Design and comparative analysis of single-path and epidemic approaches to information and energy management in wireless sensor networks

Intelligent energy management is a key challenge in Wireless Sensor Networks. The choice of an appropriate routing algorithm constitutes a critical factor, especially in unstructured networks where, due to their dynamic nature, a reactive routing protocol is necessary. Such networks often favour packet flooding to fulfil this need. One such algorithm is IDEALS, a technique proposed in the literature, which balances energy consumed with information delivered. This paper evaluates the use of a single-path solution with IDEALS to increase efficiency. Simulation results comparing the two approaches show that the single-path algorithm outperforms flooding in terms of energy consumption for any network size. Furthermore the benefit of IDEALS is preserved as its combination with the single-path algorithm maximises information throughput

Internet of MIMO things : UAV-assisted wireless-powered networks for future smart cities

Widespread and pervasive IoT adoption is threatened by finite-capacity batteries of wireless devices. To mitigate this issue, energy harvesting (EH) and wireless power transfer (WPT), in addition to energy-efficient communication techniques, have been widely explored. Although these efforts have achieved longevity to some extent, ever-evolving IoT services seek fully autonomous things without energy constraints. To meet this demand and relieve the ongoing networking challenges, we propose a new concept called the Internet of MIMO Things (IoMIMO). IoMIMO envisions a self-sufficient architecture that adopts only single- and double-hop energy and data transitions to enable efficient energy sharing and reduced data traffic in networks. In particular, single hops are performed by hybrid access points (HAPs), while relaying via double hops is actuated by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The HAPs will handle multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) of energy and data, and coordinate their transitions between the network components in a concurrent and automated manner. Benefiting from the recent advances in multi-source EH, WPT, and UAVs, IoMIMO can fulfill smart city services without being limited by energy constraints and/or networking challenges. Device types specialized for IoMIMO and their operation modes are evaluated in a simple network scenario to clearly explain the principles and the potential benefits of the envisioned concept. Future research directions are also identified to ease the realization of such a next-generation networking architecture

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale. Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter; identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation; analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution; describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity; and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes