Low-Power Wide Area Network Technologies for Internet-of-Things: A Comparative Review

The rapid growth of Internet-of-Things (IoT) in the current decade has led to the the development of a multitude of new access technologies targeted at low-power, wide area networks (LP-WANs). However, this has also created another challenge pertaining to technology selection. This paper reviews the performance of LP-WAN technologies for IoT, including design choices and their implications. We consider Sigfox, LoRaWAN, WavIoT, random phase multiple access (RPMA), narrow band IoT (NB-IoT) as well as LTE-M and assess their performance in terms of signal propagation, coverage and energy conservation. The comparative analyses presented in this paper are based on available data sheets and simulation results. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to evaluate network performance in response to variations in system design parameters. Results show that each of RPMA, NB-IoT and LTE-M incurs at least 9 dB additional path loss relative to Sigfox and LoRaWAN. This study further reveals that with a 10% improvement in receiver sensitivity, NB-IoT 882 MHz and LoRaWAN can increase coverage by up to 398% and 142% respectively, without adverse effects on the energy requirements. Finally, extreme weather conditions can significantly reduce the active network life of LP-WANs. In particular, the results indicate that operating an IoT device in a temperature of -20∘C can shorten its life by about half; 53% (WavIoT, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, NB-IoT, RPMA) and 48% in LTE-M compared with environmental temperature of 40C

Assessment of wood waste generation and utilization in Makurdi metropolis: Implication for sustainable management of forest resources

This study assessed forest waste generation and utilization in Makurdi metropolis. The increasing quantities of wood wastes from timber sheds, furniture industries and chainsaw millers possess a threat to the sustainable management of forest resources and environmental sustainability. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, percentages and tables, were used  to analyze the result. A five-point Likert scale was used to determine the level of utilization ofwood wastes. The findings of the study revealed three major sources of wood waste which were: timber sheds (37.8%), furniture factories (33%) and chainsaw millers (29.2%) while the types of wood wastes include: sawdust (14.9%), wood chippings (12.8%), wood shavings (21.1%), offcuts (20.2%) and trims (21%). Generated wood wastes were utilized as: animal beddings (39.4%) mulching (28%), generation of household energy (22.7%) briquettes production (6.0%) and engineered wood production (3.9%). The result on the level of utilization of wood waste indicated that it was low with Weighted Mean Score (WMS) of 1.9042. Lack of awareness (55.9%) was the most limiting factor of wood waste utilization followed by lack of technical know-how (18.6%), lack of start-up capital (25%) while the least limiting factor was inadequate raw material (0.5%). This study therefore concludes that the level of utilization of wood waste in Makurdi metropolis was very low. It is therefore, recommended that policy measures or incentives should be provided to wood merchants to encourage investments into utilization of wood wastes in Makurdi metropolis. Keywords: Wood waste, Wood generation, Wood utilization, Sustainable managemen

A state of the art survey - Impact of cyber attacks on SME's

Corporations and end users are finding it hard to keep their devices safe from the ever evolving and complicated threat of cyber attacks. Currently, with the widespread adoption of the Internet of fiings (IoT), cyber threat is becoming an even greater challenge for both technology providers and consumers. This paper presents a review of the recent and significant cyber security issues a?ecting many areas of digital technology. From IoT devices and smart automobiles to commonly used computers and typical corporate servers, we focus our analysis on current a?ack trends and the e?ects of intrusion on Small and Medium sized Enterprises(SMEs). ?is paper helps to build awareness among non-technical experts, practitioners and researchers about attack and defense strategies in the current digital market. We have created a guide with input from our in-house security researchers and information gathered from the literature to help the reader understand the challenges faced by the IT industry in the future

Adsorption Kinetics of Pb(II) and Zn(II) Ions unto Carbonized Groundnut Shells and Maize Cobs

Maize cobs and groundnut shell adsorbents from agricultural by-products were carbonized and investigated for adsorption of two selected metals, Lead (Pb II) and Zinc (Zn II) from aqueous solutions of these metals. Kinetic studies of the adsorption processes were investigated employing Elovich and the intraparticle diffussion models. The results showed that, the adsorption capacities of these comparatively cheaper adsorbents and their efficiency for the removal of Pb(II) and Zn(II) ions from aqueous solution present them suitable for use in place of the costly commercial activated carbons

Internet of Things: Evolution and technologies from a security perspective

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd In recent years, IoT has developed into many areas of life including smart homes, smart cities, agriculture, offices, and workplaces. Everyday physical items such as lights, locks and industrial machineries can now be part of the IoT ecosystem. IoT has redefined the management of critical and non-critical systems with the aim of making our lives more safe, efficient and comfortable. As a result, IoT technology is having a huge positive impact on our lives. However, in addition to these positives, IoT systems have also attracted negative attention from malicious users who aim to infiltrate weaknesses within IoT systems for their own gain, referred to as cyber security attacks. By creating an introduction to IoT, this paper seeks to highlight IoT cyber security vulnerabilities and mitigation techniques to the reader. The paper is suitable for developers, practitioners, and academics, particularly from fields such as computer networking, information or communication technology or electronics. The paper begins by introducing IoT as the culmination of two hundred years of evolution within communication technologies. Around 2014, IoT reached consumers, early products were mostly small closed IoT networks, followed by large networks such as smart cities, and continuing to evolve into Next Generation Internet; internet systems which incorporate human values. Following this evolutionary introduction, IoT architectures are compared and some of the technologies that are part of each architectural layer are introduced. Security threats within each architectural layer and some mitigation strategies are discussed, finally, the paper concludes with some future developments

PROCJENA DEGRADACIJE TLA RAZLIČITO KORIŠTENA: DJELOVANJE NA PROIZVODNOST TLA I SIGURNOST HRANE

Land use type is one of the critical factors affecting land degradation and soil productivity. The extent to which it influences land degradation and productivity has not been fully ascertained. This has been necessary for this study with the aim of assessing the extent to which land use influences crop productivity. Soil degradation levels were assessed using direct observation. The land use types studied were arable cropping (land use 1), oil palm (land use 2), and building sites (land use 3). Rank ordered correlation was used for the data analyses. Direct observation showed that physical and biological degradations were more severe than chemical degradation in all the land uses. Degradation processes were more prominent in land uses 1 and 3 than 2. Land use was found to be significantly (P< 0.01) correlated with land degradation (r = 0.47) at all sites. The degradation level ranked from moderate to high due to inappropriate land uses and soil types. However, since degradation processes were very high in all land uses, there must be careful choice of appropriate use of land in order to reduce degradation and enhance soil productivity.Način korištenja tla jedan je od kritičnih faktora što djeluje na degradaciju i proizvodnost tla. Razmjeri na koji oni utječu na degradaciju i proizvodnost tla nisu u potpunosti ustanovljeni. To nas je potaklo za procjenjivanje razmjera u kojem korištenje tla utječe na proizvodnost usjeva. Razine degradacije tla procijenjene su izravnim motrenjem. Promatrani načini korištenja tla bili su: obradivo tlo za usjeve (korištenje tla 1), uljana palma (korištenje tla 2) i gradilišta (korištenje tla 3). Za analizu podataka primijenjena je korelacija za određivanje namjene (rank order correlation). Izravno motrenje je pokazalo da su fizička i biološka degradacija bile jače od kemijske, kod svih korištenja tla. Procesi degradacije bili su jače izraženi kod korištenja tla 1 i 3 nego kod 2. Prema nalazu korištenje tla bilo je značajno (P<0.01) povezano s degradacijom tla (r=9.47) na svim položajima. Razina degradacije kretala se od umjerene do velike zbog neodgovarajućeg korištenja zemljišta i tipova tla. Međutim, budući da su procesi degradacije bili vrlo izraženi kod svih korištenja zemljišta potrebno je pažljivo izabrati odgovarajuće korištenje kako bi se smanjila degradacija i potakla produktivnost tla

Memory-efficient deep learning for botnet attack detection in IoT networks

Cyber attackers exploit a network of compromised computing devices, known as a botnet, to attack Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks. Recent research works have recommended the use of Deep Recurrent Neural Network (DRNN) for botnet attack detection in IoT networks. However, for high feature dimensionality in the training data, high network bandwidth and a large memory space will be needed to transmit and store the data, respectively in IoT back-end server or cloud platform for Deep Learning (DL). Furthermore, given highly imbalanced network traffic data, the DRNN model produces low classification performance in minority classes. In this paper, we exploit the joint advantages of Long Short-Term Memory Autoencoder (LAE), Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE), and DRNN to develop a memory-efficient DL method, named LS-DRNN. The effectiveness of this method is evaluated with the Bot-IoT dataset. Results show that the LAE method reduced the dimensionality of network traffic features in the training set from 37 to 10, and this consequently reduced the memory space required for data storage by 86.49%. SMOTE method helped the LS-DRNN model to achieve high classification performance in minority classes, and the overall detection rate increased by 10.94%. Furthermore, the LS-DRNN model outperformed state-of-the-art models

Design and Evaluation of Polyherbal Nanogel for The Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

A typical autoimmune condition known as rheumatoid arthritis is linked to progressive impairment, systemic problems, early death, and socioeconomic expenses. Rheumatoid arthritis has no known cause, and the prognosis is uncertain. However, new therapies with better results have been developed as a result of breakthroughs in our knowledge of the disease's aetiology. The current therapeutic approach, which reflects this advancement, involves starting intensive therapy shortly as a diagnosis is made and escalating the medication in the goal of clinical response while being guided by an evaluation of the disease condition. The medicinal industry is not an alternative to the increasing paradigm of nanotechnology, which is evoking advancements in practically all technological sectors. It has long been utilised for artificial medicine production. The emphasis today is on conventional therapies, though. This study has a considerable application in the developing field of nanomedicine because it focuses upon the nanogel preparations of conventional drugs. As the risks and shortcomings of contemporary medicine become more obvious, herbal therapies are experiencing a comeback because they are viewed as a fair and well-balanced method of therapy. The effectiveness of herbal medicines in the treatment and management of disease is demonstrated by developments in analytical and clinical studies. Herbal treatments' primary drawback is their failure to dissolve and stabilize. Newer technological developments may be able to solve the issues with herbal remedies. Nano-formulations show how modern technology and herbal medicines interact. Consequently, herbal medications' increased stability, homogeneity, low toxicity, and strong drug encapsulation capacities make them a promising candidate for innovative drug delivery systems

Future and potential spending on health 2015-40 : development assistance for health, and government, prepaid private, and out-of-pocket health spending in 184 countries

Background The amount of resources, particularly prepaid resources, available for health can affect access to health care and health outcomes. Although health spending tends to increase with economic development, tremendous variation exists among health financing systems. Estimates of future spending can be beneficial for policy makers and planners, and can identify financing gaps. In this study, we estimate future gross domestic product (GDP), all-sector government spending, and health spending disaggregated by source, and we compare expected future spending to potential future spending. Methods We extracted GDP, government spending in 184 countries from 1980-2015, and health spend data from 1995-2014. We used a series of ensemble models to estimate future GDP, all-sector government spending, development assistance for health, and government, out-of-pocket, and prepaid private health spending through 2040. We used frontier analyses to identify patterns exhibited by the countries that dedicate the most funding to health, and used these frontiers to estimate potential health spending for each low-income or middle-income country. All estimates are inflation and purchasing power adjusted. Findings We estimated that global spending on health will increase from US$9.21 trillion in 2014 to$24.24 trillion (uncertainty interval [UI] 20.47-29.72) in 2040. We expect per capita health spending to increase fastest in upper-middle-income countries, at 5.3% (UI 4.1-6.8) per year. This growth is driven by continued growth in GDP, government spending, and government health spending. Lower-middle income countries are expected to grow at 4.2% (3.8-4.9). High-income countries are expected to grow at 2.1% (UI 1.8-2.4) and low-income countries are expected to grow at 1.8% (1.0-2.8). Despite this growth, health spending per capita in low-income countries is expected to remain low, at $154 (UI 133-181) per capita in 2030 and$195 (157-258) per capita in 2040. Increases in national health spending to reach the level of the countries who spend the most on health, relative to their level of economic development, would mean $321 (157-258) per capita was available for health in 2040 in low-income countries. Interpretation Health spending is associated with economic development but past trends and relationships suggest that spending will remain variable, and low in some low-resource settings. Policy change could lead to increased health spending, although for the poorest countries external support might remain essential.Peer reviewe