E-SAP: Efficient-Strong Authentication Protocol for Healthcare Applications Using Wireless Medical Sensor Networks

A wireless medical sensor network (WMSN) can sense humans’ physiological signs without sacrificing patient comfort and transmit patient vital signs to health professionals’ hand-held devices. The patient physiological data are highly sensitive and WMSNs are extremely vulnerable to many attacks. Therefore, it must be ensured that patients’ medical signs are not exposed to unauthorized users. Consequently, strong user authentication is the main concern for the success and large scale deployment of WMSNs. In this regard, this paper presents an efficient, strong authentication protocol, named E-SAP, for healthcare application using WMSNs. The proposed E-SAP includes: (1) a two-factor (i.e., password and smartcard) professional authentication; (2) mutual authentication between the professional and the medical sensor; (3) symmetric encryption/decryption for providing message confidentiality; (4) establishment of a secure session key at the end of authentication; and (5) professionals can change their password. Further, the proposed protocol requires three message exchanges between the professional, medical sensor node and gateway node, and achieves efficiency (i.e., low computation and communication cost). Through the formal analysis, security analysis and performance analysis, we demonstrate that E-SAP is more secure against many practical attacks, and allows a tradeoff between the security and the performance cost for healthcare application using WMSNs

Security Issues in Healthcare Applications Using Wireless Medical Sensor Networks: A Survey

Healthcare applications are considered as promising fields for wireless sensor networks, where patients can be monitored using wireless medical sensor networks (WMSNs). Current WMSN healthcare research trends focus on patient reliable communication, patient mobility, and energy-efficient routing, as a few examples. However, deploying new technologies in healthcare applications without considering security makes patient privacy vulnerable. Moreover, the physiological data of an individual are highly sensitive. Therefore, security is a paramount requirement of healthcare applications, especially in the case of patient privacy, if the patient has an embarrassing disease. This paper discusses the security and privacy issues in healthcare application using WMSNs. We highlight some popular healthcare projects using wireless medical sensor networks, and discuss their security. Our aim is to instigate discussion on these critical issues since the success of healthcare application depends directly on patient security and privacy, for ethic as well as legal reasons. In addition, we discuss the issues with existing security mechanisms, and sketch out the important security requirements for such applications. In addition, the paper reviews existing schemes that have been recently proposed to provide security solutions in wireless healthcare scenarios. Finally, the paper ends up with a summary of open security research issues that need to be explored for future healthcare applications using WMSNs

A smart sensor grid to enhance irrigation techniques in Jordan using a novel event-based routing protocol

Due to rapid changes in climatic conditions worldwide, environmental monitoring has become one of the greatest concerns in the last few years. With the advancement in wireless sensing technology, it is now possible to monitor and track fine-grained changes in harsh outdoor environments. Wireless sensor networks (WSN) provide very high quality and accurate analysis for monitoring of both spatial and temporal data, thus providing the opportunity to monitor harsh outdoor environments. However, to deploy and maintain a WSN in such harsh environments is a great challenge for researchers and scientists. Several routing protocols exist for data dissemination and power management but they suffer from various disadvantages. In our case study, there are very limited water resources in the Middle East, hence soil moisture measurements must be taken into account to manage irrigation and аgriculturаl projects. In order to meet these challenges, a Smart Grid that supports a robust, reactive, event-based routing protocol is developed using Ad hoc On-Demand Multipath Distance Vector (AOMDV) as a starting point. A prototype WSN network of 5 nodes is built and a detailed simulation of 30 nodes is also developed to test the scalability of the new system

A smart sensor grid to enhance irrigation techniques in Jordan using a novel event-based routing protocol

Due to rapid changes in climatic conditions worldwide, environmental monitoring has become one of the greatest concerns in the last few years. With the advancement in wireless sensing technology, it is now possible to monitor and track fine-grained changes in harsh outdoor environments. Wireless sensor networks (WSN) provide very high quality and accurate analysis for monitoring of both spatial and temporal data, thus providing the opportunity to monitor harsh outdoor environments. However, to deploy and maintain a WSN in such harsh environments is a great challenge for researchers and scientists. Several routing protocols exist for data dissemination and power management but they suffer from various disadvantages. In our case study, there are very limited water resources in the Middle East, hence soil moisture measurements must be taken into account to manage irrigation and аgriculturаl projects. In order to meet these challenges, a Smart Grid that supports a robust, reactive, event-based routing protocol is developed using Ad hoc On-Demand Multipath Distance Vector (AOMDV) as a starting point. A prototype WSN network of 5 nodes is built and a detailed simulation of 30 nodes is also developed to test the scalability of the new system

Mobile digital library acceptance

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Mobile digital library service could make students’ lives easier and may help academic libraries to enhance their image by offering their services through smartphones, which are very popular among students nowadays. However, the literature lacks a comprehensive theoretical framework to understand factors affecting the adoption of such a service. This research focused on factors affecting the intention to use a mobile digital library within the context of the UAE and explored features and services that would encourage students to adopt such technology. The research design considered users’ perspectives, comprised a number of phases and employed mixed methods. The first phase involved designing a preliminary prototype and framework based on the literature and the technology acceptance model (TAM). This prototype was used in the second (exploratory) phase as a stimulus material when students and librarians were interviewed in 10 focus groups. Based on their comments and views, factors that affect their intention were explored and hypotheses were generated. This exploratory phase allowed the development of a theoretical framework for mobile digital library adoption. Focus group results, card sorting methodology and usability testing produced a final prototype that was sent to all students at Zayed University within UAE with an experiential online questionnaire through e-mail. This testing phase was conducted to test the hypotheses and confirm the importance of the same factors extracted in the second phase. The results obtained from the 211 respondents supported a number of paths in the proposed theoretical framework. First, Perceived usefulness, Perceived ease of use, Mobile and web experience, Distinctiveness/prestige, and Trust were found significantly affecting the Behaviour intention directly. Second, Mobility, Library assistance, Interface design, and Social influence were found to affect the intention to use indirectly through Perceived ease of use. Finally, the relationship between Perceived ease of use and Perceived usefulness was found significant. The results lead for producing a final framework for mobile digital library acceptance consisting of seven external factors falling in the three general categories: interface characteristics, personal characteristics and system characteristics. It consists of Interface design, Social influence, Mobility, Library assistance, Distinctiveness/prestige, Mobile and web search experience and Perceived trust. This research contributed in understanding factors affecting mobile digital library adoption within the developing world

Cardiac Arrhythmias

The most intimate mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias are still quite unknown to scientists. Genetic studies on ionic alterations, the electrocardiographic features of cardiac rhythm and an arsenal of diagnostic tests have done more in the last five years than in all the history of cardiology. Similarly, therapy to prevent or cure such diseases is growing rapidly day by day. In this book the reader will be able to see with brighter light some of these intimate mechanisms of production, as well as cutting-edge therapies to date. Genetic studies, electrophysiological and electrocardiographyc features, ion channel alterations, heart diseases still unknown , and even the relationship between the psychic sphere and the heart have been exposed in this book. It deserves to be read