BER-Aware Reflecting Elements Allocation for RIS-aided NOMA Networks over Ricean Fading

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) as a supportive technology for aiding downlink non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) can enhance the bit error rate (BER) performance. In this paper, a novel BER-aware reflecting elements allocation (REA) on an RIS is proposed to maintain the BER order among paired RIS-NOMA users. The RIS REA is useful for minimizing the average user BER, ompared with a system that allocates the same number of elements to all users. Additionally, the Ricean fading is considered instead of Rayleigh fading as it is more practical and general. Furthermore,an REA optimization objective function for equalizing the user BER is proposed. In order to solve the problem, a modified exhaustive search is proposed to reduce complexity. The distribution of the objective function is observed first; subsequently, the exhaustive search range is determined. Both the analytical and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can minimize the average user BER.

BER-Aware Reflecting Elements Allocation for RIS-aided NOMA Networks over Ricean Fading

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) as a supportive technology for aiding downlink non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) can enhance the bit error rate (BER) performance. In this paper, a novel BER-aware reflecting elements allocation (REA) on an RIS is proposed to maintain the BER order among paired RIS-NOMA users. The RIS REA is useful for minimizing the average user BER, ompared with a system that allocates the same number of elements to all users. Additionally, the Ricean fading is considered instead of Rayleigh fading as it is more practical and general. Furthermore,an REA optimization objective function for equalizing the user BER is proposed. In order to solve the problem, a modified exhaustive search is proposed to reduce complexity. The distribution of the objective function is observed first; subsequently, the exhaustive search range is determined. Both the analytical and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can minimize the average user BER.

The Obs-Services and their potentials for biodiversity data assessments with a test of the current reliability of photo-identification of Coleoptera in the field

The current reliability of species identifications by the Nature Identification API (NIA) of the app ObsIdentify is tested with a Coleoptera (Insecta) sample set from Germany. Seventy-five photographic beetle records taken with a smartphone camera under “average user” conditions are analysed in terms of correctness of the app’s identification result on various taxonomic levels, the displayed confidence level of the identification and the time until validation of the results. More than 60% of samples were identified correctly at the species level, but only 53% were validated within a month. The mechanisms by which users can upload pictures of their observations to be identified by the artificial intelligence and the validation process by experts are briefly explained. Regional specifics and further opportunities for data usage as well as currently existing problems are discussed and improvements are suggested. The expert validation of records is identified as a huge quality advantage of the Obs-Services. They are generally found to be a promising tool for lay people and professional institutions, despite still existing deficiencies such as identification failure in mutilated specimens, cryptic and rare species, doubtful species rarity ratings as well as the still insufficient capacity of validation. Experts and institutions are encouraged to volunteer as validators and collaborators.

Pop-up Ads and Behaviour Patterns: A Quantitative Analysis Involving Perception of Saudi Users

The study aimed to investigate consumer behaviour towards pop-up ads. The study is quantitative in nature and carries out a survey questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 100 active users of social media (i.e., Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok and gaming application). The data collected were analysed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Moreover, the study used descriptive statistical analyses, a t-test was used to check the different impact of independent variables and finally ANOVA test was used to find the impact of more than one independent variable on the dependent one. The results of the study showed that Snapchat (30.47%) was the widely used application among the participants and an average user consumes social media more than 4 hours a day which makes it 40% of the participants. The study also found that participants disagreed that they always look for pop-up ads (M = 1.71, Std = 0.92). Also, the study found no significant difference in perceptions of respondents towards pop-up ads with regard to gender. The ANOVA test revealed that educational level (0.627) didn’t show any significant difference towards the opinions of participants about pop-up ads whereas, age level (0.50) and monthly income (0.001) showed significant difference towards the opinions of participants about pop-up ads. The study concluded that pop-up ads do not actually impact consumer behaviour positively and are not the affective means of attracting consumers.

Perks of Working Entirely with Keyboard

Working in today’s corporate world requires users to switch between keyboard and mouse constantly. According to a survey conducted, an average user switches between keyboard and mouse 90 times in an hour. These frequent switches cause several discomforts to the user and the user’s efficiency takes a major fall. Use of touchpad in place of mouse is one another major setback. It has been noticed that a user switching from mouse/touchpad to keyboard and vice versa consumes time in completing a task as compared to a user depending entirely on keyboard.

A Comparative Study of Network Securities on Mobile Transaction

In recent years, the number of mobile transactions has skyrocketed. Because mobile payments are made on the fly, many consumers prefer the method to the traditional local payment approach. The rise in mobile payments has inspired this study into the security of mobile networks in order to instill trust in those who may be involved in the transaction in some way. This report is a precursor to explain and compare some of the most popular wireless networks that enable mobile payments, from a security standpoint, this research presents, explains, and compares some of the most common wireless networks that enable mobile payments. Threat models in 3G with connections to GSM, WLAN, and 4G networks are classified into four categories: attacks on privacy, attacks on integrity, attacks on availability, and assaults on authentication. In addition, we offer classification countermeasures which are divided into three categories: cryptographic methods, human factors, and intrusion detection methods. One of the most important aspects we analyze is the security procedures that each network employs. Since the security of these networks is paramount, it gives hope to subscribers. In summary, the study aims to verify if mobile payments offer acceptable security to the average user.

DISCERNMENT OF CYBERBULLYING APPROACH

People in the 21st century are being raised in an Internet enabled world where social media has become an integral part of people’s daily routine, with communication just a click away. As per the latest survey, the number of individuals using social media is over 39.6 million worldwide, with the average user having 8.7 accounts on various networking sites. Social media provides an opportunity to connect with people and share data in the form of posts, text etc, with this package of pros and yet various individuals are trying to misuse it by spreading hatred towards a group, individuals, a topic or an activity. Due to which cyberbullying has come into play, affecting the psychological state of the person. Where prevention is much needed, for which many researchers have come together and established many such technologies and programs for automatically detecting the events of cyber bullying on social media and preventing them by analysing the pattern of the posted comments or images. Thus the purpose of this research is to track and monitor the threats using supervised machine learning and mining.

Effects of Femtocell Ultradense Deployment on Downlink Performance in LTE Heterogeneous Networks

With huge number of smart gadgets and wireless devices being interconnected to each other, the demand for very high data bandwidth is becoming critically challenging. With such density of nodes inside wireless networks, providing high-quality service as well as wide coverage in indoor environment is a real challenge, which is due to the limited radio frequency and intense interference between nodes. As a one way to solve such problem and improve indoor service quality, femtocells have been introduced as an extension to the existing macrocell stations. Although femtocell is a promising technology, the pervasive deployment of huge number of femtocells without very tight network planning as well as coverage strategy may worsen the problem and degrade the service quality. One important problem that needs to be addressed when deploying femtocell technology in heterogenous networks (HetNets) is mitigating the various types of cross-tier and cotier interferences in between wireless cells. This study investigates the effect of unplanned ultradensity femtocell deployment in the downlink performance of two-tier heterogeneous networks in urban area based on LTE system. Instead of deploying femtocells one by one, grids of size either ( 3 × 3 ) or ( 5 × 5 ) of neighboring femtocell will be deployed inside each macrocell sector area. The simulation results show that femtocell deployment improves overall average user throughput in case of low and medium density scenarios. However, for ultradensity scenario, there is no enhancement in terms of fairness and throughput. The results confirm that this leads to high degradation for macrocell and femtocell user performance due to the severe interference between macrocells and femtocells, as well as among neighboring femtocells in each grid.

Application Notes: APD Handwash Android App – A tool for evaluating the effectiveness of handwashing

Handwashing is a basic infection control practice that needs to be performed correctly to be effective. In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its correct practice is emphasized by public health institutions. However, turning a practice into a habit requires acceptance for adoption of the twenty-second proper procedure to which difficulty remains. To promote and convince the average user, we developed the “APD Handwash app” as a home-use demonstration/education tool to the pitfalls and need of proper handwashing practices through the detection of assigned clean or dirty areas on the hand in a quantitative manner to provide a gauge to the effectiveness of washing when used before and after washing.