Dependability investigation of wireless short range embedded systems: hardware platform oriented approach

A new direction in short-range wireless applications has appeared in the form of high-speed data communication devices for distances of hundreds meters. Behind these embedded applications, a complex heterogeneous architecture is built. Moreover, these short range communications are introduced into critical applications, where the dependability/reliability is mandatory. Thus, dependability concerns around reliability evaluation become a major challenge in these systems, and pose several questions to answer. Obviously, in such systems, the attribute reliability has to be investigated for various components and at different abstraction levels. In this paper, we discuss the investigation of dependability in wireless short range systems. We present a hardware platform for wireless system dependability analysis as an alternative for the time consuming simulation techniques. The platform is built using several instances of one of the commercial FPGA platforms available on the market place. We describe the different steps of building the wireless hardware platform for short range systems dependability analysis. Then, we show how this HW platform based dependability investigation framework can be a very interactive approach. Based on this platform we introduce a new methodology and a flow to investigate the different parts of system dependability at different abstraction levels. The benefits to use the proposed framework are three fold: first, it takes care of the whole system (HW/SW -digital part, mixed RF part, and wireless part); Second, the hardware platform enables to explore the application’s reliability under real environmental conditions taking into account the effect of the environment threats on the system; And last, the wireless platform built for dependability investigation present a fast investigation approach in comparison with the time consuming co-simulation technique

HW/SW Co-design and Prototyping Approach for Embedded Smart Camera: ADAS Case Study

In 1968, Volkswagen integrated an electronic circuit as a new control fuel injection system, called the “Little Black Box”, it is considered as the first embedded system in the automotive industry. Currently, automobile constructors integrate several embedded systems into any of their new model vehicles. Behind these automobile’s electronics systems, a sophisticated Hardware/Software (HW/SW) architecture, which is based on heterogeneous components, and multiple CPUs is built. At present, they are more oriented toward visionbased systems using tiny embedded smart camera. This visionbased system in real time aspects represents one of the most challenging issues, especially in the domain of automobile’s applications. On the design side, one of the optimal solutions adopted by embedded systems designer for system performance, is to associate CPUs and hardware accelerators in the same design, in order to reduce the computational burden on the CPU and to speed-up the data processing. In this paper, we present a hardware platform-based design approach for fast embedded smart Advanced Driver Assistant System (ADAS) design and prototyping, as an alternative for the pure time-consuming simulation technique. Based on a Multi-CPU/FPGA platform, we introduced a new methodology/flow to design the different HW and SW parts of the ADAS system. Then, we shared our experience in designing and prototyping a HW/SW vision based on smart embedded system as an ADAS that helps to increase the safety of car’s drivers. We presented a real HW/SW prototype of the vision ADAS based on a Zynq FPGA. The system detects the fatigue/drowsiness state of the driver by monitoring the eyes closure and generates a real time alert. A new HW Skin Segmentation step to locate the eyes/face is proposed. Our new approach migrates the skin segmentation step from processing system (SW) to programmable logic (HW) taking the advantage of High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tool flow to accelerate the implementation, and the prototyping of the Vision based ADAS on a hardware platform

A mobile assisted coverage hole patching scheme based on particle swarm optimization for WSNs

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have drawn much research attention in recent years due to the superior performance in multiple applications, such as military and industrial monitoring, smart home, disaster restoration etc. In such applications, massive sensor nodes are randomly deployed and they remain static after the deployment, to fully cover the target sensing area. This will usually cause coverage redundancy or coverage hole problem. In order to effectively deploy sensors to cover whole area, we present a novel node deployment algorithm based on mobile sensors. First, sensor nodes are randomly deployed in target area, and they remain static or switch to the sleep mode after deployment. Second, we partition the network into grids and calculate the coverage rate of each grid. We select grids with lower coverage rate as candidate grids. Finally, we awake mobile sensors from sleep mode to fix coverage hole, particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to calculate moving position of mobile sensors. Simulation results show that our algorithm can effectively improve the coverage rate of WSNs

Iterative Reconstructions in Reduced-Dose CT: Which Type Ensures Diagnostic Image Quality in Young Oncology Patients?

To compare adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) and model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) algorithms for reduced-dose computed tomography (CT). Forty-four young oncology patients (mean age 30 ± 9 years) were included. After routine thoraco-abdominal CT (dose 100%, average CTDI javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@e7f585f 9.1 ± 2.4 mGy, range 4.4-16.9 mGy), follow-up CT was acquired at 50% (average CTDI javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@2e35610f 4.5 ± 1.2 mGy, range 2.2-8.4 mGy) in 29 patients additionally at 20% dose (average CTDI javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@37ad3473 1.9 ± 0.5 mGy, range 0.9-3.4 mGy). Each reduced-dose CT was reconstructed using both ASIR and MBIR. Four radiologists (two juniors and two seniors) blinded to dose and technique read each set of CT images regarding objective and subjective image qualities (high- or low-contrast structures), subjective noise or pixilated appearance, diagnostic confidence, and lesion detection. At all dose levels, objective image noise was significantly lower with MBIR than with ASIR (P < 0.001). The subjective image quality for low-contrast structures was significantly higher with MBIR than with ASIR (P < 0.001). Reduced-dose abdominal CT images of patients with higher body mass index (BMI) were read with significantly higher diagnostic confidence than images of slimmer patients (P < 0.001) and had higher subjective image quality, regardless of technique. Although MBIR images appeared significantly more pixilated than ASIR images, they were read with higher diagnostic confidence, especially by juniors (P < 0.001). Reduced-dose CT during the follow-up of young oncology patients should be reconstructed with MBIR to ensure diagnostic quality. Elevated body mass index does not hamper the quality of reduced-dose CT

DERMATOPOLYMYOSITES PARANEOPLASIQUES. A PROPOS DE 06 CAS

Introduction: Adult dermatopolymyositis is associated with cancer in 15 to 50% of cases. The aim of our study was to search for predictive factors of cancer among adults with dermatomyositis. Methods: We made a retrospective survey of 1981 to 2005 to the department of Dermatology Ibn Sina of Rabat. We collected 44 cases of DM. The parameters assessed were: age, gender, cutaneous extension lesion, cutaneous necrosis, muscular weakness, articular reach, muscular enzymes, intensity of the inflammatory syndrome, electromyographic abnormalitis and the improvement or not with the corticothérapie. Results: cancers were diagnosed in six cases. Mean age was of 65 years and sex-ratio (F/H) was 2.the beginning was brutal with muscular weakness in 1/3 of cases, none of our patients didn't have a skin necrosis. The 2 / 3 of our patients had normal muscular enzymes. The VS was accelerated for 04 of our patients. Our patients didn't improve whith the corticothérapie. Conclusion: In our limited set, the advanced age, muscular weakness, articular reach, inflammatory syndrome, electromyographic abnormalities, the no improvement with the corticothérapie seemed to be prédictive.Introduction : Les dermatopolymyosites de l’adulte sont associées à une néoplasie dans 15 à 50% des cas. L’objectif de notre étude était de rechercher les signes cliniques et paracliniques prédictifs  de l’association DM et néoplasie. Matériel et méthodes: Nous avons réalisé une étude rétrospective de 1981 à 2005 au service de dermatologie du CHU Ibn Sina de Rabat. Nous avons collecté 44 cas de DM. Les critères évalués étaient : l’âge, le sexe, l’extension des lésions cutanées, la nécrose cutanée, l’intensité de l’atteinte musculaire, l’atteinte articulaire, les enzymes musculaires, l’intensité du syndrome inflammatoire,  anomalies eléctromyographiques et l’absence ou la réponse à la corticothérapie. Résultats : Six  malades sur 44 étudiés avait une néoplasie associée, soit 14,28% .L’âge moyen était  de 65 ans, Le sexe ratio H/F était de deux .Le mode de début était brutal avec une atteinte musculaire intense dans un tiers des cas, aucun de nos malades n’avait une nécrose cutanée. Les deux tiers de nos patients avaient un taux d’enzymes musculaires normal. La vitesse de sédimentation (VS) était accélérée pour quatre de nos malades. Nos malades n’ont pas répondu à la corticothérapie. Conclusion : Dans notre série limitée, l’âge avancé, l’intensité de l’atteinte musculaire, l’atteinte articulaire, le syndrome inflammatoire, les anomalies électromyographiques, et la non réponse à la corticothérapie semblaient être prédictifs

Results from evaluations of models and cost-effectiveness tools to support introduction decisions for new vaccines need critical appraisal

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the cost-effectiveness (CE) of introducing new vaccines be considered before such a programme is implemented. However, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), it is often challenging to perform and interpret the results of model-based economic appraisals of vaccines that benefit from locally relevant data. As a result, WHO embarked on a series of consultations to assess economic analytical tools to support vaccine introduction decisions for pneumococcal, rotavirus and human papillomavirus vaccines. The objectives of these assessments are to provide decision makers with a menu of existing CE tools for vaccines and their characteristics rather than to endorse the use of a single tool. The outcome will provide policy makers in LMICs with information about the feasibility of applying these models to inform their own decision making. We argue that if models and CE analyses are used to inform decisions, they ought to be critically appraised beforehand, including a transparent evaluation of their structure, assumptions and data sources (in isolation or in comparison to similar tools), so that decision makers can use them while being fully aware of their robustness and limitations

Teaching Structural Steel Design Using Mathcad Program

This paper demonstrates the integration of Mathcad programming in a steel design course at the University of Qatar. It discusses the advantages of Mathcad programming over other programming formats and provides guidelines to incorporate Mathcad programming into the steel design course. A Mathcad program for the analysis and design of steel beams is presented to show the attractive computational environment of Mathcad. The importance of Mathcad programming in teaching steel design courses is also illustrated. Successful integration of Mathcad programming as a teaching and learning tool in the steel design course resulted in an increased students' understanding of structural analysis and design