End-to-end Mobile Network Slicing

Wireless networks have gone through several years of evolution until now and will continue to do so in order to cater for the varying needs of its users. These demands are expected to continue to grow even more in the future, both in size and variability. Hence, the 5G technology needs to consider these variabilities in service demands and potential data explosion which could accompany users’ demands at the core of its architecture. For 5G mobile network to handle these foreseen challenges, network slicing \cite{c13} is seen as a potential path to tread as its standardization is progressing. In light of the proposed 5G network architecture and to support and end-to-end mobile network slicing, we implemented radio access network (RAN) slicing over a virtualized evolved Node B (eNodeB) and ensured multiple core network slices could communicate through it successfully. Our results, challenges and further research path are presented in this thesis report

Evaluation of Pathogenic Bacteria Associated with Fresh Produce obtained from Selected Markets in Abeokuta

The bacterial quality of eight types of fresh produce obtained from selected markets in Abeokuta was determined. Two hundred forty (240) samples of fresh vegetables were examined for aerobic plate counts, coliform counts, and presence of Escherichia coli, toxigenic Staphylococcusaureus, Salmonella spp and Listeria spp. The aerobic plate counts ranged from 2.80 log10 cfu/g to 15.60 log10 cfu/g with the inner parts of cut- water melons having the highest value. Total coliform counts ranged from 0.0 to 11.80 log10 cfu/g. Pathogenic bacteria isolated were Escherichia coli,Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp, Listeria spp, Shigella dysenteriae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Bacillus spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus spp. These pathogens were mostly found at the outer leaves/ parts of the vegetables and render unsafe for human consumption. This study shows that the outer parts/ leaves of fresh produce are heavily contaminated with pathogenic bacteria and the fresh produce should be pre- treated thoroughly, so as to reduce the risk of food- borne outbreaks.Keywords · Pathogenic bacteria · Bacterial quality · Coliform count

Delay model of tumor-immune system interactions with hyperthermia treatment

The interaction of the tumor-immune system was initially based on the immunosurveillance hypothesis that immune cells can identify and kill tumor cells, leading to the use of a prey-predatory model for the description of tumor-immune cell interactions. However, the current biomedical findings reveal a pathway to immunoediting, which hypothesizes the ability of tumors to inhibit, seal, and counteract effector cells. Contrary to the discovery of non-oscillating dynamic biomedicine in solid tumors, existing models show oscillating solutions. Thus, the formulation of an immunoediting model that corresponds to the interaction of the tumor-immune system is sacrosanct in the search for effective malignant tumor treatment. The research suggests an immunoediting delay model of tumor-immune system interactions that combine tumor-immune cytokines derived from tumors to counteract effector cells. Qualitative analysis of this model gives an idea of the conditions for the stability of non-aggressive (benign) tumors and the instability of aggressive (malignant) tumors. The numerical results for these two conditions do not indicate an oscillating solution. Although the elimination of tumors is seen in the case of non-aggressive tumors, the suppression of effector cells and uncontrolled growth of tumors characterize the results for aggressive tumors. To find the best treatment, a sensitivity analysis is performed to ensure the role of the model parameters in the development of the tumor. The analysis reveals the best treatment options to kill tumor cells and strengthen the performance of immune cells. The sensitivity analysis results inform the merger of hyperthermia treatments in the proposed model to investigate the effects of thermal induction on immune cell performance and tumor regression. Discrete-time delays were used to investigate whether hyperthermia treatment was safe for patients who had received other treatments, but no cure occurred. The global stability of hyperthermia treatment is obtained using the Lyapunov function. Furthermore, an optimal heat control strategy for treating malignant tumor hyperthermia is obtained to minimize the effect of heat on normal cells while ensuring the elimination of malignant tumors. This research establishes a unique thermal optimal solution that improves the performance of the effector cell without difficulty

THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEXT ON PRIVACY CONCERN IN SMART TOURISM DESTINATIONS

A study of existing literature research shows that mobile application development and usage is now an essential aspect of everyday life. The privacy concerns of the users towards the application provided on the mobile devices that make use of their data is still a problem. This study highlights the need for mitigating the privacy concern of the users towards mobile applications used in smart tourism destinations and develops a framework based on the review of previous research and literature. The framework proposed by this study supports the relationship between personal beliefs and the environment, with the moderating effect of use context. This research is empirically driven and discusses the relationships between the study item's privacy concern, use context, and behavioral intentions within the context of the mobile application

Dynamic Resource Provisioning of a Scalable E2E Network Slicing Orchestration System

Network slicing allows different applications and network services to be deployed on virtualized resources running on a common underlying physical infrastructure. Developing a scalable system for the orchestration of end-to-end (E2E) mobile network slices requires careful planning and very reliable algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel E2E Network Slicing Orchestration System (NSOS) and a Dynamic Auto- Scaling Algorithm (DASA) for it. Our NSOS relies strongly on the foundation of a hierarchical architecture that incorporates dedicated entities per domain to manage every segment of the mobile network from the access, to the transport and core network part for a scalable orchestration of federated network slices. The DASA enables the NSOS to autonomously adapt its resources to changes in the demand for slice orchestration requests (SORs) while enforcing a given mean overall time taken by the NSOS to process any SOR. The proposed DASA includes both proactive and reactive resource provisioning techniques). The proposed resource dimensioning heuristic algorithm of the DASA is based on a queuing model for the NSOS, which consists of an open network of G/G/m queues. Finally, we validate the proper operation and evaluate the performance of our DASA solution for the NSOS by means of system-level simulations.This research work is partially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the 5G!Pagoda project, the MATILDA project and the Academy of Finland 6Genesis project with grant agreement No. 723172, No. 761898 and No. 318927, respectively. It was also partially funded by the Academy of Finland Project CSN - under Grant Agreement 311654 and the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU Grant 13/04833), and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (TEC2016-76795-C6- 4-R)

The causes of the Rising incidence of domestic violence in Nigeria: Proposing Judicial Separation as a Panacea

The increase in domestic violence in Nigeria has become overwhelming. However, the death of Osinachi Nwachukwu (a popular gospel artist singer), which has been linked to domestic violence, prompted the discussion of domestic violence to be more pronounced. Although several laws and institutional bodies are set up to curtail the incidence of domestic violence, there seems to be an increase in the monster in Nigeria. In this regard, this study adopts a hybrid method of research to ascertain the causes of the current increase in domestic violence in Nigeria and proposes judicial separation as a panacea. In this regard, various literature and laws were analysed concerning the suitability of judicial separation as a panacea in curtailing domestic violence. Furthermore 350 questionnaire was distributed to respondents to ascertain the causes of the current increase in domestic violence and possible solution. The study, therefore, found that alcohol abuse, psychological disorder, economic hardship, and traditional belief are some of the causes of the current increase in domestic violence in Nigeria. The study also found that judicial separation could be a viable legal tool to curtail domestic violence, given that it preserves the status quo of the marriage. Therefore, the study concludes and recommends that victims of domestic violence should open up and embrace the concept of judicial separation.

Sex differences on the contextual factors and physical activity levels among the Nigerian people during the COVID-19

Background: In the context of flattening the curve of the spread of coronavirus in Nigeria, some factors were considered. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between some of the considered factors and physical activity and investigate sex differences on physical activity during the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.  Methods: The study was cross-sectional using an online survey and recruited participants from Nigeria's southwest geopolitical zone through the snowball sampling technique. Descriptive statistics (such as percentages), correlation analyses, and t-test of independent measures were used to analyze the data collected. The data collection was conducted from April to June 2020. Results: The participants' age ranges from 18 to 73years, with a mean age of 42.9 years, a median of 43years, and a standard deviation of 5.41. The result showed a significant difference between males and females (x ̅= 1001.21; SD=1371.83) on moderate physical activity during the pandemic in Nigeria. However, there was no significant relationship between contextual factors; perception of the spread [r (467) =0.028; P>0.05], fear of contracting COVID-19 [r (467) =0.041; P>0.05], stay at home measures [r (467) =-0.030; P>0.05], sensitizing others about COVID-19 [r (467) =-0.044; P>0.05], compliance with safety rules and regulations [r (467) =0.052; P>0.05] and overall physical activity. Conclusion: The study concluded that the relationship between contextual variables and physical activity among Nigerian people during the COVID-19 pandemic is not significant. Secondly, males and females are not different on vigorous and walking physical activity levels

mMTC Deployment over Sliceable Infrastructure: The Megasense Scenario

Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) has long been identified as a major vertical sector and enabler of the industry 4.0 technological evolution that will seamlessly ease the dynamics of machine-to-machine communications while leveraging 5G technology. To advance this concept, we have developed and tested an mMTC network slice called Megasense. Megasense is a complete framework that consists of multiple software modules, which is used for collecting and analyzing air pollution data that emanates from a massive amount of air pollution sensors. Taking advantage of 5G networks, Megasense will significantly benefit from an underlying communication network that is traditionally elastic and can accommodate the on-demand changes in requirements of such a use case. As a result, deploying the sensor nodes over a sliceable 5G system is deemed the most appropriate in satisfying the resource requirements of such a use case scenario. In this light, in order to verify how 5G-ready our Megasense solution is, we deployed it over a network slice that is totally composed of virtual resources. We have also evaluated the impact of the network slicing platform on Megasense in terms of bandwidth and resource utilization. We further tested the performances of the Megasense system and come up with different deployment recommendations based on which the Megasense system would function optimally.Peer reviewe

MODULATION OF KEY BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS RELEVANT TO STROKE BY ANTIARIS AFRICANA LEAF EXTRACT FOLLOWING CEREBRAL ISCHEMIA/REPERFUSION INJURY

Background: Oxidative stress plays a significant role in stroke pathogenesis. Hence, plants rich in antioxidant phytochemicals have been suggested as effective remedies for prevention and treatment of stroke and other neurological diseases. Antiaris africana Engl. (Moraceae) is traditionally used for the management of brain-related problems but there is paucity of data on its anti-stroke potential. Materials and Methods: Ischemia/reperfusion injury was induced by a 30 min bilateral common carotid artery occlusion/ 2 h reperfusion (BCCAO/R) in the brain of male Wistar rats. A sham-operated group which was not subjected to BCCAO/R and a group subjected to BCCAO/R without treatment with MEA served as controls. The ameliorative effect of 14 days of pretreatment with 50 mg/kg or 100 mg/kg A. africana methanol leaf extract (MEA) on BCCAO/R-mediated alterations to key markers of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione, xanthine oxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) and neurochemical disturbances and excitotoxicity (myeloperoxidase, glutamine synthetase, Na+/K+ ATPase, acetylcholinesterase and tyrosine hydroxylase), was evaluated and compared with the effect produced by treatment with 20 mg/kg quercetin as a reference standard. Results: Results show that pretreatment with MEA significantly mitigated or reversed BCCAO/R-induced changes in the level or activity of the evaluated biochemical markers of oxidative stress, neurochemical dysfunction and excitotoxicity compared with the BCCAO/R untreated control group (p < 0.05). The effect produced by 100 mg/kg MEA was similar to that of the reference standard, quercetin. Conclusion: These results revealed the neuroprotective potential of A. africana in stroke and other ischemia-related pathologies. Key words: brain ischemia

Perception of Medical Students on the Effect of Covid-19 on Medical Education in Nigeria

Background: The lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal activities including undergraduate medical education in Nigeria, similar to the rest of the world. Nigeria as a low- and middle-income country had peculiar challenges in adjusting to the new norm. This study aimed to assess Nigerian medical student’s perception of the effect of COVID-19 on their learning. Methods: A semi-structured, pre-tested online questionnaire was administered to consenting medical students from thirty-three medical schools in Nigeria. Questions assessed the effect of COVID-19 on study and wellbeing, as well as the perception of interventions from institutions and student organizations to reduce the lockdown consequence on learning. Data was analyzed using (SPSS) version 25. Results: A total of 623 students from 33 institutions participated. All private institutions and 25% of public institutions had commenced online lectures/tutorials, 92% of students in private institutions and 21% in public institutions had attended online lectures/tutorials. Of those who did not attend institution-organized classes, 30.5% were opposed to online lectures, the main reasons stated being internet cost/availability and inefficiency. About 65% of the participants were aware of student-organized online tutorials/seminars. Eighty percent did not feel motivated to study and perceived their personal study to be less effective. Conclusion: Nigerian medical student’s perception of the effect of COVID-19 on their medical education was largely negative. Private institutions fared better in coping with the challenges of the pandemic. Proper planning will be needed to curb the effect of COVID-19 on students’ health and wellbeing