Supporting Mobile Distributed Services

With sensors becoming increasingly ubiquitous, there is a tremendous potential for services which can take advantage of the data collected by these sensors, from the important -- such as detecting medical emergencies and imminent natural disasters -- to the mundane -- such as waiting times experienced by diners at restaurants. This information can then be used to offer useful services. For example, a busy professional could find a restaurant to go to for a quick lunch based on information available from smartphones of people already there having lunch, waiting to be seated, or even heading there; a government could conduct a census in real-time, or “sense” public opinion. I refer to such services as mobile distributed services. The barriers to offering mobile distributed services continue to be prohibitive for most: not only must these services be implemented, but they would also inevitably compete for resources on people's devices. This is in part because such services are poorly understood, and consequently, there is limited language support for programming them. In this thesis, I address practical challenges related to three important problems in mobile distributed services. In addition, I present my efforts towards a formal model for representing mobile distributed services. First, I address the challenge of enhancing the programmability of mobile distributed services. This thesis presents a set of core mechanisms underlying mobile distributed services. I interpret and implement these mechanisms for the domain of crowd-sourced services. A distributed runtime middleware, CSSWare, has been developed to simplify the burden of initiating and managing crowd-sourced services. CSSWare provides a set of domain-specific programming constructs for launching a new service. Service designers may launch novel services over CSSWare by simply plugging in small pieces of service specific code. Particularly, new services can be prototyped in fewer than 100 lines of code. This ease of programming promises to democratize the building of such services. Second, I address the challenge of efficiently supporting the sensing needs of mobile distributed services, and more generally sensor-based applications. I developed ShareSens, an approach to opportunistically merge sensing requirements of independent applications. When multiple applications make sensing requests, instead of serving each request independently, ShareSens opportunistically merges the requests, achieving significant power and energy savings. Custom filters are then used to extract the data required by each application. Third, I address the problem of programming the sensing requirements of mobile distributed services. In particular, ModeSens is presented to allow multi-modal sensing requirements of a service to be programmed separately from its function. Programmers can specify the modes in which a service can be, the sensing needs of each mode, and the sensed events which trigger mode transition. ModeSens then monitors for mode transition events, and dynamically adjusts the sensing frequencies to match the current mode's requirements. Separating the mode change logic from an application's functional logic leads to more modular code. In addition, I present MobDisS (Mobile Distributed Services), an early model for representing mobile distributed services, allowing them to be carefully studied. Services can be built by composing simpler services. I present the syntax and operational semantics of MobDisS. Although this work can be evaluated along multiple dimensions, my primary goal is to enhance programmability of mobile distributed services. This is illustrated by providing the actual code required for creating two realistic services using CSSWare. Each service demonstrates different facets of the middleware, ranging from the use of different sensors to the use of different facilities provided by CSSWare. Furthermore, experimental results are presented to demonstrate scalability, performance and data-contributor side energy efficiency of CSSWare and ShareSens. Finally, a set of experimental evaluation is carried out to measure the performance and energy costs of using ModeSens

High Performance of Power Cables Using Nanocomposites Insulation Materials

Partial discharges occur the biggest failure problem in power cable insulation due to distortion of electrical stress. In this paper, it has been investigated on the effect of spherical nanoparticles of Barium titanate (BaTiO3) and Clay for enhancing electrostatic field distribution in single and three-core power cables. It has been applied new strategies of nanotechnology techniques for designing innovative polyvinyl chloride insulation materials by using nanocomposites and multi-nanocomposites. Moreover, it has been studied the electrostatic field distribution within power cable nanocomposites insulation in presence of air voids, water voids and cupper impurity voids. The electrostatic field distribution in power cable insulation has been calculated by finite element method (FEM). A comparative study has been investigated on the effect of nanocomposite insulation for enhancing electric field stress in power cables.

Design of Multi-Nanoparticles Technique for Enhancing Magnetic Characterization of Power Transformers Cores

The structure of magnetic materials is an essential parameter for specifying magnetic characterization of the transformer core. This paper presents enhancing magnetic characterization of transformer cores by using new nanotechnology techniques. The effective magnetic parameters of new magnetic nanocomposites materials for the transformer cores (single-phase and three-phase) have been predicted based on recent theoretical approaches. The new design, the effects of variant types and concentrations of magnetic multi-nanoparticles on magnetization loss of transformers cores were studied with respect to traditional transformer cores. Optimal types and concentrations of nanoparticles were defined for controlling of reluctance and magnetization loss of transformer cores using multi-nanoparticles technique. A comparative study depicted the industrial features for using multi-nanoparticles against separate nanoparticles in transformers cores

Mortality of emergency abdominal surgery in high-, middle- and low-income countries

Background: Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low- or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Development Index (HDI). Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Self-selected hospitals performing emergency surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive patients from at least one 2-week interval during July to December 2014. Postoperative mortality was analysed by hierarchical multivariable logistic regression. Results: Data were obtained for 10 745 patients from 357 centres in 58 countries; 6538 were from high-, 2889 from middle- and 1318 from low-HDI settings. The overall mortality rate was 1⋅6 per cent at 24 h (high 1⋅1 per cent, middle 1⋅9 per cent, low 3⋅4 per cent; P < 0⋅001), increasing to 5⋅4 per cent by 30 days (high 4⋅5 per cent, middle 6⋅0 per cent, low 8⋅6 per cent; P < 0⋅001). Of the 578 patients who died, 404 (69⋅9 per cent) did so between 24 h and 30 days following surgery (high 74⋅2 per cent, middle 68⋅8 per cent, low 60⋅5 per cent). After adjustment, 30-day mortality remained higher in middle-income (odds ratio (OR) 2⋅78, 95 per cent c.i. 1⋅84 to 4⋅20) and low-income (OR 2⋅97, 1⋅84 to 4⋅81) countries. Surgical safety checklist use was less frequent in low- and middle-income countries, but when used was associated with reduced mortality at 30 days. Conclusion: Mortality is three times higher in low- compared with high-HDI countries even when adjusted for prognostic factors. Patient safety factors may have an important role. Registration number: NCT02179112 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

An Actor-Based Middleware for Crowd-Sourced Services

The growing ubiquity and variety of personal connected computational devices – each with a number of sensors – has created the opportunity for a wide range of crowd-sourced services. A busy professional could find a restaurant to go to for a quick lunch based on information available from smartphones of other people already there. Sensors on diners’ smartphones could detect whether their owners are eating, waiting to be seated, or even heading to a restaurant. Although the programming required for oering a new service of this sort is significant if done from scratch, we identify core communication mechanisms underlying such services, and implement them as part of a middleware, CSSWare. Service designers can then launch novel services over CSSWare by plugging in small pieces of service-specific code. This paper describes the multi-origin communication mechanism which we believe to underlie many crowd-sourced services. It presents our design and prototype Actor-based implementation of CSSWare, a middleware for crowd-sourced services. We present source code for two realistic crowd-sourced services to illustrate the ease with which new services can be specified and launched. Finally, we present our experimental results demonstrating scalability, performance and data-contributor side energy eÿciency of the approach

Charge transfer interaction of organic p-acceptors with the anti-hyperuricemic drug allopurinol: Insights from IR, Raman, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopies

The topic of charge-transfer (CT) complexation of vital drugs has attracted considerable attention in recent years owing to their significant physical and chemical properties. In this study, CT complexes derived from the reaction of the anti-hyperuricemic drug allopurinol (Allop) with organic p-acceptors [(picric acid (PA), dichlorodicyanobenzoquinone (DDQ) and chloranil (CHL)] were prepared, isolated and characterized by a range of physicochemical methods, such as IR, Raman, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The stoichiometry of the complexes was verified by elemental analysis. The results show that all complexes that were formed were based on a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio. This study suggests that the complexation of Allop with either the DDQ or CHL acceptor leads to a direct p®p* transition, whereas the molecules of Allop and PA are linked by intermolecular hydrogen- bonding interactions

Synthesis, Spectroscopic, and Antimicrobial Study of Binary and Ternary Ruthenium(III) Complexes of Ofloxacin Drug and Amino Acids as Secondary Ligands

This article aimed to synthesis, spectroscopic, physicochemical characterizations, and catalytic studies on some ofloxacin (OFL) complexes with ruthenium(III) [Ru(III)] metal ions. The Ru(III)-OFL complex, [Ru(OFL)2(Cl)2]Cl and two mixed-ligand complexes, [Ru(OFL)(AA)(H2O)2]Cl2 derived from OFL as the primary ligand and amino acids [AA; either glycine (Gly) or alanine (Ala)] as the secondary ligands, were synthesized and characterized using microanalytical, spectroscopic, and physical techniques including element composition, molar conductivity, infrared, electronic spectra, thermal, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Transmittance electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. The element analysis data describe the formation of 1:2 [Ru(III):OFL] and 1:1:1 [Ru(III):OFL:AA] complexes. The octahedral geometry of the complexes was confirmed by their magnetic moment and diffused reflectance. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) measurements suggested that the ligands chelated with Ru(III) ions through the nitrogen atoms of the piperazine ring. In vitro antibacterial efficiency of the OFL compounds was evaluated by paper disc diffusion method. Significant antimicrobial activities were observed for some compounds of the series

Spectral Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity of Chenodeoxycholic Acid Complexes with Zn(II), Mg(II), and Ca(II) Ions

Chenodeoxycholic acid (CA) is a naturally occurring bile acid that is produced in the liver from cholesterol. Three CA complexes using Zn(II), Mg(II), and Ca(II) ions were synthesized to examine the chelation tendencies of CA towards these metal ions. The complexation reaction of CA with the metal ions under investigation was conducted with a 1:1 molar ratio (CA to metal) at 60–70 °C in neutralized media, which consisted of a binary solvent of MeOH and H2O (1:1). The resulting CA complexes were characterized using elemental data (metal, H, C, and Cl analysis) and spectral data (UV–visible, FT-IR, and 1H NMR). The results suggested that CA in anion form utilized oxygen atoms of the carboxylate group (-COO−) to capture Zn(II), Mg(II), and Ca(II) ions. This produced complexes with the general compositions of [Zn(CA)(H2O)Cl], [Mg2(CA)2(H2O)4Cl2], and [Ca2(CA)2(H2O)4Cl2]·2H2O, respectively. The Kirby–Bauer disc diffusion assay was then used to explore the bioactivity of the CA complexes toward three fungal species (Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, and Penicillium sp.), three Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Bacillus subtilis), and two Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli). The Ca(II) and Mg(II) complexes exhibited marked inhibitory effects on the cell growth of the fungal species Aspergillus niger with potency equal to 127 and 116% of the activity of the positive control, respectively. The Zn(II) and Ca(II) complexes strongly inhibited the growth of Penicillium sp., while the Zn(II) and Mg(II) complexes showed strong growth inhibition towards the Gram-negative species Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Antioxidant, Antigenotoxic, and Hepatic Ameliorative Effects of Quercetin/Zinc Complex on Cadmium-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Alterations in Hepatic Tissue Structure

Applications of medicinal uses of metals and their complexes have been gaining major clinical significance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ligation behavior of quercetin (Q), a flavonoid, and Zn metal, i.e., the Zn/Q complex, was fully characterized based on molar conductance, infrared (IR) spectra, elemental analysis, electronic spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in our lab. Hepatotoxicity was induced by cadmium (CdCl2). A total of 40 male albino rats were randomly distributed into the following four groups: Control, hepatotoxic group (CdCl2), Zn/Q-treated group, and group treated with a combination of CdCl2 and Zn/Q. Serum hepatic enzymes (AST, ALT, and LDH), total protein, and enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant levels were determined. Histology and TEM for hepatic tissues, in addition to the gene expression of SOD as an antioxidant enzyme in the hepatic tissues, were evaluated. The Q/Zn treatment demonstrated potent protective effects against CdCl2-induced sever oxidative stress and suppressed hepatic toxicity, genotoxicity, liver enzyme disturbances, and structural alterations. In conclusion, the Zn/Q complex produced a high potent antioxidant effect against the oxidative injury and genotoxicity induced by CdCl2 and could be considered to be a potent ameliorative hepatoprotective agent against CdCl2 hepatotoxicity, which could be beneficial during the COVID-19 pandemic