Optimal Spectrum Sensing Threshold for Unequal Priors Case

Classical spectrum sensing techniques utilize maximum likelihood (ML) detection for identification of spectrum holes. The approach is sub-optimal for the case of un-equal priors where the probabilities of channel occupation and vacancy are not the same. Such situations are bound to occur in most commercial bands such as GSM etc and hence are of more interest. The loss in performance has been disregarded as negligible in most of the work done on spectrum sensing techniques. This paper quantifies the effects of changing priors on classical energy detection and infers that the loss in spectrum sensing performance is not negligible. The deterioration is especially considerable at low SNR values and at low probabilities of channel occupation. An optimum threshold for achieving minimum probability of error has been derived in this work for unequal prior case. Detection based on the proposed threshold out-performs classical detectors under the assumption that priors are known at the receiver

A Novel Radio Mode Identification Approach for Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radios

The paper suggests a radio mode identification algorithm for spectrum sensing that utilizes time frequency analysis and digital image processing techniques to identify various transmission parameters of the primary user. The classical spectrum sensing techniques only provide information about existence of spectrum holes in the spectrum band of interest. However the proposed approach enables the cognitive radio to identify spectral behavior of the primary users in addition to identifying the spectrum holes with greater accuracy. These parameters can be utilized to decide the suitability of the identified spectrum holes and predict pattern of spectrum usage in near future

A Comparative Study of Rural Drinking Water Supply Schemes in District Muzaffargarh, Pakistan

This study was conducted to evaluate the comparison between functional and non-functional rural drinking water supply schemes and to find out the reasons behind the non-functional rural drinking water supply schemes. For this purpose total 13 rural drinking water supply schemes (Functional 10 numbers out of 37 and Non Functional 03 out of 12) were randomly selected in study area. The respondents were the users of these water supply schemes and community based organizations (CBOs). The data were collected through comprehensive questionnaire. The total sample size was 169, out of that 130 respondents represented functional water supply schemes, whereas 39 respondents represented non-functional water supply schemes. The study showed that due to the installation of water supply schemes water borne diseases had been controlled and community improved their health as compared to the area where water supply schemes were found non-functional, as a result health of the inhabitants was poor.  Forty one percent respondents were using sweet water, 28% were using contaminated water and 31% were using brackish water before the installation of water supply schemes. The study showed that 88% water supply schemes were constructed on need based and 12% water supply schemes were not installed on need based. The main reason of the non-functioning of the water supply schemes was non-payment of WAPDA dues and power failure. The study recommended that there should be technical and financial assistance by the water and sanitation related institutions like Public Health Engineering Department and TMAs. NGOs should play their role regarding awareness campaigns, training related to management and health & hygiene practices. Keywords: Rural, Drinking water, Supply scheme

Smart handoff technique for internet of vehicles communication using dynamic edge-backup node

© 2020 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9030524A vehicular adhoc network (VANET) recently emerged in the the Internet of Vehicles (IoV); it involves the computational processing of moving vehicles. Nowadays, IoV has turned into an interesting field of research as vehicles can be equipped with processors, sensors, and communication devices. IoV gives rise to handoff, which involves changing the connection points during the online communication session. This presents a major challenge for which many standardized solutions are recommended. Although there are various proposed techniques and methods to support seamless handover procedure in IoV, there are still some open research issues, such as unavoidable packet loss rate and latency. On the other hand, the emerged concept of edge mobile computing has gained crucial attention by researchers that could help in reducing computational complexities and decreasing communication delay. Hence, this paper specifically studies the handoff challenges in cluster based handoff using new concept of dynamic edge-backup node. The outcomes are evaluated and contrasted with the network mobility method, our proposed technique, and other cluster-based technologies. The results show that coherence in communication during the handoff method can be upgraded, enhanced, and improved utilizing the proposed technique.Published onlin

Do Print Media Cater the Needs of Society? A Study to Analyze the Coverage of Health Issues in Major Dailies of Pakistan

This research study is conducted to identify the contribution of print media in highlighting the health specific information for their readers. A content analysis was made for five major Urdu and English dailies, to understand the importance given to health issues in terms of space given, frequency and tone of the contents. The findings of study concluded that mostly articles discussed the health education, specific diseases were less reported. Mostly articles were in neutral and positive tone respectively. Almost one fourth of the articles presented the multiple viewpoints with conclusion as elaborated multiple aspects such as diagnosis, precautionary measures, treatments and remedies/suggestions. Two-thirds of the articles discussed the non-scientific evidence. It was conclude that Information related to health was treated very casually and no serious and result oriented effort was made by the print media

Diagnostic Value of Immature-to-Total Neutrophil Ratio in Neonatal Sepsis

Background: Neonatal sepsis is the third most common reason of neonatal mortality in Pakistan. Blood culture, the gold standard test for diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, is time consuming. Therefore, rapid diagnostic tests with good specificity and sensitivity is needed for accurate and early diagnosis of this condition. The objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of abnormal (≥ 0.2) immature-to-total-neutrophil ratio in neonatal sepsis.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 288 neonates, aged 0-28 days, admitted with suspected sepsis. Detailed history of the neonates was recorded including gender, age, birth weight, maternal age, gestational age and clinical features. Blood culture and Peripheral blood films were done in each case. Differential leucocyte counts, total Polymorphoneutrophil count (PMN), immature neutrophil count, mature neutrophil count and calculation of I/T ratio was carried out in the Pathology Department of PIMS, Islamabad. The study outcome was divided into three groups on the basis of positive or negative blood culture and I/T ratio as normal, probable sepsis and proven sepsis group. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 21.0. Diagnostic value of I/T ratio was determined in NS by calculating values of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) by considering the blood culture as the gold standard test of NS.Results: The mean age and weight of the neonates at the time of admission was 1.1 (± 0.6) days and 2.51 (± 0.40) kg, respectively. About 60% of the neonates were males and 118(41%) neonates had I/T ratio of ≥ 0.2. On the basis of positive or negative blood culture and I/T ratio, 82 (28.5%) neonates were diagnosed as proven sepsis, 43 (14.9%) neonates had probable sepsis and remaining 163 (56.6%) neonates were declared as normal. Out of 82 neonates with positive blood cultures, 75 (91.5%) had I/T ratio ≥ 0.2, while 7 (8.5%) had I/T ratio ≤ 0.2. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of abnormal I/T ratio to diagnose neonatal sepsis was 91%, 79%, 64%, 96% and 83%, respectively.Conclusions: Due to substantially high diagnostic accuracy of I/T ratio ≥ 0.2, we recommend it as a useful, rapid and cost-effective tool in accurate diagnosis of neonatal sepsis

Antioxidant, biofilm inhibition and mutagenic activities of newly substituted fibrates

Purpose: A series of benzylidene-2-(4-bromophenoxy)-2-methyl propane hydrazides (1-10) were synthesized and assay them for their biofilm inhibition, antioxidant and mutagenic. Methods: All derivatives were prepared by condensation of various substituted benzaldehyde and acetophenones with 2-(4-bromorophenoxy)-2-methyl propane hydrazide, which was itself prepared by hydrazinolysis of ethyl-2-(4-bromophenoxy)-2-methyl propanoate and were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR 13C NMR, mass spectrometry. They were screened for their in-vitro anti-oxidant, biofilm inhibition and mutagenicity by established methods. Results: Anti-oxidant results revealed that the electron donating group enhanced the scavenging ability of the compounds as seen in compounds 4b, 4h and 4i. In biofilm inhibition studies, all compounds were more active against Gram –ive bacterial strain when compared to gram +ive strain. The mutagenicity assay results indicate that the compound having chloro group substitution is mutagenic. Conclusion: The benzylidine compounds of 2-(4-bromophenoxy)-2-methyl hydrazide possessing electron donating substituents exhibit superior activities to the electron withdrawing group substituents

Packet Aggregation in TelosB WSNs: Design, Implementation and Experiments

Master's thesis in Information- and communication technology IKT590 - University of Agder 2016WSN is an extensive field of research and a core technology which is adopted for monitoring and data assembling, used in various applications. Traditionally in a WSN, communication is performed in the fashion of single packet per transmission which produces high energy consumption and longer delay. Therefore, we introduce a novel approach by designing a system which applies packet aggregation in TelosB sensor motes using Contiki platform. In this approach, we assemble multiple packets together and send them in an aggregated frame towards the sink which can reduce the number of transmissions, energy consumption and delay per transmission unit. Accordingly, in this thesis report, we perform aggregation at relay node with diverse set of topologies and schemes and examined this technique through numerous experiments and testing for temporal and spatial aggregation topologies. Additionally, we design and implement three packet aggregation schemes and perform a comprehensive set of experiments to evaluate these schemes. These experiments are capable to demonstrate how packet aggregation proposes compelling performance boost in terms of less transmission count and how these schemes strongly actuate the energy level due to the reduction in transmission count. This report concludes with a brief summary of these experiments and recommends some potential approaches to affirm and further expand these outcomes. We have a belief that this research will be effective for better understanding of packet aggregation approach in WSN for future pioneers