Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC Protocol Under Light Traffic Condition in IoT Environment

In this paper, we propose analytic models for throughput and latency performance of the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol operating under very low duty cycles In the Internet of Things applications. Our analytic models are intended for IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol in beacon-enabled star topology with light traffic conditions. Accuracy of the analytic models are verified through extensive simulations using the network simulator ns-2. A strong agreement between simulation results and our theoretical analysis is observed. In addition, we compare throughput and latency performance of two different CSMA/CA protocols in IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11. This is motivated by a significant discrepancy of the CSMA/CA mechanism: IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.11. We observe a remarkable difference in throughput between two protocols. The simulation results also demonstrate an interesting fact that increasing the packet size will degrade the throughput of IEEE 802.15.4 due to the nature of the CSMA/CA mechanism, while a throughput improvement is usually expected

Performance of cluster-based cognitive multihop networks under joint impact of hardware noises and non-identical primary co-channel interference

In this paper, we evaluate outage probability (OP) of a cluster-based multi-hop protocol operating on an underlay cognitive radio (CR) mode. The primary network consists of multiple independent transmit/receive pairs, and the primary transmitters seriously cause co-channel interference (CCI) to the secondary receivers. To improve the outage performance for the secondary network under the joint impact of the CCI and hardware imperfection, we employ the best relay selection at each hop. Moreover, the destination is equipped with multiple antennas and uses the selection combining (SC) technique to enhance the reliability of the data transmission at the last hop. For performance evaluation, we first derive an exact formula of OP for the primary network which is used to calculate the transmit power of the secondary transmitters. Next, an exact closed-form expression of the end-to-end OP for the secondary network is derived over Rayleigh fading channels. We then perform Monte-Carlo simulations to validate the derivations. The results present that the CCI caused by the primary operations significantly impacts on the outage performance of the secondary network

An overview of 5G technologies

Since the development of 4G cellular networks is considered to have ended in 2011, the attention of the research community is now focused on innovations in wireless communications technology with the introduction of the fifth-generation (5G) technology. One cycle for each generation of cellular development is generally thought to be about 10 years; so the 5G networks are promising to be deployed around 2020. This chapter will provide an overview and major research directions for the 5G that have been or are being deployed, presenting new challenges as well as recent research results related to the 5G technologies. Through this chapter, readers will have a full picture of the technologies being deployed toward the 5G networks and vendors of hardware devices with various prototypes of the 5G wireless communications systems

Jointly power allocation and phase shift optimization for RIS empowered downlink cellular networks

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) have been highlighted by the research community as a key enabling technology for the enhancement of next-generation wireless network performance, including energy efficiency, spectral efficiency, and network throughput. This paper investigates how RIS-assisted communication can effectively maximize the downlink throughput of a cellular network. Specifically, the paper considers a communication scenario where a single base station serves multiple ground users with the aid of an RIS placed on a building facade. For such a communication scenario, we considered an optimization problem aimed at maximizing the overall downlink throughput by jointly optimizing power allocation at the base station and phase shift of RIS reflecting elements, subject to power consumption and quality-of-service constraints. To address its non-convex nature, the original optimization problem has been divided into two subproblems. The first one, for power control with fixed phase shift values, is a convex problem that can be easily solved. Subsequently, a phase shift searching procedure to solve the non-convex problem of RIS phase shift optimization has been adopted. The results from numerical simulations show that the proposed method outperforms other conventional methods proposed in the literature. In addition, computational complexity analysis has been conducted to prove the low complexity of the proposed method

Small but crucial : the novel small heat shock protein Hsp21 mediates stress adaptation and virulence in Candida albicans

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

European youth care sites serve different populations of adolescents with cannabis use disorder. Baseline and referral data from the INCANT trial

Background: MDFT (Multidimensional Family Therapy) is a family based outpatient treatment programme for adolescent problem behaviour. MDFT has been found effective in the USA in adolescent samples differing in severity and treatment delivery settings. On request of five governments (Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland), MDFT has now been tested in the joint INCANT trial (International Cannabis Need of Treatment) for applicability in Western Europe. In each of the five countries, study participants were recruited from the local population of youth seeking or guided to treatment for, among other things, cannabis use disorder. There is little information in the literature if these populations are comparable between sites/countries or not. Therefore, we examined if the study samples enrolled in the five countries differed in baseline characteristics regarding demographics, clinical profile, and treatment delivery setting.Methods: INCANT was a multicentre phase III(b) randomized controlled trial with an open-label, parallel group design. It compared MDFT with treatment as usual (TAU) at and across sites in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, The Hague and Paris.Participants of INCANT were adolescents of either sex, from 13 through 18 years of age, with a cannabis use disorder (dependence or abuse), and at least one parent willing to take part in the treatment. In total, 450 cases/families were randomized (concealed) into INCANT.Results: We collected data about adolescent and family demographics (age, gender, family composition, school, work, friends, and leisure time). In addition, we gathered data about problem behaviour (substance use, alcohol and cannabis use disorders, delinquency, psychiatric co-morbidity).There were no major differences on any of these measures between the treatment conditions (MDFT and TAU) for any of the sites. However, there were cross-site differences on many variables. Most of these could be explained by variations in treatment culture, as reflected by referral policy, i.e., participants' referral source. We distinguished 'self-determined' referral (common in Brussels and Paris) and referral with some authority-related 'external' coercion (common in Geneva and The Hague). The two referral types were more equally divided in Berlin. Many cross-site baseline differences disappeared when we took referral source into account, but not all.Conclusions: A multisite trial has the advantage of being efficient, but it also carries risks, the most important one being lack of equivalence between local study populations. Our site populations differed in many respects. This is not a problem for analyses and interpretations if the differences somehow can be accounted for. To a major extent, this appeared possible in INCANT. The most important factor underlying the cross-site variations in baseline characteristics was referral source. Correcting for referral source made most differences disappear. Therefore, we will use referral source as a covariate accounting for site differences in future INCANT outcome analyses

The stellar and sub-stellar IMF of simple and composite populations

The current knowledge on the stellar IMF is documented. It appears to become top-heavy when the star-formation rate density surpasses about 0.1Msun/(yr pc^3) on a pc scale and it may become increasingly bottom-heavy with increasing metallicity and in increasingly massive early-type galaxies. It declines quite steeply below about 0.07Msun with brown dwarfs (BDs) and very low mass stars having their own IMF. The most massive star of mass mmax formed in an embedded cluster with stellar mass Mecl correlates strongly with Mecl being a result of gravitation-driven but resource-limited growth and fragmentation induced starvation. There is no convincing evidence whatsoever that massive stars do form in isolation. Various methods of discretising a stellar population are introduced: optimal sampling leads to a mass distribution that perfectly represents the exact form of the desired IMF and the mmax-to-Mecl relation, while random sampling results in statistical variations of the shape of the IMF. The observed mmax-to-Mecl correlation and the small spread of IMF power-law indices together suggest that optimally sampling the IMF may be the more realistic description of star formation than random sampling from a universal IMF with a constant upper mass limit. Composite populations on galaxy scales, which are formed from many pc scale star formation events, need to be described by the integrated galactic IMF. This IGIMF varies systematically from top-light to top-heavy in dependence of galaxy type and star formation rate, with dramatic implications for theories of galaxy formation and evolution.Comment: 167 pages, 37 figures, 3 tables, published in Stellar Systems and Galactic Structure, Vol.5, Springer. This revised version is consistent with the published version and includes additional references and minor additions to the text as well as a recomputed Table 1. ISBN 978-90-481-8817-

Search for CP violation in D+→ϕπ+ and D+s→K0Sπ+ decays

A search for CP violation in D + → ϕπ + decays is performed using data collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 at a centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. The CP -violating asymmetry is measured to be (−0.04 ± 0.14 ± 0.14)% for candidates with K − K + mass within 20 MeV/c 2 of the ϕ meson mass. A search for a CP -violating asymmetry that varies across the ϕ mass region of the D + → K − K + π + Dalitz plot is also performed, and no evidence for CP violation is found. In addition, the CP asymmetry in the D+s→K0Sπ+ decay is measured to be (0.61 ± 0.83 ± 0.14)%

Viral Etiology of Encephalitis in Children in Southern Vietnam: Results of a One-Year Prospective Descriptive Study

Viral encephalitis is associated with high morbidity and mortality in Vietnam. However little is known about the causes of the disease due to a lack of diagnostic facilities in this relatively resource-poor setting. Knowledge about the etiologies and clinical outcome of viral encephalitis is necessary for future design of intervention studies targeted at improvement of clinical management, treatment and prevention of the disease. We report the viral agents, clinical outcome and prognostic factors of mortality of encephalitis in children admitted to a referral hospital for children in southern Vietnam. We show that about one third of the enrolled patients die acutely, and that mortality is independently associated with patient age and Glasgow Coma Scale on admission. Japanese encephalitis, dengue virus and enterovirus (including enterovirus 71) are the major viruses detected in our patients. However, more than half of the patients remain undiagnosed, while mortality in this group is as high as in the diagnosed group. This study will benefit clinicians and public health in terms of clinical management and prevention of childhood encephalitis in Vietnam

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT