Semantic In-Network Complex Event Processing for an Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consist of spatially distributed sensor nodes that perform monitoring tasks in a region and the gateway nodes that provide the acquired sensor data to the end user. With advances in the WSN technology, it has now become possible to have different types of sensor nodes within a region to monitor the environment. This provides the flexibility to monitor the environment in a more extensive manner than before. Sensor nodes are severely constrained devices with very limited battery sources and their resource scarcity remains a challenge. In traditional WSNs, the sensor nodes are used only for capturing data that is analysed later in more powerful gateway nodes. This continuous communication of data between sensor nodes and gateway nodes wastes energy at the sensor nodes, and consequently, the overall network lifetime is greatly reduced. Existing approaches to reduce energy consumption by processing at the sensor node level only work for homogeneous networks. This thesis presents a sensor node architecture for heterogeneous WSNs, called SEPSen, where data is processed locally at the sensor node level to reduce energy consumption. We use ontology fragments at the sensor nodes to enable data exchange between heterogeneous sensor nodes within the WSN. We employ a rule engine based on a pattern matching algorithm for filtering events at the sensor node level. The event routing towards the gateway nodes is performed using a context-aware routing scheme that takes both the energy consumption and the heterogeneity of the sensor nodes into account. As a proof of concept, we present a prototypical implementation of the SEPSen design in a simulation environment. By providing semantic support, in-network data processing capabilities and context-aware routing in SEPSen, the sensor nodes (1) communicate with each other despite their different sensor types, (2) filter events at the their own level to conserve the limited sensor node energy resources and (3) share the nodes' knowledge bases for collaboration between the sensor nodes using node-centric context-awareness in changing conditions. The SEPSen prototype has been evaluated based on a test case for water quality management. The results from the experiments show that the energy saved in SEPSen reaches almost 50% by processing events at the sensor node level and the overall network lifetime is increased by at least a factor of two against the shortest-path-first (Min-Hop) routing approach

SEPSen: Semantic event processing at the sensor nodes for energy efficient wireless sensor networks

Traditionally in WSNs, the sensor nodes are used only for capturing data that is then later analyzed in the more powerful gateway nodes. This requires a continuous communication that wastes energy at the sensor nodes and greatly reduces the overall network lifetime. We propose a semantic-based in-network data processing that reduces energy consumption and improves the scalability of heterogeneous sensor networks. Ontology fragments in each sensor node help identify the data routed through the sensor network. We have adapted a matching algorithm to process a changing knowledge base. Simulation results show that the networks' energy consumption is considerably reduced

Using the community informant based (Made-In and Made-For) methodology for estimating MMR in Punjab

Pakistan is one of the six countries that account for more than 50 percent of the world’s maternal deaths. Each year, there are nearly 14,000 pregnancy-related deaths. Although maternal mortality has fallen from 533 per 100,000 live births in 1990–91 to 276 in 2006–07, Pakistan has not been able to achieve its Millennium Development Goal target of reducing maternal mortality to 140 per 100,000 live births by 2015. Planners require a method that can provide reliable subnational estimates easily, cost effectively. and with greater regularity. The Research and Advocacy Fund offered support to the Government of Pakistan to assess the feasibility of testing a new community informant-based approach, “Made-In Made-For,” for estimating the maternal mortality rate at the community level. A pilot study was conducted by the Population Council to test the approach in Chakwal, a district of Punjab, with promising results. Subsequently, government officials indicated their interest in seeing the approach scaled up in at least one province, Punjab, to provide reliable provincial-level estimates. This study has identified specific areas that need strong policy and programmatic interventions to improve maternal health outcomes

Secure mobile edge server placement using multi-agent reinforcement learning

Funding Information: Funding: This work is supported by King Khaled University under Grant Agreement No. 6204.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Implementing components of the PHC for PE/E Model in Pakistan: A cost analysis

Pre-eclampsia/Eclampsia (PE/E) is the third leading cause of maternal mortality in Pakistan. Women with PE are at increased risk for organ damage or failure, pre-term birth, loss of pregnancy, and stroke. PE can progress to eclampsia, which is characterized by seizures, and may be associated with kidney and liver damage, as well as maternal death. The risks of PE/E can be mitigated with regular screening during antenatal care and the postnatal period. Regular monitoring of PE can lessen progression to severe PE/E, and severe PE/E can be managed through administration of magnesium sulfate and antihypertensive drugs. Between 2016 and 2018, the Population Council, in collaboration with the Provincial Health Department, Government of Sindh Pakistan, implemented an intervention to confront PE/E that was part of the Ending Eclampsia project that implemented aspects of the (5-component) Primary Health Care (PHC) PE/E Model in Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The intervention in Pakistan was comprised of task sharing to detect and manage PE/E with PHC providers (component 1), and increased ANC uptake at the community level (component 3). This Country Brief describes the economic cost for implementing the two components in Pakistan

Impacts of climate change in vulnerable communities in Sindh, Pakistan: Voices from the community

Pakistan ranks among the ten countries worst affected by climate change in the world, and within the country the province of Sindh is one of the hardest-hit regions. Changing trends in temperature and precipitation have increased the frequency and severity of hazards such as flooding, droughts, and heatwaves, among a host of other environmental stresses. The present qualitative study was conducted to scope out the specific ways in which the impacts of climate change are gendered among rural communities in Sindh that have the highest exposure to hazards arising from climate change. The study probed the perceptions and experiences of men and women in a total of five communities in two districts of Sindh, Umerkot and Thatta. The ways climate change is impacting livelihoods in the communities is examined, and the ways vulnerability is deepened is identified, not only from the direct effects of environmental stress and resulting economic loss, but also from the coping measures adopted by affected people and the interactions of these changes with existing gender norms and roles

Training institutions for community midwives in Pakistan: An initial assessment

This study focuses on the training of community midwives (CMWs) in Pakistan, to specifically look at the institutions providing CMW training to see what resources (both physical and human resources) they had available and how these resources were being utilized. This study served as an early evaluation of the trainings and upgrades by the PAIMAN project, to assess how their interventions fared, and provides documentation for future decisions regarding the management, training, and practice of CMWs in Pakistan. As Pakistan transitions from a country with a high level of home births to a country where most births take place in institutional settings, trained CMWs can ease that transition, saving the lives of mothers and newborns as the transition unfolds. The report concludes that the MNCH needs to take more ownership of the program to better coordinate the training of tutors and clinical supervisors and to provide better supervision of the curriculum and trainings being imparted to the CMW trainees

Increasing access to reproductive health care through improved service delivery

The study documented in this report examines the provision and utilization of public and private sector maternal and child health services in Punjab, Pakistan with a focus on family planning (FP) services. It is aimed at enabling a better understanding of the specific demand and supply dynamics leading to low contraceptive prevalence despite unmet need, and the opportunities that must be seized to enhance access to quality family planning services. The report is part of a larger project being implemented by the Population Council with the assistance of the Department for International Development, UK entitled “Sustaining Focus on Provincial Governments for FP 2020 Goals and Increasing Access to Reproductive Healthcare through Improved Service Delivery.” The findings of the study suggest that there is scope for improving delivery of FP services and methods through all four major sectors, i.e., the public health facilities, the private health facilities, Lady Health Workers, and pharmacies. Based on its findings, the report recommends specific measures and approaches to address unmet need for family planning and the skewed method mix in Punjab

Expanding services to detect, manage, and prevent pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in Tando Allahyar District of Sindh Province, Pakistan

This endline report documents a USAID-supported implementation research project carried out by the Population Council in one district in Sindh province, as part of the global—Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan—Ending Eclampsia initiative. This project assessed community midwives’ (CMWs) abilities to screen and detect pre-eclampsia/severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (PE/SPE/E) in pregnant and postnatal women and provide a loading dose of magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) to clients suffering from SPE/E and referrals to facilities for further management. This study also explored opportunities to enhance collaboration between CMWs and lady health workers (LHWs), encouraging LHWs to refer pregnant women for group antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) sessions led by local CMWs, for improved ANC and PNC, as well as enhancing CMWs’ counseling skills and enabling their effective management of postnatal hypertension

Study of sexually transmitted infections among urban men in Pakistan: Identifying the bridging population

Pakistan currently has low levels of HIV infection, however the country is considered at high potential risk for an HIV epidemic. In major cities there are large concentrations of individuals whose behaviors make them extremely vulnerable to the rapid spread of HIV and of classical sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including male and female sex workers, men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users. HIV can spread to the general population through individuals who have contact with both high-risk groups and the general heterosexual population (the “bridging population”). Identifying the bridging population and bridging behaviors among urban men and understanding their levels of knowledge and behaviors related to STIs and HIV is critical for slowing the spread of HIV in Pakistan. The National Study of Reproductive Tract Infections and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Pakistan included three separate studies for measuring prevalence of selected STIs and assessing sexual behaviors within the high-risk groups, the bridging population, and the general population. This report describes the findings from the survey of the bridging population, which was conducted by the Population Council in six cities of Pakistan