Novel Clustering Techniques in Wireless Sensor Networks – A Survey

A study of Wireless Sensor Networks has been growing tremendously these days. Wireless Sensor Networks play a major role in various fields ranging from smart homes to health care. WSN’s operate independently in remote places. Because of tiny size of the nodes in such type of networks, they have a limited number of resources in terms of energy and power. Basically, sensor networks can be classified into flat and cluster based Wireless Sensor Networks. But, Clustering based Sensor Networks play a major role in reducing the energy consumption in Wireless Sensor Networks. Clustering also focuses on solving the No.s that arise during transmission of data. Clustering will group nodes into clusters and elects Cluster Heads for all clusters in the network. Then the nodes sense data and send that data to cluster head where the aggregation of data will take place. This paper focuses on various novel clustering techniques that improve the network’s lifetime

Recognizing Students At-Danger With Early Intervention Using Machine Learning Techniques

Students in online courses require attention as there is no much interaction between the teacher and student compared to traditional instructing methods. Due to the increase in advent of massive open online courses, there is a need to focus on identifying students at danger of withdrawl or failure. As the count of students enrolling in an online course is huge it’s quite difficult to find out specific students who are at-danger of failure/withdrawal from the course. There is a need to alleviate this problem by identifying those students and help academic instructors offer support to them. The major contribution of this work is to analyze the risk associated with the dropout of student in order to aid instructors in delivering the intensive intervention support to student who is at verge of quitting from the course. The main objective is to track student performance and provide valuable information to the educator to subsequent the courses according to their learning achievement and also help academic advisors to detect the student having low academic achievement records and encourage the candidates.  Data collected from OULAD datset is analyzed with the help at -risk prediction model is to identify whether a student is at verge of withdrawal or not

Art and craft of episiotomy

Background: Episiotomy is the most common obstetric surgical procedure performed in labor room. Mediolateral and Midline episiotomies are the most common types. Post-delivery suture angle is the most important determinant factor which predicts the risk of anal sphincter injuries. Mediolateral episiotomy has a significantly lower risk of OASIS rate when compared to midline episiotomies. Aim of the study was to know whether mediolateral episiotomies are actually mediolateral and does the angle of episiotomy influences the risk of anal sphincter injuries, maternal/fetal complications in the perinatal period.Methods: An observational study was conducted on 250 postpartum patients admitted to our hospital. Details of episiotomy in relation to incision angle, length, depth and post suturing angle were noted within two days of delivery.Results: Among the subjects included there were 40.8 % incisions were RMLE, average length was 3.32cms, average suture angle is 28.69 degree. OASIS was seen in 19.5% cases more so with midline episiotomies.Conclusions: Episiotomy is an essential, must to know skill. Compulsory ssupervised clinical teaching and use of skill lab training can prevent potential detrimental consequences

Implementation of Ac Power Stand by Switch-Off Outlets using Arduino mega2560

As more and more domestic appliances and consumer electronics are installed, house usage electronic devices tends to grow rapidly. A large number of electronic devices increase power consumption in two features, standby power and normal operation power. These two types of power consumption are proportional to the number of domestic devices. As a result, operational cost in household areas is also increasing. To achieve efficient domestic energy management in addition to the technology of standby power reduction

Evaluation of Ultrasonography with Conventional Clinical Parameters for Predicting Difficult Laryngoscopy

Background: Unanticipated difficult intubation poses a challenge in routine practice for anaesthesiologists. A preoperative airway evaluation helps in the identification of a difficult airway. Airway assessment with ultrasound is a modality recently being used to predict difficult airway. In this study we evaluate ultrasonography parameters with conventional clinical parameters for predicting difficult airway in adults undergoing elective surgeries. Methods: This cross sectional randomised clinical trial analyses ASA class 1 and 2 adults requiring endotracheal intubation for surgeries under general anaesthesia were enrolled following which Modified Mallampatti score and thyromental distance as well as ultrasound distance to epiglottis (DSE) and distance to hyoid bone (DSHB) were measured and based on Cormack Lehane grading they were categorised into easy and difficult airway groups. Results: DSE had the highest sensitivity of 90.48% whereas Modified Mallampatti grading had least sensitivity of 66.67%. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that ultrasonographic measurements at the thyrohyoid and hyoid level have higher sensitivity and specificity than the clinical parameters for airway assessment

Music and Music Therapy Is a Medicine for Stress

Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can be triggered by any event or thought that causes you to feel dissatisfied, angry, or anxious. The body’s response to a challenge or demand is known as stress. The importance of developing cost-effective stress reduction interventions is high due to the difficulty of reducing or preventing stress without professional help and the large demand for non-pharmacological stress reduction interventions. Music therapy is the clinical application of musical therapies to improve a client’s quality of life based on scientific evidence. Music therapists use both active and receptive music experiences to help clients improve their health in cognitive, motor, emotional, communicative, social, sensory, and educational domains by using music and its many facets, which include physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual domains. Nowadays, stress is increasingly widespread among all individuals all over the world, and people are more aware of it than ever before. This chapter may assist the general public in gaining a broad understanding of the role of music therapy in stress management, as well as assisting individuals in self-recovery

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions

Regulation of ceramide synthase 1 in cellular stress response

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 25, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Stephen Alexander and Dr. Hannah Alexander.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2008.[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Ceramides are intimately involved in a wide range of cellular processes. In mammals, de novo ceramide synthesis is catalyzed by the 6 ceramide synthase enzymes, which are homologs of the yeast longevity assurance gene (lag). CerS1 catalyzes the synthesis of C18-ceramide, which has important roles in cell signaling, inflammation and apoptosis. In this study we show that CerS1 is a short-lived protein and that it undergoes stress-induced turnover in an ubiquitination and proteasome-dependent manner. This turnover is regulated by protein kinase C (PKC) and the p38 MAP kinase. This study also focuses on the stress-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi translocation of the CerS1 protein. We show that CerS1 undergoes proteasome-dependent proteolytic cleavage under stress, as a result of which N-terminus CerS1 is degraded, while the Cterminus CerS1 translocates to the Golgi apparatus, also regulated in a PKC-dependent manner. Overall this study describes a novel regulatory mechanism for an important sphingolipid enzyme.Includes bibliographical reference

FPGA implementation of hardware architecture with AES encryptor using sub-pipelined S-box techniques for compact applications

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a thriving cryptographic algorithm that can be utilized to guarantee security in electronic information. It remains to uphold to be resistive from most of the attacks. In this work, AES-128 encryption iterative architecture is designed to achieve minimum area and less hardware utilization. Reduced area is attained by introducing a renovated S-box structure into the AES algorithm. Furthermore, hardware utilization is minimized by incorporating the Vedic multiplier in the Mix column transformation of the AES Encryption process. The proposed encryption architecture is of 128-bit size and was executed on the Xilinx Spartan FPGA series, namely, Spartan 3, Virtex-4 and Virtex-5 devices. The optimization result exhibits that the proposed S-box technique has a smaller area than other existing conventional works