A new sinkhole attack detection algorithm for RPL in wireless sensor networks (WSN)

With the continuous improvement of science and technology, wireless sensor network technology has gradually been widely used, and provides great convenience for people's living, but with the continuous improvement of the degree of application, wireless sensor network security issues also enter people's field of vision. Sensor nodes can be used for continuous sensing, event recognition and event identification. 6LoWPAN plays an important role in this convergence of heterogeneous technologies, which allows sensors to transmit information using IPv6 stack. Sensors perform critical tasks and become targets of attacks. Sinkhole attack is one of the most common attacks to sensor networks, threatening the network availability by dropping data or disturbing routing paths. RPL is a standard routing protocol commonly used in sensor networks. Therefore, this research presents the works in designing and developing Secured-RPL using the eave-listening concept (overhearing) to treating sinkhole attack. The suggested mechanism method could determine transmitted packages then overhear to the received packet, meaning that the node can overhearing to the neighbor node. Furthermore, three different simulation scenarios were applied, which are the scenario without attacker nodes, scenario with attacker nodes and the scenario with attacker and security by using Cooja simulator to Measurement and analysis performance of RPL in terms of packet delivery ratio (PDR) and power consumption over different packet transmission rate. The experimental results show that the proposed recognition method can identify sinkholes attack effectively and with less storage cost under various wireless sensor networks. Where the optimization ratio of the PDR in scenario with attacker node with the security was close to the scenario with a normal node

Inequality in the Literacy Levels in Pakistan: Existence and Changes Overtime

This paper attempts to identify the areas that are still lagging behind other parts of the country in terms of literacy levels and are unable to play their role in the velopment of human capital of the country. The analyses indicate that more than 75 per cent of the districts in the country are under-represented in terms of literacy levels. This includes a large portion of Balochistan province. A large proportion of the iterate population is concentrated in the national and provincial capitals. In general, Sindh lags behind in case of rural areas and NWFP in case of females. The analyses also dicate that the areas that are backward in terms of economic development are also those with low levels of literacy. Balochistan is the province that needs the greatest attention. An encouraging sign is the general decline in disparities in literacy levels over time. Moreover, the least literate areas have shown a significant improvement over time. wever, a lot of work needs to be put into these areas for them to come at par with other parts of the country.Pakistan; Literacy Levels; Inequality; Representation; Growth; Ranking; Census

Experimental study on static and dynamic behavior of woven carbon fabric laminates using in-house piezoelectric sensors, acoustic emission, digital image correlation and scanning electron microscopy

This study focuses on dynamic and static failure analysis of carbon fabric reinforced polymeric composite materials. The first part signifies the production of Piezoelectric Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers-based sensor for structural health monitoring of composites. Results obtained from the characterization of electrospun PVDF nanofibers confirm that electrospinning promotes the formation of β-phase. Dynamic flexural tests are performed on woven carbon fabric composites with embedded and surface mounted PVDF sensors to study the capability of these sensors to record strain history and damage progression in composite materials. Moreover, these PVDF sensors are able to capture three distinct stages of fatigue life of composite specimen. This result is validated by the strain measurement with the video extensometer during tests. It is important to emphasize that surface mounted PVDF sensors do not show any sign of malfunctioning during the test. SEM analysis of fractured surfaces of composite specimens shows vivid delamination and fiber pullouts through the thickness, thus indicating gradual growth of damage in laminates. The second part of this study is related to static failure analysis of woven fabric carbon reinforced polymeric composites under tensile and flexural loading. To conduct a detailed investigation Acoustic Emission (AE) is used to attain damage evolution under flexural loading conditions. For the first time GAP function has been suggested to find out the optimal number of clusters for AE data, the advantage of this function is its suitability for classifying elongated data points in vectoral space of acoustic data. Three clusters of data are determined with this new approach indicating various failure types in composite laminates and it is shown that simultaneous occurrence of all failures results in a major change of material stiffness. These failures are also substantiated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) studies of fracture surfaces. Further studies on tensile behavior of the same laminates are conducted with the help of SEM micrographs and 3D-digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Remarkably, it is seen that presence of the shear and transverse strain fields at the surface of the tensile specimen obtained through DIC technique can be correlated to shear dominant and high energy failure (interlaminar delamination and fiber pull outs) respectively, which are also confirmed by SEM images of same fracture regions

Histological and Physiological Studies on the Long-term Effect of Different Concentrations of Energy Drink (Tiger) on the Renal and Hepatic Systems of Young Mice

هذه الدراسة تهدف الى التحقق من التأثيرات الفسلجية والنسيجية المرضية لاستعمال طويل الامد لتراكيز مختلفة من مشروب الطاقة الاكثر شيوعا لدينا على الكبد والكلية لفئران صغيرة السن. فئران بأعمار ست اسابيع من نوع البينو تم تقسيمها الى اربعة مجاميع. المجموعة الاولى تناولت مشروب الطاقة بتركيز 28مايكرليتر/مللتر ماء, وتم قتلها بعد عشرة ايام (T1). المجموعة الاخرى تناولت مشروب الطاقة لنفس التركيز لكن تم قتلها بعد 20 يوم (T2). المجموعة الثالثة تناولت مشروب الطاقة  بتركيز 14مايكرليتر/مللتر ماء ولمدة 20 يوم (T4). المجموعة الرابعة تم تجهيزها بالماء فقط لتكون مجوعة سيطرة. تم قتل الفئران و تجميع عينات الدم و اعضاء الفئران (الكبد والكلية). الدراسة النسيجية المرضية لمقاطع كبد الفئران التي تناولت مشروب الطاقة اظهرت تغيرات كثيرة كترشح خلايا التهابية وتجمعها في الكبد مع تنكز لبعض المناطق وبعضها قد امتلأت بخلايا الدم الحمراء والالتهابية بينما كانت التغيرات في كلى المجاميع التي تناولت مشاريب الطاقة محدودة حيث اقتصرت على تجمعات لخلايا الدم الحراء والالتهابية بين الانيبيبات البولية والذي يعرب عن تنكس وعائي. هذه التغيرات اتفقت مع ما وجد من ارتفاع بالأنزيمات الخاصة بوظائف الكبد (GPT, GOT, و ALP) اضافه الى اليوريا والكرياتنين الخاصة بوظائف الكلية. هذه التغييرات كانت متزايدة في مجموعة T2 ولهذا يمكننا ان نستنتج ان تناول مشاريب الطاقة لمدة طويلة تؤثر نسيجيا و فسلجيا على الكلية والكبد للفئران صغيرة السن وهذا التأثير يعتمد على تركيز مشروب الطاقة ومدة تعاطيه.The present study aims to investigate the long-term histopathological, and physiological effects of different concentrations of a commercially available energy drink (Tiger) on liver and kidney of young mice. Sixteen Balb/c male mice,6 -week old, were divided into 4 groups (n=4). Two groups consumed the energy drink at a concentration of 28µl energy drink/ml water. One group were killed after 10 days (T1), another group were killed after 20 days (T2). Other group of mice consumed the energy drink at a final concentration of 14µl/ml for 20 days (T3). The last group was provided only with water and served as control. Mice of all groups drank around 3 ml per day. The histopathological study on liver of treated groups showed many changes such as inflammatory cells infiltration and aggregation with hepatocyts necrosis, some of these necrosis replaced by RBCs and inflammatory cells, while the pathohistological changes in kidney of treated groups limited to aggregation of RBCs and inflammatory cells between renal tubules which expressed vacuolar degeneration. These changes based on elevated liver function enzymes (Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (GOT), Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (GPT) and Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)) and blood urea and creatinine. These changes were more in the T2 groups, so it could be concluded that long term of energy drink consuming effect histopathologically and physiologically on kidney and liver of young mice depending on its concentration and period of consuming

Nurses’ compliance with handover practices in adult medical surgical units at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: The exchange of the shift changeover report of patient, from nurse to nurse at the patient\u27s bedside is known as bedside handover. Although this method is becoming more and more popular in the nursing sector, not many people genuinely practice it.Purpose: To determine the different factors impacting nurses\u27 compliance and to evaluate the compliance rate of nurses to comply with bedside handover guidelines.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the medical surgical ward at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. During the study, the structured bedside handover technique known as kardex, which adheres to SBAR (Situation, background, assessment, recommendations), that was already being used in the hospital setting was converted into binary scale checklist and was utilized. The clinical instructor and researcher at same time observed 26 participants together in order to improve reliability, and inter-rater agreement was computed. Cohen’s Kappa value (1.000) depicts perfect agreement between two raters. Regression, independent T-test, one-way ANOVA, and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data.Results: The observed data had a mean compliance of 69.1 and a standard deviation of 18.6. The mean compliance\u27s 95% confidence interval (CI) spans from 65.9 to 72.3 (95% CI [65.9, 72.3]). A number of parameters were considered in the analysis of the compliance rates. Moderate adherence to protocols was seen in the age groups of 20–30 and 31–40 years, with 67.8% and 69.0%, respectively. There was a notable difference in adherence between the sexes, with women showing greater levels at 72.1% and men at 55.8%. There was no discernible influence of qualifications on compliance. At shift handovers, however, unique trends emerged, night shifts had the highest compliance (74.4%), followed by evening shifts (71.0%) and morning shifts (64.9%). Interestingly, at 77.1%, nurses with more than five years of experience showed the strictest adherence. These findings highlight a range of factors that affect compliance rates, demonstrating different adherence levels among nurses based on age, gender, shift schedules, and experience. Conclusion: Key trends in compliance are shown by the data analysis comprising 131 nurses from an array of demographic backgrounds. Compliance is non-significant with age, while it is highly influenced by gender, with younger people and female adhering to more rules. Experience levels show a significant link that favours people with 6 to 15 years of experience, while qualifications have little bearing. Compliance is somewhat impacted by shift assignments; nurses working the night shift have the highest mean compliance. Additionally, there is no discernible impact of the selected handover technique on compliance. For healthcare facilities looking to enhance bedside handover procedures for better patient care and safety, these findings provide practical insights

VIRTUAL PLC PLATFORM FOR SECURITY AND FORENSICS OF INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are vital in managing critical infrastructures, including nuclear power plants and electric grids. With the advent of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), these systems have been integrated into broader networks, enhancing efficiency but also becoming targets for cyberattacks. Central to ICS are Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), which bridge the physical and cyber worlds and are often exploited by attackers. There\u27s a critical need for tools to analyze cyberattacks on PLCs, uncover vulnerabilities, and improve ICS security. Existing tools are hindered by the proprietary nature of PLC software, limiting scalability and efficiency. To overcome these challenges, I developed a Virtual PLC Platform (VPP) for forensic analyses of ICS attacks and vulnerability identification. The VPP employs the packet replay technique, using network traffic to create a PLC template. This template guides the virtual PLC in network communication, mimicking real PLCs. A Protocol Reverse Engineering Engine (PREE) module assists in reverse-engineering ICS protocols and discovering vulnerabilities. The VPP is automated, supporting PLCs from various vendors, and eliminates manual reverse engineering. This dissertation highlights the architecture and applications of the VPP in forensic analysis, reverse engineering, vulnerability discovery, and threat intelligence gathering, all crucial to bolstering the security and integrity of critical infrastructure

An Analysis of Public Expenditure on Education in Pakistan

Achieving economic growth is an important goal of any country. However, in recent years it has increasingly been realised that economic growth is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for human development. Pakistan provides a good example of a country which has historically enjoyed a respectable GDP growth rate and yet failed to translate this positive development into a satisfactory level of human development. Since its independence in 1947, Pakistan’s development policies have focused primarily on realising high economic growth and only incidentally on the task of providing social necessities. Such a process has given rise to a structure of production and distribution which has been only indirectly responsive to social goals. However, there is now a growing realisation that we could have done much better had we stressed human resource investments relatively more.