Distributed video coding for wireless video sensor networks: a review of the state-of-the-art architectures

Distributed video coding (DVC) is a relatively new video coding architecture originated from two fundamental theorems namely, Slepian–Wolf and Wyner–Ziv. Recent research developments have made DVC attractive for applications in the emerging domain of wireless video sensor networks (WVSNs). This paper reviews the state-of-the-art DVC architectures with a focus on understanding their opportunities and gaps in addressing the operational requirements and application needs of WVSNs

Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) levels, phosphate Intake and its association with Indices of renal handling of phosphate in healthy volunteers

FGF23 is a novel phosphaturic hormone; we aimed to assess the FGF23 levels and its association with dietary phosphate intake and indices of renal handling of phosphate in this study. Prospective study was conducted in which dietary phosphate intake was assessed by food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) along with blood and spot urine samples were collected after overnight fast for determining serum phosphate, FGF23, fractional excretion of phosphate (FePO4 ) and tubular maximum for phosphate (TmP/GFR). FGF23 (C-Term) was measured by a sandwich ELISA. The mean dietary phosphate intake of eighty healthy adults (mean age of 29 ± 5 years) was 1220 ± 426 mg; median FGF23 was 49.9 RU/ml (IQR=33, 76) and mean FePO4 was 7 ± 4.7. Subjects were stratified into two groups according to serum phosphate levels. Significant difference was not found in dietary phosphate intake and FGF23 levels in the two groups. However, TmP/GFR and creatinine were significantly different in the two groups. FePO4 was high in both the groups. Overall a rising pattern of FGF23 levels was seen with increasing serum phosphate levels. Significant positive correlation was found between FGF23 and dietary phosphate (r=0.22, p\u3c0.05) and negative correlation was seen between FGF23 and FePO4 (r=-0.260, p\u3c0.05)

Relationship Between Achievement Goals, Meta-Cognition And Academic Success In Pakistan

The research was the replication of the study done by Coutinho (2006) and it aimed at finding the relationship between achievement goals, meta-cognition and academic success. Achievement goals were further divided into two types: mastery and performance. The participants were 119 students enrolled in M. A. Education, Department of Education at the University of Sargodha. The questionnaire used in the original study, along with Urdu translation, was administered to the participants. The questionnaire consisted of three sections measuring mastery goals, performance goals, and meta-cognition, respectively. The academic achievement record was taken from the Office of Department of Education. Academic achievement was taken as marked and obtained at the Matric, Intermediate, Bachelors, and M.A. levels. It was concluded there is no significant correlation between mastery goals and academic achievement. Similarly, there was no significant correlation between performance goals and academic achievement at Matric, Intermediate and Bachelor levels. However, negative correlation was observed between performance goals and achievement at the masters level. The researchers found no significant relationship between meta-cognition and academic achievement at all levels and there were no significant gender differences in mastery goals, performance goals and meta-cognition

Impact of node deployment and routing for protection of critical infrastructures

Recently, linear wireless sensor networks (LWSNs) have been eliciting increasing attention because of their suitability for applications such as the protection of critical infrastructures. Most of these applications require LWSN to remain operational for a longer period. However, the non-replenishable limited battery power of sensor nodes does not allow them to meet these expectations. Therefore, a shorter network lifetime is one of the most prominent barriers in large-scale deployment of LWSN. Unlike most existing studies, in this paper, we analyze the impact of node placement and clustering on LWSN network lifetime. First, we categorize and classify existing node placement and clustering schemes for LWSN and introduce various topologies for disparate applications. Then, we highlight the peculiarities of LWSN applications and discuss their unique characteristics. Several application domains of LWSN are described. We present three node placement strategies (i.e., linear sequential, linear parallel, and grid) and various deployment methods such as random, uniform, decreasing distance, and triangular. Extensive simulation experiments are conducted to analyze the performance of the three state-of-the-art routing protocols in the context of node deployment strategies and methods. The experimental results demonstrate that the node deployment strategies and methods significantly affect LWSN lifetime. © 2013 IEEE

Some New Constructors for Minimal Circular Partially Balanced Neighbor Designs

Minimal circular neighbor designsa are economical to minimize the bias due to neighbor effects for v odd. For v even, minimal circular partially balanced neighbor designs (MCPBNDs) are used. Generators to obtain MCPBNDs-II in equal, two and three different blocks sizes are available in literature for c = 0 and 1, where c is remainder if m is divided by 4, m = (v − 2)/2 and v is number of treatments. These designs have not been constructed for c = 2 and 3. To complete the construction of this class of neighbor designs, MCPBNDs-II are, therefore, constructed for the remaining cases. MCPNBDs-II are the neighbor designs in which 3v/2 pairs of different treatments do not appear as neighbors

Some New Constructors of Circular Strongly Generalized Neighbor Designs

Minimal strongly balanced neighbor designs are well known designs to balance the neighbor effects at low cost as well as to estimate the direct effects and neighbor effects independently for v odd, where v is number of treatments to be compared. Minimal strongly generalized neighbor designs are used to minimize the bias due to neighbor effects for v even. In this article, constructors are developed to construct two useful classes of minimal circular strongly generalized neighbor designs

Association of tumor necrosis factor alpha gene polymorphism G-308A with pseudoexfoliative glaucoma in the Pakistani population

Contains fulltext : 80274.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) gene polymorphism G-308A and total serum immunoglobulin E (TsIgE) levels in the onset of pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEXG) in Pakistani patients. METHODS: The TNF-alpha polymorphism G-308A was analyzed in 122 patients with PEXG and 126 healthy unrelated controls by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). TsIgE levels were determined by solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: The AA and GA genotypes were strongly associated with PEXG (p<0.001), with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.07 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.02-0.27) and 0.24 (95% CI=0.12-0.51), respectively, while the GG genotype was found at a higher frequency in controls as compared to patients (p<0.001) OR=8.95 (95% CI=4.55-17.81). No significant difference was found in TsIgE levels of both patients and controls (p=0.86). CONCLUSION: The present study concludes that the TNF-alpha polymorphism G-308A is strongly associated with PEXG. To our knowledge this is the first study in southeast Asia which demonstrates a strong association of a TNF-alpha polymorphism with PEXG