Geometry-based localization for GPS outage in vehicular cyber physical systems

Vehicular localization has witnessed significant attention due to the growing number of location-based services in vehicular cyber physical systems (VCPS). In vehicular localization, GPS outage is a challenging issue considering the growing urbanization including high rise buildings, multilevel flyovers and bridges. GPS-free and GPS-assisted cooperative localization techniques have been suggested in the literature for GPS outage. Due to the cost of infrastructure in GPS-free techniques, and the absence of location aware neighbors in cooperative techniques, efficient and scalable localization is a challenging task in VCPS. In this context, this paper proposes a geometry-based localization for GPS outage in VCPS (GeoLV). It is a GPS-assisted localization which reduces location-aware neighbor constraint of cooperative localization. GeoLV utilizes mathematical geometry to estimate vehicle location focusing on vehicular dynamics and road trajectory. The static and dynamic relocations are performed to reduce the impact of GPS outage on location-based services. A case study based comparative performance evaluation has been carried out to assess the efficiency and scalability of GeoLV. It is evident from the results that GeoLV handles both shorter and longer GPS outage problem better than the state-of-the-art techniques in VCPS

Heterogeneous pipelined square-root Kalman Filter algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC problem

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11227-009-0354-x[EN] This paper describes a pipelined parallel algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC decoding procedure proposed in V-BLAST wireless MIMO systems, for heterogeneous networks of processors. It is based on a block version of the square-root Kalman Filter algorithm that was initially devised to solve the RLS problem. It has been parallelized in a pipelined way obtaining a good efficiency and scalability. The optimum load balancing for this parallel algorithm is dynamic, but we derive a static load balancing scheme with good performance. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.This work has been supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, project 20080811, by the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, project 20080009, by the Conserjería de Educacion de la Región de Murcia (Fundacion Séneca, 08763/PI/08), and by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (TIN2008-06570-C04-02).Martínez Zaldívar, FJ.; Vidal Maciá, AM.; Giménez Cánovas, D. (2011). Heterogeneous pipelined square-root Kalman Filter algorithm for the MMSE-OSIC problem. Journal of Supercomputing. 58(2):235-243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-009-0354-xS235243582Foschini GJ (1996) Layered space-time architecture for wireless communications in a fading environment when using multiple antennas. Bell Labs Techn J 1:41–59Hassibi B (2000) An efficient square-root algorithm for BLAST. In: IEEE international conference on acoustics, speech and signal processing 2000, vol 2, pp II737–II740Zhu H, Lei Z, Chin FPS (2004) An improved square-root algorithm for BLAST. IEEE Signal Process Lett 11(9)Choi Y-S, Voltz PJ, Cassara FA (2001) On channel estimation and detection for multicarrier signals in fast and selective Rayleigh fading channels. IEEE Trans Commun 49(8)Burg A, Haene S, Perels D, Luethi P, Felber N, Fichtner W (2006) Algorithm and VLSI architecture for linear MMSE detection in MIMO-OFDM systems. In: Proceedings of the IEEE int symp on circuits and systems, May 2006Martínez Zaldívar FJ (2007) Algoritmos paralelos segmentados para los problemas de Mínimos Cuadrados Recursivos (RLS) y de Detección por Cancelación Ordenada y Sucesiva de Interferencia (OSIC). PhD thesis, Facultad de Informática, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, SpainSayed AH, Kailath T (1994) A state-space approach to adaptive RLS filtering. IEEE Signal Process Mag 11(3):18–60Kumar V, Gram A, Gupta A, Karypis G (2003) An introduction to parallel computing: design and analysis of algorithms, Chap 4, 2nd edn. Addison-Wesley, Harlow

Evaluation of gut modulatory and bronchodilator activities of Amaranthus spinosus Linn.

Background The aqueous-methanolic extract of Amaranthus spinosus (A. spinosus Linn.,) whole plant, was studied for its laxative, spasmolytic and bronchodilator activities to validate some of its medicinal uses. Methods The crude extract of A. spinosus was studied in-vivo for bronchodilator and laxative activities and in-vitro using isolated tissue preparations which were mounted in tissue baths assembly containing physiological salt solutions, maintained at 37°C and aerated with carbogen, to assess the spasmolytic effect and to find out the possible underlying mechanisms. Results In the in-vivo experiments in mice, the administration of A. spinosus increased fecal output at doses of 100 and 300 mg/kg showing laxative activity. It also inhibited carbachol-induced bronchospasm in anesthetized rats at 1, 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg indicative of bronchodilator activity. When tested on isolated gut preparations, the plant extract showed a concentration-dependent (0.01-10.0 mg/ml) spasmogenic effect in spontaneously contracting rabbit jejunum and guinea-pig ileum. The spasmogenic effect was partially blocked in tissues pretreated with atropine (0.1 μM). When tested on K+ (80 mM)-induced sustained contractions in isolated rabbit jejunum, the plant extract caused complete relaxation and also produced a shift in the Ca++ concentration-response curves (CRCs) towards right, similar to diltiazem. In rabbit trachea, the plant extract completely inhibited K+ (80 mM) and carbachol (CCh, 1 μM)-induced contractions at 1 mg/ml but pretreatment of tissue with propranolol (1 μM), caused around 10 fold shift in the inhibitory CRCs of the plant extract constructed against CCh-induced contraction. The plant extract (up to 0.3 mg/ml) also increased both force and rate of spontaneous contractions of isolated guinea-pig atria, followed by relaxation at higher concentration (1.0-5.0 mg/ml). The cardio-stimulant effect was abolished in the presence of propranolol, similar to that of isoprenaline. Activity-directed fractionation revealed that the spasmolytic component(s) was separated in the organic fraction, whereas the spasmogenic component was concentrated in the aqueous fraction. Conclusion These results indicate that A. spinosus possesses laxative activity partially mediated through cholinergic action. The spasmolytic effect was mediated through calcium channel blocking (CCB), while bronchodilator activity through a combination of β-adrenergic and CCB pathways, which may explain the traditional uses of A. spinosus in gut and airways disorders

Covid-19 patient detection based on fusion of transfer learning and fuzzy ensemble models using cxr images

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of millions of people and put a significant strain on healthcare facilities. To combat this disease, it is necessary to monitor affected patients in a timely and cost-effective manner. In this work, CXR images were used to identify COVID-19 patients. We compiled a CXR dataset with equal number of 2313 COVID positive, pneumonia and normal CXR images and utilized various transfer learning models as base classifiers, including VGG16, GoogleNet, and Xception. The proposed methodology combines fuzzy ensemble techniques, such as Majority Voting, Sugeno Integral, and Choquet Fuzzy, and adaptively combines the decision scores of the transfer learning models to identify coronavirus infection from CXR images. The proposed fuzzy ensemble methods outperformed each individual transfer learning technique and several state-of-the-art ensemble techniques in terms of accuracy and prediction. Specifically, VGG16 + Choquet Fuzzy, GoogleNet + Choquet Fuzzy, and Xception + Choquet Fuzzy achieved accuracies of 97.04%, 98.48%, and 99.57%, respectively. The results of this work are intended to help medical practitioners achieve an earlier detection of coronavirus compared to other detection strategies, which can further save millions of lives and advantageously influence society

Effectiveness of enhanced diabetes care to patients of South Asian ethnicity : the United Kingdom Asian Diabetes Study (UKADS) : a cluster randomised controlled trial

Background: Delivering high quality and evidence based healthcare to deprived sectors of the community is a major goal for society. We investigated the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive enhanced care package in UK general practice in improving cardiovascular risk factors in South Asian patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: 21 inner city practices were randomised to intervention (enhanced practice nurse time, link worker and diabetes specialist nurse support) (n=868) or control (standard care) (n=618) groups. Prescribing algorithms with clearly defined targets were provided for all practices. Main outcome measures comprised changes in blood pressure, total cholesterol and glycaemic control (HbA1c) after 2 years. Findings: At baseline, groups were similar with respect to age, sex and cardiovascular risk factors. Comparing treatment groups, after adjustment for confounders, and clustering, differences in diastolic blood pressure (1.91mmHg, P=0.0001) and mean arterial pressure (1.36mmHg, P=0.0180) were significant. There were no significant differences between groups for total cholesterol or HbA1c. Economic analysis indicates the nurse-led intervention was not cost-effective. Across the whole study population systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and cholesterol decreased significantly by 4.9mmHg, 3.8mmHg and 0.45mmol/L respectively, but there was no change in HbA1c. Interpretation: Additional, although limited, benefits were observed from our culturally enhanced care package over and above the secular changes achieved in the UK in recent years. Stricter targets in general practice and further measures to motivate patients are needed to maximise healthcare outcomes in South Asian patients with diabetes

Nutritional status of under-five children in rural Bangladesh

A cross-sectional study was carried out in Dumki Upazila of Patuakhali district in Bangladesh to assess the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among the under-five children. Anthropometric measurements were taken from all children, aged 0-59 months in the studied area using wooden height board and digital weight machine. We used WHO Anthro software for analyzing the z scores of the children. A total of 4409 (2296 boys and 2113 girls) under five children were counted for anthropometric analysis.  Regarding the Height-for-age Z-score (HAZ), the study revealed that the prevalence of stunting was 27.10% (95% CI: 25.8-28.5) of the children while 7.80% (95% CI: 7-8.6) were severe stunting. By assessing the Weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ), the study showed that 11.20% (95% CI: 10.3-12.1) were wasting whereas 3% (95% CI 2.5-3.5) were severe wasting. According to Weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ), about 18.20% (95% CI: 17-19.3) were underweight and 4.1% (95% CI: 3.5-4.7) were underweight. The findings of the study show that prevalence of stunting is very high. Focusing on childhood stunting is a high priority, and there should be comprehensive efforts to increase the overall nutritional status of the under-five children in this area

The promoter polymorphism -232C/G of the PCK1 gene is associated with type 2 diabetes in a UK-resident South Asian population

Background: The PCK1 gene, encoding cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-C), has previously been implicated as a candidate gene for type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptibility. Rodent models demonstrate that over-expression of Pck1 can result in T2D development and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the promoter region of human PCK1 (-232C/G) has exhibited significant association with the disease in several cohorts. Within the UK-resident South Asian population, T2D is 4 to 6 times more common than in indigenous white Caucasians. Despite this, few studies have reported on the genetic susceptibility to T2D in this ethnic group and none of these has investigated the possible effect of PCK1 variants. We therefore aimed to investigate the association between common variants of the PCK1 gene and T2D in a UK-resident South Asian population of Punjabi ancestry, originating predominantly from the Mirpur area of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. \ud \ud Methods: We used TaqMan assays to genotype five tagSNPs covering the PCK1 gene, including the -232C/G variant, in 903 subjects with T2D and 471 normoglycaemic controls. \ud \ud Results: Of the variants studied, only the minor allele (G) of the -232C/G SNP demonstrated a significant association with T2D, displaying an OR of 1.21 (95% CI: 1.03 - 1.42, p = 0.019). \ud \ud Conclusion: This study is the first to investigate the association between variants of the PCK1 gene and T2D in South Asians. Our results suggest that the -232C/G promoter polymorphism confers susceptibility to T2D in this ethnic group. \ud \ud Trial registration: UKADS Trial Registration: ISRCTN38297969

Common variants of the TCF7L2 gene are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a UK-resident South Asian population

Background Recent studies have implicated variants of the transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene in genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus in several different populations. The aim of this study was to determine whether variants of this gene are also risk factors for type 2 diabetes development in a UK-resident South Asian cohort of Punjabi ancestry. Methods We genotyped four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of TCF7L2 (rs7901695, rs7903146, rs11196205 and rs12255372) in 831 subjects with diabetes and 437 control subjects. Results The minor allele of each variant was significantly associated with type 2 diabetes; the greatest risk of developing the disease was conferred by rs7903146, with an allelic odds ratio (OR) of 1.31 (95% CI: 1.11 – 1.56, p = 1.96 × 10-3). For each variant, disease risk associated with homozygosity for the minor allele was greater than that for heterozygotes, with the exception of rs12255372. To determine the effect on the observed associations of including young control subjects in our data set, we reanalysed the data using subsets of the control group defined by different minimum age thresholds. Increasing the minimum age of our control subjects resulted in a corresponding increase in OR for all variants of the gene (p ≤ 1.04 × 10-7). Conclusion Our results support recent findings that TCF7L2 is an important genetic risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes in multiple ethnic groups

The use of complementary and alternative medicine among people living with diabetes in Sydney

Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common in patients with chronic disease such as diabetes mellitus. The primary objective of the study was to determine the overall prevalence and type of CAM use in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Western Sydney and to compare the prevalence and factors associated with CAM use with the literature.Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was undertaken using a self-completed questionnaire distributed to patients with DM attending a public hospital and specialist endocrinology clinics in the region. The type of DM and pattern of CAM utilisation were analyzed.Results: Sixty nine people responded to the questionnaire: age range of 18-75 years during a twelve week collection period. Overall, 32 respondents with diabetes were using some form of CAM, resulting in a utilisation rate of 46.3%. Twenty of the 32 CAM users used CAM specifically to treat their diabetes accounting for 28.9% of the respondent sample population. Multivitamins (40%), cinnamon, Co-enzyme q10 and prayer were the most frequently used CAM modalities. There was no significant difference between males and females, age range, income or diabetes complications between CAM and non-CAM users. (p values each &gt; 0.05) The factor most significantly associated with CAM usage was being born overseas (p = 0.044).Conclusions: Almost half the respondents (46.3%) used CAM: 28% used CAM specifically to treat their diabetes. Individuals born overseas were significantly more likely to use CAM than those born in Australia. Other factors such as age, gender, wealth and duration of living with diabetes were not associated with higher rate of CAM usage.<br /