MODLEACH: A Variant of LEACH for WSNs

Wireless sensor networks are appearing as an emerging need for mankind. Though, Such networks are still in research phase however, they have high potential to be applied in almost every field of life. Lots of research is done and a lot more is awaiting to be standardized. In this work, cluster based routing in wireless sensor networks is studied precisely. Further, we modify one of the most prominent wireless sensor network's routing protocol "LEACH" as modified LEACH (MODLEACH) by introducing \emph{efficient cluster head replacement scheme} and \emph{dual transmitting power levels}. Our modified LEACH, in comparison with LEACH out performs it using metrics of cluster head formation, through put and network life. Afterwards, hard and soft thresholds are implemented on modified LEACH (MODLEACH) that boast the performance even more. Finally a brief performance analysis of LEACH, Modified LEACH (MODLEACH), MODLEACH with hard threshold (MODLEACHHT) and MODLEACH with soft threshold (MODLEACHST) is undertaken considering metrics of throughput, network life and cluster head replacements.Comment: IEEE 8th International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA'13), Compiegne, Franc

Management of Fusarium corm rot of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus sect. Blandus cv. Aarti) by using leaves of allelopathic plants

Two pot experiments were conducted to investigate the potential of different plant materials to manage the corm rot disease of gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus sect. Blandus cv. Aarti) caused by Fusariumoxysporum f.sp. gladioli (Massey) Snyd. & Hans. In the first experiment, leaves of five allelopathic plant species viz. Eucalyptus citriodora Hook, Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels, Coronopus didymus (L.) Smith, Chenopodium album L. and Cyperus rotundus L. were incorporated in the soil at 2, 4 and 6 g 100 g-1 of soil. In the second experiment, leaves of five plant species namely Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br., Parthenium hysterophorus L., Ageratum conyzoides L. and Allium cepa L. were spread on the surface of the pot soil at 4 g 100 g-1 of soil. All the leaf incorporation and spreading treatments significantly reduced the disease incidence and number of infection lesions on corms. Incorporation of all the dosages of 2 – 4% of C. rotundus significantly enhanced shoot biomass. Similarly 2% E. citriodora and 4 – 6% C. album incorporation also enhance shoot biomass significantly over Fusarium control. All the leaf spreading treatments significantly enhanced shoot length and biomass. The present study concludes that corm rot disease of gladiolus can be effectively managed by using allelopathic plants

Screening of Gladiolus germplasm for agronomic performance and resistance against corm rot disease

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the agronomic performance and resistance of Gladiolus germplasm against corm rot disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. f. sp. gladioli (L. Masey) W.C. Snyder & H.N. Hans. Among the 23 Gladiolus varieties tested, Glad Red exhibited the highest spike length of 55 cm followed by Advanced Red (50.2 cm) and White Prosperity (49.5 cm). Highest number of flowers (13 per spike) was recorded in Rose Supreme, Jester Ruffled Yellow, Princess Margaret Rose and Chinon. Glad Red depicted highest field life of flowers (42.5 days), followed by Friendship (42.5 days), Peter Pears (38.7 days) and Chinon (37.3 days). Different varieties showed 6.6 – 56.6% disease incidence and 0 – 33.3% mortality. Advanced Red, White Prosperity, Violetta, San Remo and Yellow Glad were found comparatively more resistant to corm rot disease with disease incidence of 0 – 10%. Indian variety Aarti was found to be the most susceptible to corm rot disease with disease incidence of 56.6%. Disease incidence was significantly and positively correlated with corm size. The present study concludes that Advanced Red and White Prosperity are the most suitable Gladiolus varieties for cultivation under agro-climatic conditions of Pakistan, having best floral characteristics and resistance against corm rot disease.Key words: Corm rot disease, disease resistance, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. gladioli, germplasm screening, Gladiolus

Sensory augmentation with distal touch: The tactile helmet project

The Tactile Helmet is designed to augment a wearer's senses with a long range sense of touch. Tactile specialist animals such as rats and mice are capable of rapidly acquiring detailed information about their environment from their whiskers by using task-sensitive strategies. Providing similar information about the nearby environment, in tactile form, to a human operator could prove invaluable for search and rescue operations, or for partially-sighted people. Two key aspects of the Tactile Helmet are sensory augmentation, and active sensing. A haptic display is used to provide the user with ultrasonic range information. This can be interpreted in addition to, rather than instead of, visual or auditory information. Active sensing systems "are purposive and information-seeking sensory systems, involving task specific control of the sensory apparatus" [1]. The integration of an accelerometer allows the device to actively gate the delivery of sensory information to the user, depending on their movement. Here we describe the hardware, sensory transduction and characterisation of the Tactile Helmet device, before outlining potential use cases and benefits of the system. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Fertilization with beneficial microorganisms decreases tomato defenses against insect pests

International audienceThe adverse effects of chemical fertilizers on agricultural fields and the environment are compelling society to move toward more sustainable farming techniques. “Effective microorganisms” is a beneficial microbial mixture that has been developed to improve soil quality and crop yield while simultaneously dramatically reducing organic chemical application. Additional indirect benefits of beneficial microorganisms application may include increased plant resistance to herbivore attack, though this has never been tested till now. Tomato plants were grown in controlled greenhouse conditions in a full-factorial design with beneficial microorganisms inoculation and commercial chemical fertilizer application as main factors. We measured plant yield and growth parameters, as well as resistance against the generalist pest Spodoptera littoralis moth larval attack. Additionally, we measured plant defensive chemistry to underpin resistance mechanisms. Overall, we found that, comparable to chemical fertilizer, beneficial microorganisms increased plant growth fruit production by 35 and 61 %, respectively. Contrary to expectations, plants inoculated with beneficial microorganisms sustained 25 % higher insect survival and larvae were in average 41 % heavier than on unfertilized plants. We explain these results by showing that beneficial microorganism-inoculated plants were impaired in the induction of the toxic glycoalkaloid molecule tomatine and the defense-related phytohormone jasmonic acid after herbivore attack. For the first time, we therefore show that biofertilizer application might endure unintended, pest-mediated negative effects, and we thus suggest that biofertilizer companies should incorporate protection attributes in their studies prior to commercialization

EDDEEC: Enhanced Developed Distributed Energy-Efficient Clustering for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consist of large number of randomly deployed energy constrained sensor nodes. Sensor nodes have ability to sense and send sensed data to Base Station (BS). Sensing as well as transmitting data towards BS require high energy. In WSNs, saving energy and extending network lifetime are great challenges. Clustering is a key technique used to optimize energy consumption in WSNs. In this paper, we propose a novel clustering based routing technique: Enhanced Developed Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering scheme (EDDEEC) for heterogeneous WSNs. Our technique is based on changing dynamically and with more efficiency the Cluster Head (CH) election probability. Simulation results show that our proposed protocol achieves longer lifetime, stability period and more effective messages to BS than Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering (DEEC), Developed DEEC (DDEEC) and Enhanced DEEC (EDEEC) in heterogeneous environments

Patient-reported outcomes measures of X-linked hypophosphataemia participants: findings from a prospective cohort study in the UK

Background X-linked hypophosphataemia (XLH) is a rare genetic condition passed on through the X chromosome which causes multiple symptoms including weakened teeth, bones, and muscles. Due to the rarity of the condition, little is known about the health outcomes as reported by people with the disease. The objectives of this study were threefold: to characterise key patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in adults with XLH, to identify clusters of symptom-severity groups based on PROMs, and to analyse the longitudinal progression of available PROMs. Methods Data from 48 participants from the Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases cohort Study (RUDY) was used to analyse both cross-sectional and longitudinal patient-reported outcomes. We analysed data for health-related quality of life (HRQL): EuroQol 5 dimensions-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L), Short-form 36 (SF-36) Physical Component Score (PCS), and SF-36 Mental Component Score (MCS), sleep: Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness scale (ESS), fatigue: Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Functional assessment of chronic illness therapy-fatigue (FACIT-F), pain: Short form McGill pain questionnaire version 2 (SF-MPQ-2) and PainDETECT, and mental well-being: Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) anxiety and depression. Summary statistics, tests of mean differences, mixed-effects models, and cluster analysis were used to describe and examine the various health dimensions of individuals with XLH. Results Overall mean scores were EQ-5D-5L = 0.65, SF-36-PCS = 32.7, and SF-36-MCS = 48.4 for HRQL, ESS = 5.9 and PSQI = 8.9 for sleep, FSS = 32.8 and FACIT-F = 104.4 for fatigue, SF-MPQ-2 = 1.9 for pain, and HADS-depression = 4.7 and HADS-anxiety = 6.2 for mental well-being. 7% reported neuropathic pain (PainDETECT). Whilst many adults with XLH reported good outcomes, extreme or severe problems were reported across all outcomes. Cluster analysis identified that adults with XLH could be divided into two distinct groups, one reporting worse (35.3%) and the other better outcomes (64.7%) (less pain, fatigue, depression, and higher levels of sleep). Longitudinal analysis showed that FACIT-F and HADS-anxiety scores worsened slightly over two years with statistically significant (p  Conclusion Although about two thirds of adult participants of the RUDY cohort with XLH report good health outcomes, for a considerable third much worse outcomes are reported. More research is needed to examine why some experience good and others poor health outcomes and the characteristics which identify them

An unusual variant of choledochal cyst: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Choledochal cyst is an uncommon congenital disease of the biliary tract in the UK. There are five main types of choledochal cyst with several recognised sub-types. However, occasional variants do occur.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a case of a female infant with an antenatally diagnosed choledochal cyst. The operative cholangiogram revealed an unusual intrahepatic biliary tree. The cyst was successfully excised and the infant is well at 18-months follow up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The anatomy should be clearly defined before surgical excision as abnormal variants can occur, which usually do not fit into the known classification types and subtypes.</p