Recent advances in industrial wireless sensor networks towards efficient management in IoT

With the accelerated development of Internet-of- Things (IoT), wireless sensor networks (WSN) are gaining importance in the continued advancement of information and communication technologies, and have been connected and integrated with Internet in vast industrial applications. However, given the fact that most wireless sensor devices are resource constrained and operate on batteries, the communication overhead and power consumption are therefore important issues for wireless sensor networks design. In order to efficiently manage these wireless sensor devices in a unified manner, the industrial authorities should be able to provide a network infrastructure supporting various WSN applications and services that facilitate the management of sensor-equipped real-world entities. This paper presents an overview of industrial ecosystem, technical architecture, industrial device management standards and our latest research activity in developing a WSN management system. The key approach to enable efficient and reliable management of WSN within such an infrastructure is a cross layer design of lightweight and cloud-based RESTful web service

Spontaneous breaking of time reversal symmetry in strongly interacting two dimensional electron layers in silicon and germanium

We report experimental evidence of a remarkable spontaneous time reversal symmetry breaking in two dimensional electron systems formed by atomically confined doping of phosphorus (P) atoms inside bulk crystalline silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge). Weak localization corrections to the conductivity and the universal conductance fluctuations were both found to decrease rapidly with decreasing doping in the Si:P and Ge:P $\delta-$layers, suggesting an effect driven by Coulomb interactions. In-plane magnetotransport measurements indicate the presence of intrinsic local spin fluctuations at low doping, providing a microscopic mechanism for spontaneous lifting of the time reversal symmetry. Our experiments suggest the emergence of a new many-body quantum state when two dimensional electrons are confined to narrow half-filled impurity bands

Internal fixation of pediatric shaft femur fractures by titanium elastic nails: clinical and radiological study

Background: Management of diaphyseal femoral fractures in the pediatric age group is challenging. There has been a demand worldwide for operative fixation.Methods: Twelve children (7 boys, five girls) aged 6-16 years with diaphyseal femoral fractures (12 fractures, one in each) was stabilized with titanium elastic nail system (TENS). Patients underwent surgery within a week days of their injury. The results were evaluated using Flynn's Scoring system. Identical two nails were used in each fracture.Results: All 12 patients were available for evaluation and follow-up for a mean duration of 24 months (14-34 months). Radiological union in all cases was seen at a mean duration of 8 weeks. Full weight bearing was possible at a mean duration of 10 weeks (8-12 weeks). The results were excellent in 8 patients (67%) and satisfactory in 4 patients (33%).  Complications that occurred were infection (2 cases), knee joint stiffness (4 cases), angulation <10 degrees (1 case), and shortening less than 10 mm (2 cases). Conclusions: Intramedullary fixation by TENS is an effective, time-tested treatment of fracture of the femur in patients of the 6-16 years age group

Obtaining Consensus Annotations For Retinal Image Segmentation Using Random Forest And Graph Cuts

We combine random forest (RF) classifiers and graph cuts (GC) to generate a consensus segmentation of multiple experts. Supervised RFs quantify the consistency of an annotator through a normalized consistency score, while semi supervised RFs predict missing expert annotations. The normalized score is used as the penalty cost in a second order Markov random field (MRF) cost function and the final consensus label is obtained by GC optimization. Experimental results on real patient retinal image datasets show the consensus segmentation by our method is more accurate than those obtained by competing methods

AN INTRODUCTION OF PROBLEM BASED LEARNING IN IMS, BHU

Aim: To find out the interest generated among medical students for problem based learning (PBL). Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to a batch of medical students (final year). Problem based learning was explained to them by power point presentation by the first author before the questionnaires were distributed. Then the students were asked to fill the questionnaires which were collected within ten minutes. Results: Thirty two students answered that PBL has ‘generated interest' in them as student while one student answered ‘definitely yes'.Students were asked ‘do they think it is a better way of teaching/learning'? Twenty nine students answered yes, three answered definitely yes and one answered may be.Students gave variety of replies to the question ‘ why they thought it was better'? Majority of students wrote that active participation brings responsibility, enhances learning and retention. PBL will be a realistic way of teaching. Students also felt that PBL is active form of learning and it is deep learning, it will boost student confidence and strengthens students' teacher relationship. They also felt that it will be interesting and practical.Conclusions: The questionnaire survey among the final year MBBS professional students revealed their interest in PBL. The reason we would prefer PBL to be introduced in the IMS, BHU is because it is a self-learning method which is the deepest form of learning. It is well known that we will need more resources and also more staffing to continue doing PBL but it will be worth the effort for our students

Enviromental Implications of Växjö Municipality's Energy Requirement for New Residential Buildings

AbstractThe Växjö Municipality in Sweden sets specific energy requirements above the national building code while selling land for new residential buildings. A main energy requirement for Östra Lugnet residential area in Växjö was that all buildings must be connected to the district heating network. In this paper we analysed final energy use of the buildings, and compared the primary energy use and CO2 emission from operation of the buildings connected to district heating system with hypothetical scenarios where only air-source heat pumps were installed. The result showed that district heating is the better option from the perspective of lower carbon emission. Therefore, it seems appropriate for Växjö Municipality to set conditions for new residential buildings in Östra Lugnet to connect to the local district heating network as it contributes to its goal of low carbon society

Spillover of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus from Domestic to Wild Ruminants in the Serengeti Ecosystem, Tanzania

We tested wildlife inhabiting areas near domestic livestock, pastures, and water sources in the Ngorongoro district in the Serengeti ecosystem of northern Tanzania and found 63% seropositivity for peste des petits ruminants virus. Sequencing of the viral genome from sick sheep in the area confirmed lineage II virus circulation

A plate-type condenser platform with engineered wettability for space applications

Vapor condensation is extensively used in applications that demand the exchange of a substantial amount of heat energy or the vapor-liquid phase conversion. In conventional condensers, the condensate removal from a subcooled surface is caused by gravity force. This restricts the use of such condensers in space applications or in horizontal orientations. The current study demonstrates proof-of-concept of a novel plate-type condenser platform for passively removing condensate from a horizontally oriented surface to the surrounded wicking reservoir without gravity. The condensing surface is engineered with patterned wettabilities, which enables the continuous migration of condensate from the inner region of the condenser surface to the side edges via surface energy gradient. The surrounding wicking reservoir facilitates the continuous absorption of condensate from the side edges. The condensation dynamics on different substrates with patterned wettabilities are investigated, and their condensation heat transfer performance is compared. The continuous migration of condensate drops from a superhydrophobic to a superhydrophilic area can rejuvenate the nucleation sites in the superhydrophobic area, resulting in increased heat transport. We can use the condenser design with engineered wettability mentioned above for temperature and humidity management applications in space