Inter-vehicular communication for collision avoidance using Wi-Fi Direct

Inter vehicular collision avoidance systems warn vehicle drivers of potential collisions. The U.S Department of Transportation (USDOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in February 2014 has decided to enable vehicular communication among lightweight vehicles to exchange warning messages to prevent accidents. Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) is a communication standard that allows short-range communication between vehicles and infrastructure, exchanging critical safety information to avoid collision. DSRC safety applications include forward collision warning, sudden brake warning and blind spot warning among many other warnings. It is also important to exchange location information between vehicles and pedestrians to avoid accidents. To exchange safety messages using DSRC, dedicated equipment is required. Pedestrians may not benefit from DSRC, as they may not carry dedicated DSRC safety equipment with them. Wi-Fi Direct technology can be used as an alternate to DSRC to exchange safety messages. Wi-Fi Direct enabled smartphones can exchange important safety information without the need of additional equipment. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) connections are formed between Wi-Fi Direct devices to exchange safety information. The Group Owner acts as the access point through which all clients communicate. This work examines how Wi-Fi Direct can be used in vehicular environment to exchange basic safety information between smartphones of vehicle drivers. Wi-Fi Direct and DSRC transmission delays are calculated are calculated. The results show, with more devices in a Wi-Fi Direct group the congestion in the network increases due to unnecessary retransmissions through the group owner. As mitigation, a broadcast method is proposed to reduce the delay. The results illustrate that the P2P group can now accommodate more vehicles and the delay is lesser. The calculations are extended to compute the transmission delay when P2P groups of same size exchange safety messages. The results help analyse the limitations of the system

Polycystic ovarian syndrome and pregnancy outcome

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in the present generation is a very common reproductive disorder and the prevalence is on the rise. It is associated with typical features such as insulin resistance, hyperandrogenemia and obesity which has deep implications on the pregnancy outcomes as well as a long-term health of the woman.Methods: Prospective comparative study performed over 200 pregnant women in the ESIC medical college, Bangalore. 100 women diagnosed with PCOS were compared with that of 100 normal women. The method of conception in pcos was recorded. maternal outcome in the form of abortion, gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertensive disorder in pregnancy, mode of delivery, intrapartum and postpartum complication. Fetal outcome in the form preterm delivery, small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, large-for-gestational-age infants, apgar at 5 minute and admission to NICU.Results: Of the 100 women who were diagnosed with PCOS, 62 had spontaneous conception, 32 conceived with ovulation induction, 4 with artificial insemination and 2 needed IVF for conception. 18 women had spontaneous abortion, 58 were diagnosed with Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) predominantly between 24 – 28 weeks’ period of gestation, 16 women had hypertension complicating pregnancy. Fetal outcome in the form of preterm birth was noted in 14 patients, large for gestation was noted in 11 newborns, the rate of NICU admission was significantly higher in the PCOS women’s infants constituting 33%.Conclusions: The assistance needed for conception was significantly higher in women with PCOS. The complications associated with pregnancy such as spontaneous abortions, gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorder in pregnancy, preterm births, need of NICU care for the infants are much higher in women with PCOS.  Adult health education and the preconception diagnosis and appropriate management of PCOS is an important primary mode of prevention of these associated complications.