Effective and Secure vWSN Applications in a Virtualized Cloud Computing Environment

Security is one of the key concerns in cloud computing. We are proposing Virtual Wireless Sensor Network (vWSN) which is one of the key features of cloud computing in the area of agriculture. Our main focuses are effective and secure vWSN in virtualized cloud computing environment with enhanced security to detect environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, soil moisture, air quality (pollution) monitoring, insect monitoring, pest and disease control, which is based on virtualization and cloud computing technology, centrally managed device having flexible and configurable parameter with less maintenance and operational cost. To the best of our knowledge, vWSN is the first approach to agriculture based on extensional WSN information. WSN contains both control plane (signaling) and data plane (forwarding) coupled together.WSN is a specific purpose computer containing hardware whose main components are memory, CPU, IO, registers, Data and address bus, timer, sensor, computing logic and decision making logic. WSN is a physical device which needs to be placed in the field in certain topology (Ring, mesh, tree, star) which may need to be protected for damage and erosion due to various parameter including but not limited to physical theft, damage due to weather, animal and various other reason. In this paper our approach is to propose virtualized model to replace physical wireless sensor network (WSN) to virtual machine (VM) based vWSN which can be deployed on the cloud. Since security is one of the major concern for VM in cloud computing therefore we also proposed the enhanced 3-tier security model for vWSN

Design and implementation of hybrid vehicle using control of DC electric motor

The electric motors and its control technology are key components of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Control of the electric motor is a fundamental issue for traction application in electric vehicles and HEVs. This paper presents the design, development and implementation of a hybrid vehicle using both an electric motor and petrol engine to increase efficiency and decrease carbon footprint. Initially, a prototype of a HEV is designed and the performance values are calculated, before a control system is developed and implemented to control the DC motor speed using a microcontroller as the vehicle’s electronic control unit along with simple proportional integral derivative (PID) control using speed as a feedback mechanism. The prototype made incorporated voltage, current, speed and torque sensors for feedback resulting in a closed loop control system which successfully matched the speed input of a user-controlled pedal sensor. A user interface was developed to show the driver of the vehicle key variables such as the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the motor, the speed of the vehicle along with the current being drawn, and the voltage applied to the motor with overall power. To output a variable voltage from the Arduino, a digital output was used with pulse width modulation (PWM) capabilities in order to provide a variable DC voltage to the speed controller

A STUDY REGARDING THE COPING STRATEGIES OF STRESS AMONG COLLEGE PLAYERS IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA- PAKISTAN

There is wide recognition that stress has close association with sports and subsequently with athletes and players. This very fact formulated the basis to investigate the “Coping strategies of stress adopted by College players of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”. For the purpose literature and related researches were reviewed and descriptive, quantitative, and non-contrived survey was conducted. All college players of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the population of the study in which a sample of 490 was drawn having 50% male and 50% female subjects. A research tool-questionnaire was developed and pilot tested having Cronbach alpha value as 0.87. The data was collected in person and analyzed through SPSS. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The data analysis revealed that college players use different strategies to manage their stress such as keeping busy in physical activities, warm up exercises, taking up long breathing exercise and talking to team mates. The responses of male and female college players were compared and their expression regarding coping mechanism was almost similar. On the bases of conclusions of the study, it is proposed that proper guidance and counseling services can make beneficial contribution in order to overcome or minimize the stress and to enhance their performance

A Fifty-year challenge in managing drug addiction in Malaysia

The history of substance abuse in Malaysia can be divided into pre- and post-independent era. In pre-independence, the main drug of abuse was opium which was initially consumed by immigrants from China who were introduced by the British colonialist to work in \ud Malaya. The post-independence era began in the 1960s when young adults were inß uenced by the “Hippy” subculture. At this time, consumption patterns changed where more Malays were involved in drug abuse compared to other ethnic groups (1, 2). \ud By the early 1980s, the prevalence of drug addiction increased and this increasing trend made the Malaysian government consider heroin addiction as a national threat. The national anti-drug task force was formed to control trafÞ cking and to rehabilitate addicts who \ud were involved in heroin addiction (3). Legislation was introduced where mandatory death sentence was implemented for those who smuggled more than 15 grams of heroin. Drug addicts found to be positive for heroin were forced to undergo compulsory \ud rehabilitation for two years (4). Nationwide, up to 28 government drug rehabilitation centres were established, and at any particular period, each centre accommodated up to 500 inmates. Approximately RM50 million a year was spent to run these centres (5). The centres were initially managed on a total abstinence philosophy; however this approach produced poor results. The latest survey showed that 85% of drug addicts relapsed after completing their rehabilitation at these centres (4, 6). In view of the poor results, substitute treatment with methadone was introduced recently to these centres (7).One of the visions of the Malaysian government was to create a drug addiction free nation by the year 2015. However, the increasing number of drug addicts has caused a surge in demand for rehabilitation centres, resulting in the inability of these centres to cope. For example, the number of drug addicts increased by 1% from year 2001 to 2002, but the number of drug addicts detected in year 2003 was 36,996, a 16% jump from the previous year (31,893). Furthermore, the National Drug Agency reported that 45% of the cases were repeat addicts. As for distribution of new cases, by ethnic group the Malays constituted 71%, Chinese 10.6% and Indian 8.2%. The majority (70%) were in the socially and economically most productive age group (20-39 years) and almost 98% of the addicts who occupied these rehabilitation centres were male. Currently, the number of drug users in the country is estimated to be 250,000 but the number is predicted to reach half a million by year 2015 (3, 8-10). The resulting economic,human resource and social loss is not quantiÞ able as the vacuum left by these people in various employment sectors are currently being Þ lled by migrant workers. Thus, it is evident that the increasing trend in drug addiction poses a threat to the future of the nation (1, 6, 9)

A STUDY REGARDING THE PREVAILING OF STRESS AMONG THE COLLEGE PLAYER IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

This study aimed to explore the prevailing level of stress among male and female college players. All the college players of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa formulated the population of the study of which a sample of 490 was drawn having 50% male and 50% female subjects. A research tool-questionnaire was developed with the help of literature, which was pilot tested having Cronbach alpha value as 0.870 before lunching in the field. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The data analysis revealed that the college players feel stress due to various reasons i.e. domination of opponents, self-poor performance and team, commitment of mistake, no cooperation among the team members, biased decision of the referee, competitions of vital importance, poor fitness level and expectation of people. It is concluded that the college players experience major stress as mental stress, psychological stress and emotional stress. The responses of male and female college players were compared and their expression regarding stress was almost similar. It is proposed that proper guidance and counseling services can be made beneficial for college players in order to overcome or minimize the stress and enhance the performance

A STUDY REGARDING THE PREVAILING OF STRESS AMONG THE COLLEGE PLAYER IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

This study aimed to explore the prevailing level of stress among male and female college players. All the college players of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa formulated the population of the study of which a sample of 490 was drawn having 50% male and 50% female subjects. A research tool-questionnaire was developed with the help of literature, which was pilot tested having Cronbach alpha value as 0.870 before lunching in the field. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The data analysis revealed that the college players feel stress due to various reasons i.e. domination of opponents, self-poor performance and team, commitment of mistake, no cooperation among the team members, biased decision of the referee, competitions of vital importance, poor fitness level and expectation of people. It is concluded that the college players experience major stress as mental stress, psychological stress and emotional stress. The responses of male and female college players were compared and their expression regarding stress was almost similar. It is proposed that proper guidance and counseling services can be made beneficial for college players in order to overcome or minimize the stress and enhance the performance

Exploring metabolic interventions for CIN cancer therapy

Chromosomal instability (CIN) has been established as one of the hallmarks of cancer, which is prevalent in most of the solid and advanced tumours. CIN enhances genetic heterogeneity in cancer cells. This heterogeneity provides selective advantages to cancer cells against the drugs and the therapies, which are linked to poor prognosis and relapse of cancer. Altered metabolism is another hallmark of cancer, which is being targeted for cancer therapy. In this thesis, I have discussed the therapeutic effect of targeting metabolism in CIN cells and CIN tumours. Chapter 1 is my introduction in which I have reviewed cancer, its therapy, CIN, its types, mechanisms, causes, and therapeutic targeting of CIN. I also review cancer metabolism, its targeting for the treatment, and targeting metabolism in CIN cells. Chapter 2 is a published review article about Drosophila being a model for CIN. In this article I have discussed different CIN models and their limitations, then I described Drosophila as a model for CIN studies. I later discussed different Drosophila CIN model systems which have been studied to understand CIN and cancer. As Drosophila has been extensively studied for CIN and cancer therapy, our lab has focused on targeting CIN cells in Drosophila. In an earlier study (Shaukat et al, 2012) it was found metabolic candidates such as Pas kinase and phosphofructokinase could be crucial for CIN cell survival. Chapter 3 is a further screening of metabolic candidates. We found few potential targets from all the major metabolic pathways whose knock down can specifically kill CIN cells. It was found, mitochondrial activity and oxidative stress was high which induced DNA damage and apoptosis in CIN cells targeted by these metabolic alterations. In chapter 4, I discuss the application of the selected candidates on CIN tumours. We further explain how one of my metabolic candidates stopped the tumour growth. This chapter also discusses the mechanism of ROS (reactive oxygen species) production and implications of high NADH levels in CIN cells, which was deficient in our earlier studies. Chapter 5 is my discussion in which I have collectively discussed my results, the significant of my work, my current model, and future directions. In appendix 1 I have presented a published review article on the role of JNK in response to oxidative DNA damage. This chapter encompasses activation of JNK by ROS, outcomes of JNK in response to ROS. Appendix 2 has figures for SOX drug and ovary numbers of the hosts.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Biological Sciences, 201