, which require measuring complex contact forces experienced as a surgical instrument interacts with the surrounding tissues during the surgical procedure. However, with currently available discrete point-force sensors, which require a battery to sense the forces and communicate the readings wirelessly, these ubiquitous sensing and surgical sensing applications are not practical. This motivates the development of new force sensors that can sense, and communicate wirelessly without consuming significant power to enable a battery-free design. In this magazine article, we present WiForce, a low-power wireless force sensor utilizing a joint sensing-communication paradigm. That is, instead of having separate sensing and communication blocks, WiForce directly transduces the force measurements onto variations in wireless signals reflecting WiForce from the sensor. This novel trans-duction mechanism also allows WiForce to generalize easily to a length continuum, where we can detect as well as localize forces acting on the continuum. We fabricate and test our sensor prototype in different scenarios, including testing beneath a tissue phantom, and obtain sub-N sensing and sub-mm localizing accuracies (0.34 N and 0.6 mm, respectively).

Exploring Quality Assurances

The purpose of this chapter is to argue that higher education institutions (HEIs) in doing quality assurance (QA) must focus on the critical aspects of quality assurance, the need to look at the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges facing HEIs regarding quality assurance. It is assumed that institutions should carry out quality assurance and accreditation processes for stakeholders to have confidence in them. It also explains in detail what quality assurance and accreditation must entail in higher education institutions (HEIs). The need to maintain high-quality education standards becomes a critical requirement for HEIs to remain competitive in the education sector market. This chapter follows a qualitative approach in exploring quality assurance and accreditation in HEIs. Data will be collected through literature review. Quality assurance and accreditation in HEIs must aim to maintain and raise the quality of education and to guarantee the improvement of its standards.

COVID-19 Detection from CBC using Machine Learning Techniques

Covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected the mankind with colossal loss of life around the world. There is a critical requirement for timely and reliable detection of Corona virus patients to give better and early treatment to prevent the spread of the infection. With that being said, current researches have revealed some critical benefits of utilizing complete blood count tests for early detection of COVID-19 positive individuals. In this research we employed different machine learning algorithms using full blood count for the prediction of COVID-19. These algorithms include: “K Nearest Neighbor, Radial Basis Function, Naive Bayes, kStar, PART, Random Forest, Decision Tree, OneR, Support Vector Machine and Multi-Layer Perceptron”. Further, “Accuracy, Recall, Precision, and F-Measure” are the performance evaluation measures that are utilized in this study.

Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer using Green Communication Based on 5G Wireless Communication

Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) has given new opportunities for dealing with the energe shortage problem in wireless networks.Green transmission for 5G cellular networks of mobile cloud access networks based on SWIPT is being examined. Considering SWIPT as a future potential solution for increasing the battery life, this technique improves energy efficiency (EE). One of the technologies is wireless communication to transfter the power used to give sufficient resources to energy-constrained networks that have consequences for 5G and the internet of things (IoT), energy efficiency, co-operative communication and suitable are supported by the SWIPT. To enhance the capacity, data rate improvement, and better performance of quality of services of further networks. In addition to these criteria, it is also our moral responsibility to protect the environment of wireless networks by lowering power usage. As a result, green communication is a critical requirement. We looked at a variety of strategies for power optimization in the impending 5G network in this article. The utilization of relays and microcells to enhance the network’s energy efficiency is the main focus. The many relaying scenarios for next-generation networks have been discussed.

Glass Substrate Dust Removal Using 233 fs Laser-Generated Shockwave

Eliminating dust is gaining importance as a critical requirement in the display panel manufacturing process. The pixel resolution of display panels is increasing rapidly, which means that even small dust particles on the order of a few micrometers can affect them. Conventional surface cleaning methods such as ultrasonic cleaning (USC), CO2 cleaning, and wet cleaning may not be sufficiently efficient, economical, or environment friendly. In this study, a laser shockwave cleaning (LSC) method with a 233 fs pulsed laser was developed, which is different from the laser ablation cleaning method. To minimize thermal damage to the glass substrate, the effect of the number of pulses and the gap distance between the focused laser beam and the glass substrate were studied. The optimum number of pulses and gap distance to prevent damage to the glass substrate was inferred as 500 and 20 μm, respectively. With the optimal pulse number and gap distance, cleaning efficiency was tested at a 95% removal ratio regardless of the density of the particles. The effective cleaning area was measured using the removal ratio map and compared with the theoretical value.

Asymmetric requirement of Dpp/BMP morphogen dispersal in the Drosophila wing disc

How morphogen gradients control patterning and growth in developing tissues remains largely unknown due to lack of tools manipulating morphogen gradients. Here, we generate two membrane-tethered protein binders that manipulate different aspects of Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a morphogen required for overall patterning and growth of the Drosophila wing. One is “HA trap” based on a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) against the HA tag that traps HA-Dpp to mainly block its dispersal, the other is “Dpp trap” based on a Designed Ankyrin Repeat Protein (DARPin) against Dpp that traps Dpp to block both its dispersal and signaling. Using these tools, we found that, while posterior patterning and growth require Dpp dispersal, anterior patterning and growth largely proceed without Dpp dispersal. We show that dpp transcriptional refinement from an initially uniform to a localized expression and persistent signaling in transient dpp source cells render the anterior compartment robust against the absence of Dpp dispersal. Furthermore, despite a critical requirement of dpp for the overall wing growth, neither Dpp dispersal nor direct signaling is critical for lateral wing growth after wing pouch specification. These results challenge the long-standing dogma that Dpp dispersal is strictly required to control and coordinate overall wing patterning and growth.

Green public procurement: learnings from Pesaro city, Italy

The development of mandatory green public procurement requirements is a significant and tangible contribution to undertaking planned, sustainable deconstruction (rather than demolition) approach to increase recycling materials, creating new businesses and new green jobs. Research undertaken of a procurement process for Pesaro, Italy demonstrates the application of an assessment approach and method based on holistic evaluation and interpretation of multiple sustainability aspects of buildings and their parts. Taking a holistic life cycle approach, this case study provides a clear evidence of how to foster ‘circular’ alternatives compared to linear, business as usual options in the management of public procurement. A competitive procedure in the procurement process was undertaken resulting in materials either being reused or taken to a recycling centre. The reuse of the materials during the new construction phase also included monitoring the quantity of all materials, preventing any waste and encouraging optimised reuse. This study shows that it is possible to drive the market towards a circular thinking and a circular construction site management is a critical requirement for transitioning towards a circular built environment. By ensuring that tendering processes support and develop sustainable recovery of waste materials, this study shows that it is possible to provide materials second and third life.

Differential Interactome Based Drug Repositioning Unraveled Abacavir, Exemestane, Nortriptyline Hydrochloride, and Tolcapone as Potential Therapeutics for Colorectal Cancers

There is a critical requirement for alternative strategies to provide the better treatment in colorectal cancer (CRC). Hence, our goal was to propose novel biomarkers as well as drug candidates for its treatment through differential interactome based drug repositioning. Differentially interacting proteins and their modules were identified, and their prognostic power were estimated through survival analyses. Drug repositioning was carried out for significant target proteins, and candidate drugs were analyzed via in silico molecular docking prior to in vitro cell viability assays in CRC cell lines. Six modules (mAPEX1, mCCT7, mHSD17B10, mMYC, mPSMB5, mRAN) were highlighted considering their prognostic performance. Drug repositioning resulted in eight drugs (abacavir, ribociclib, exemestane, voriconazole, nortriptyline hydrochloride, theophylline, bromocriptine mesylate, and tolcapone). Moreover, significant in vitro inhibition profiles were obtained in abacavir, nortriptyline hydrochloride, exemestane, tolcapone, and theophylline (positive control). Our findings may provide new and complementary strategies for the treatment of CRC.