Alternate marking-based network telemetry for industrial WSNs

For continuous, persistent and problem-free operation of Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN), it is critical to have visibility and awareness into what is happening on the network at any one time. Especially, for the use cases with strong needs for deterministic and real-time network services with latency and reliability guarantees, it is vital to monitor network devices continuously to guarantee their functioning, detect and isolate relevant problems and verify if all system requirements are being met simultaneously. In this context, this article investigates a light-weight telemetry solution for IWSNs, which enables the collection of accurate and continuous flowbased telemetry information, while adding no overhead on the monitored packets. The proposed monitoring solution adopts the recent Alternate Marking Performance Monitoring (AMPM) concept and mainly targets measuring end-to-end and hopby-hop reliability and delay performance in critical application flows. Besides, the technical capabilities and characteristics of the proposed solution are evaluated via a real-life implementation and practical experiments, validating its suitability for IWSNs

Sarcopenic obesity, pathogenesis, and treatment with a focus on exercise and protein intake

Sarcopenic obesity involves the co-occurrence of sarcopenia and obesity, yields more health risks than either condition alone, thus requiring prevention and treatment for healthy aging. In this review, the literature on the diagnosis of sarcopenic obesity, the mechanisms of its pathogenesis and treatment with emphasis on exercise and dietary protein were revised. Changes in body composition and sex hormones with age, myocellular mechanisms, inflammation, oxidative stress, physical inactivity, and insufficient protein intake are the main factors associated with the pathogenesis of sarcopenic obesity. Treatment targets weight loss while preserving muscle mass and function. Promising approaches involve high-protein and low-calorie diets combined with aerobic and resistance exercises. In addition to the total amount of protein taken daily, the amount consumed per meal, the type, source, and essential amino acid content of the protein are also important factors

Spectroscopic and thermal studies of cyano bridged hetero-metallic polymeric complexes derived from ligands containing N and S donor atoms

The new cyano bridged hetero-metallic polymeric complexes [Cu(dmtu)2Pd(CN)4]∙H2O and [Cu(H2O)2(detu)2Pd(CN)4]∙2H2O (dmtu = N,N'-dimethylthiourea, detu = N,N'-diethylthiourea; abbreviated henceforth as Cu–Pd–dmtu and Cu–Pd–detu) have been synthesized for the first time in powder form and their structures have been determined by vibrational (FT-IR and Raman) spectroscopy, thermal and elemental analysis techniques. Using vibration spectra of the complexes, it has been discussed whether the ligands are bound to metal atoms or not. According to the results obtained from the spectra of the complexes, the palladium atom is four coordinated with four cyano groups in a square planar geometry whereas the copper(II) atom of Cu–Pd–detu is six coordinated with two bridging cyano groups, two aqua and two detu ligands (four bridging cyano groups and two dmtu ligands for Cu–Pd–dmtu) in a distorted octahedral geometry. In addition, complex Cu–Pd–dmtu is similar to structure of the Hofmann type complexes and its structure consists of polymeric layers of |Cu–Pd(CN)4|∞ with the dmtu ligand bounded to the copper(II) atom. Thermal stabilities and decomposition products of the complexes were also investigated in the range of 30–1000 ºC in the static air atmosphere using TG, DTG and DTA techniques.                     KEY WORDS: Tetracyanopalladate(II), N,N'-dimethylthiourea, N,N'-diethylthiourea, Cyano-bridged complex, Vibration spectra   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2020, 34(2), 365-376 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v34i2.1

Preparation and Characterisation of the Cyano-Bridged Transition Metal Complexes Using N,Nʹ-Diethyl Thiourea as a Ligand

New cyano bridged transition metal complexes, [Cu(detu)4Ni(CN)4]∙2H2O (1) and [Zn(H2O)(detu)Ni(CN)4]∙2H2O (2) (detu = N, N’ diethyl thiourea) have  been synthesised in powder form. Their structures were illuminated by using spectroscopic, thermal and elemental analysis techniques. The nickel atom  exhibits square planar geometry in these complexes by coordinating with the cyano group’s nitrogen atoms. The copper atom of 1 is six coordinated with  two bridging cyano groups and four detu ligands. In contrast, the zinc atom of 2 is six coordinated with four bridging cyano groups, one detu ligand  and one aqua ligand. In addition, the structure of 2 is formed from polymeric layers of |Zn–Ni(CN)4|∞ with the detu and aqua ligands bonded to  the zinc atom. Thermal stabilities and decomposition products of 1 and 2 were examined in the static air atmosphere between 30 and 900 °C

Efficient vertical handover in heterogeneous low-power wide-area networks

As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand, the need to combine communication technologies to cope with the limitations of one another and to support more diverse requirements will proceed to increase. Consequently, we started to see IoT devices being equipped with multiple radio technologies to connect to different networks over time. However, the detection of the available radio technologies in an energy-efficient way for devices with limited battery capacity and processing power has not yet been investigated. As this is not a straightforward task, a novel approach in such heterogeneous networks is required. This article analyzes different low-power wide-area network technologies and how they can be integrated in such a heterogeneous system. Our contributions are threefold. First, an optimal protocol stack for a constrained device with access to multiple communication technologies is put forward to hide the underlying complexity for the application layer. Next, the architecture to hide the complexity of a heterogeneous network is presented. Finally, it is demonstrated how devices with limited processing power and battery capacity can have access to higher bandwidth networks combined with longer range networks and on top are able to save energy compared to their homogeneous counterparts, by measuring the impact of the novel vertical handover algorithm

Evaluation of network coding techniques for a sniper detection application

This paper experimentally studies the reliability and delay of flooding based multicast protocols for a sniper detection application. In particular using an emulator it studies under which conditions protocols based on network coding deliver performance improvements compared to classic flooding. It then presents an implementation of such protocols on mobile phones

Hybrid schedule management in 6TiSCH networks : the coexistence of determinism and flexibility

With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and Cyber-Physical System (CPS) concepts, there is a tremendous change ongoing in industrial applications that is imposing increasingly diverse and demanding network dynamics and requirements with a wider and more fine-grained scale. The purpose of this article is to investigate how a Hybrid Schedule Management in 6TiSCH architecture can be used to achieve the coexistence of applications with heavily diverse networking requirements. We study the fundamental functionalities and also describe network scenarios where such a hybrid scheduling approach can be used. In addition, we present the details about the design and implementation of the first 6TiSCH Centralized Scheduling Framework based on CoMI. We also provide theoretical and experimental analysis where we study the cost of schedule management operations and illustrate the operation of the CoMI-based 6TiSCH Schedule Management

The integration of LwM2M and OPC UA : an interoperability approach for industrial IoT

Over the past years, Internet of Things (IoT) has been emerging with connected and smart things that can communicate with each other and exchange information. Similarly, with the emergence of Industry 4.0, the industrial world is also undergoing a strong evolution by connecting devices, sensors and machines to the Internet. In this paper, we investigate the integration of these two domains and examine the interconnection of two of the promising interoperability standards in these domains, namely OPC Unified Architecture and Lightweight Machine-to-Machine (LwM2M) protocol. For this purpose, we introduce an efficient and scalable approach, based on Docker Containers, for the cross-domain integration and interoperation. Besides, we also demonstrate and validate our interoperability approach by means of real world implementations and also theoretical and practical analysis

Bicuspid Aortic Valve

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is one of the most common congenital diseases, affecting 1–2% of the general population. Although most of them are sporadic, some familial cases have also been detected. BAV is a complex developmental and progressive pathology, which may present with various clinical findings from newborn to adulthood. It may be suspected during cardiac auscultation or may be diagnosed by echocardiography incidentally. Some BAV cases may remain symptomless for years, with findings like valvular stenosis, insufficiency, or dilatation in the ascending aorta, whereas some others may present with early severe aortic valve dysfunction, premature congestive heart failure, and aortic aneurysms even in the newborn period. Such heterogeneous presentations of BAV phenotypes may be associated with congenital, genetic, and/or connective tissue abnormalities. The natural course of BAV is nonpredictable, it may lead to severe morbidity and mortality