AN ENHANCED LID ROUTING SECURITY SCHEME FOR MOBILE AD-HOC NETWORKS

In this work we present novel security architecture for MANETs that merges the clustering and the threshold key management techniques. The proposed distributed authentication architecture reacts with the frequently changing topology of the network and enhances the process of assigning the node's public key. In the proposed architecture, the overall network is divided into clusters where the cluster heads (CH) are connected by virtual networks and share the private key of the Central Authority (CA) using Lagrange interpolation. Experimental results show that the proposed architecture reaches to almost 95.5% of all nodes within an ad-hoc network that are able to communicate securely, 9 times faster than other architectures, to attain the same results. Moreover, the solution is fully decentralized to operate in a large-scale mobile network. We also proposing a special security routing architecture called Local Intrusion Detection (LID) to detect Black Hole Attack (BHA) over Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) MANET routing protocol. In LID security routing mechanism, the intrusion detection is performed locally using the previous node of the attacker node instead of performing the intrusion detection via the source node as in Source Intrusion Detection (SID) security routing mechanism. By performing LID security routing mechanism, the security mechanism overhead would be decreased

Archaeomagnetic Study and Dating of Tittakudi Archaeological Site in Tamilnadu, India

Archaeomagnetic dating study has been carried out for the fragmented archaeological pottery samples collected from Tittakudi archaeological site in Tamilnadu. Various Mineral magnetic studies have been performed. The results obtained from the study showed all are highly magnetically enhanced except few samples. The samples having stable remanent property undergone paleointensity measurement and the mean paleointensity value of the sample is found to be 42.44± 0.2 mT and its age predicted around 170 BCE

Patient’s Perception of Community Pharmacist in North Malabar region of Kerala, India: A questionnaire based study

Pharmacists as vital healthcare professionals play significant role in effective medication management and their use among the patients. However the perception of community pharmacist  among the public needs to be assessed for effective role and further patient care. This questionnaire based study was aimed to identify the perception of patients towards the community pharmacist in north Malabar region of Kerala, India. The questionnaire consisted of 16 questions with sections evaluating the demographic details (age, sex, marital status, education level & occupation) and the perception of patients towards the community pharmacist. The results were prepared based upon the responses obtained from 110 patients. The study respondents consisted of 51 (46.36%) adults (18-59 years) and 59 (53.63%) geriatrics (above 60 years). Based on their education level, 9 (8.18%), 35 (31.81%) and 66 (60%) participants were illiterate, secondary school and graduate holders respectively. The respondents of the study informed that the pharmacist enquired about their past medication history (58, 52.73%), any allergic reactions (21, 19.1%) and use of any herbal medication (31, 28.18%) prior to the dispensing process. The patients also responded that proper advice regarding dosage (90%), side effects (25%), storage (12%), healthy eating & exercise (10%) were also provided by the concerned pharmacist. As a matter of fact, 91 out of 110 patients thought the pharmacist service were good, 17 thought they were fairly good and 2 were of the opinion that it was poor. The pharmacy rating was evaluated as good by 32 (29.09%), fairly good by 78 (70.90%) and no respondents were of opinion that the pharmacy was poor in its service. Through this study, we found that the overall perception of patients towards the pharmacist in concerned community pharmacy setting was good. To further improvise their role, continued pharmacy education programmes, better communication skills and good professional training must be imparted among the community pharmacists

Taţwîr Mãddatin Nahwi al ‘Arabî min Khilãli an Nushûsh al Qur’ãnîyah Litarqiyati Mahãrõtil I’rõb ladã Thullãbi Ma’had al Aîmah al ‘Ãlî al Islãmî bi Malang: Development of Nahwu Material Using the Texts of Al-Qur'an to Improve I'rab Skills for Students of Ma'had 'Ali al-Aimmah Malang

There are problems experienced by students in learning Arabic, especially Nahwu and I'rab skills. This study aims to (1) develop Nahwu material using Qur'anic texts to improve the I'rab skills of students of Ma'had al-Aimmah al-‘Ali Malang, (2) determine the feasibility of the developed Arabic Nahwu material, and (3) measure the effectiveness of the application of the developed material. This study was research and development and analyzed using the five steps of ADDIE; analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Qualitative data were collected by interview, observation, and documentation, while quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire. The results of this study were 1) Nahwu material was developed based on the analysis of student needs to relate Nahwu material to the Qur'anic text. The material was designed using several selected Qur'anic texts, consisting of ten lessons. Each lesson came with objectives, content, exercises, and evaluations. The product was evaluated twice, before and after application. 2) The material developed is valid for testing, according to experts' evaluation of the material categorized as very good. 3) After the material was tested on students, it was effective in improving I'rab skills. Finally, the Arabic Nahwu materials development through the Qur'anic texts achieved the outstanding results obtained by students through the application of the developed materials, namely: improvement of I'rab skills, ease of memorizing the Qur'an, and language understanding

The housing preference of young people in Malaysian urban areas: a case study Subang Jaya, Selangor

A house is a basic shelter. This simple definition of a house has become wider as it assumes a social status symbol and an economic property value while serving the various inter-linked functions of protection, neighbourhood, social interactions, community amenities and services, privacy, and access to work. However, young Malaysian urbanites are feeling restricted by current housing options as they confront the difficulties of owning a house in urban areas due to the current much inflated housing prices. This study investigated the housing preferences of urban young people in USJ 1, Subang Jaya. Primary data were gathered from a total of 99 male and female respondents aged 20 to 39 years who were sampled from nine condominiums, apartments and housing parks. The findings revealed that most young Malaysian urbanites preferred landed housing with more number of bedrooms to high-rise housing. They strongly preferred to purchase their future house that truly meets their housing preferences. In terms of location, these young people preferred to live in urban area so as to be close to their workplace and services. They targeted high priced houses despite their affordability issues

Residents’ transportation mode preferences in Transit Oriented Area: a case study of Mentari Court, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is often linked to the compact, green, mixed use and sustainable development. It encourages people to reduce the use of private vehicles. A TOD area consists of various types of land uses i.e. residential, commercial, public facilities and employment area. A transit station within the walking distance to houses centres the TOD area. Conceptually, it is attracting people to use public transport in making a trip. However, the actual level of acceptance by residents on the public transport services within the TOD area is not being clearly examined in Malaysia. As a TOD area, Mentari Court, still jams out with private car as large numbers of residents in the study area were still using private cars for their daily working trip purposes. This study examined the residents’ transportation mode preferences in the transit oriented (TOD) area of Mentari Court Apartment, Sunway City, Petaling Jaya. The findings from the field study of 99 respondents of the Mentari Court residents revealed that most of the respondents chose public transport for leisure trip and walking for the daily working trip to the short distance between their apartment and work place. However, incomplete route of public transport network, poor connectivity and services, long journey, and fear of crime had discouraged some of the respondents to use public transport. As a proposal, TOD should be implemented in a regional level instead of local level to increase the integration and coverage of transit network

Impacts of streamflow alteration on benthic macroinvertebrates by mini‑hydro diversion in Sri Lanka

Our study focused on quantifying the alterations of streamflow at a weir site due to the construction of a mini-hydropower plant in the Gurugoda Oya (Sri Lanka), and evaluating the spatial responses of benthic macroinvertebrates to altered flow regime. The HEC-HMS 3.5 model was applied to the Gurugoda Oya sub-catchment to generate streamflows for the time period 1991-2013. Pre-weir flows were compared to post-weir flows with 32 Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration using the range of variability approach (RVA). Concurrently, six study sites were established upstream and downstream of the weir, and benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled monthly from May to November 2013 (during the wet season). The key water physico-chemical parameters were also determined. RVA analysis showed that environmental flow was not maintained below the weir. The mean rate of non-attainment was similar to 45% suggesting a moderate level of hydrologic alteration. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities significantly differed between the study sites located above and below the weir, with a richness reduction due to water diversion. The spatial distribution of zoobenthic fauna was governed by water depth, dissolved oxygen content and volume flow rate. Our work provides first evidence on the effects of small hydropower on river ecosystem in a largely understudied region. Studies like this are important to setting-up adequate e-flows

Urban environmental heath: respiratory infection and urban factors in urban growth corridor of Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang, Malaysia

Environmental health in general is referring to the aspect of concern on healthy environment, and the interrelations between environment and human health. Due to the urbanization, urban development is changing the natural environment into a man-made environment. Along with the process, level of environmental quality and human health are decreased. Air quality as reference shows that urban ambient air is more polluted than rural. Due to high density of human population and their activities in urban areas, it produces air pollutants with higher rate as compared to less-developed areas. Air pollutants contribute to various health problems. People suffering from respiratory diseases are the most likely to be affected by air pollution. This paper aimed to examine the rate of respiratory infection among residents in an urban growth corridor (Petaling Jaya-Shah Alam-Klang) and the relationship with the urban land uses, traffic volume and air quality. There were four major types of data used in this study i.e., respiratory infection of the respondents, air quality, land use and traffic volume. A health questionnaire survey was carried out besides the secondary data collection from the various government departments. Relationship analysis was performed between respiratory health and the urban factors (air quality, traffic volume and land uses). The study found out that the relationship between the respiratory health and the urban factors is different in city-wide land use and traffic factors, as compared to the localised air quality and land use factors. To conclude, the urban factors are potentially affecting the respiratory health

Genetic diversity of Ardi goat based on microsatellite analysis

The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic variability of Ardi goats found in the central regions of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia using 14 microsatellite markers. Allelic richness was considerably high in this population indicating high genetic polymorphism as expected heterozygozity was 0.675. Furthermore, the population showed deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in seven loci. Mean polymorphic information content value was found to be 0.553. Inbreeding coefficient was 0.183 suggesting moderate level of inbreeding. There was also no-significant heterozygote excess on basis of different models of infinite allele. These tests along with the mode-shift test of Ardi goat indicated no bottleneck recently. Thus, it can be recommended that the Ardi genetic variability should be maintained for its unique genetic resources, and there is a scope for further improvement in productivity through an appropriate management and breeding program. In general, results of this study can be used to establish a base of national conservation strategy of Ardi goat population in Saudi Arabia.Key words: Ardi goat, genetic diversity, microsatellite markers, inbreeding, bottleneck

Formulation of fortified instant weaning food from Musa paradisiaca (banana) and Eleusine coracana

Weaning food is a soft, easily digestible type of food other than breast milk for infants aged 6 to 24 months. The present study was conducted to develop cereal-fruit-based complementary foods for infants and evaluate the nutritional quality of such types of foods. Few researchers have focused on formulating weaning foods from locally available, nutritious, and rich ingredients without nutrient loss to reduce malnutrition and infant morbidity rates. In this study, the formulated infant food was prepared from Musa paradisiaca (Nendran banana) and Eleusine coracana (ragi). Formulated weaning food was analyzed using various standard methods, demonstrating that it could provide adequate nutrients to growing infants for their proper growth and development. The shelf life of the weaning food was also studied for a period of 3 months at ambient conditions in two different packaging materials: aluminum and plastic (low-density polyethylene or LDPE), with the aluminum foil pouch exhibiting the best shelf life. This ready-to-serve food, which is formulated and fortified with natural ingredients containing essential macronutrients and micronutrients, could be regarded as highly effective supplementary food for infants. Furthermore, this development has the potential to introduce an affordable weaning product specifically targeted at low socioeconomic groups