Performance Review of Selected Topology-Aware Routing Strategies for Clustering Sensor Networks

In this paper, cluster-based routing (CBR) protocols for addressing issues pertinent to energy consumption, network lifespan, resource allocation and network coverage are reviewed. The paper presents an indepth  performance analysis and critical review of selected CBR algorithms. The study is domain-specific and simulation-based with emphasis on the tripartite trade-off between coverage, connectivity and lifespan. The rigorous statistical analysis of selected CBR schemes was also presented. Network simulation was conducted with Java-based Atarraya discrete-event simulation toolkit while statistical analysis was carried out using MATLAB. It was observed that the Periodic, Event-Driven and Query-Based Routing (PEQ) schemes performs better than Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), Threshold-Sensitive Energy-Efficient Sensor Network (TEEN) and Geographic Adaptive Fidelity (GAF) in terms of network lifespan, energy consumption and network throughput.Keywords: Wireless sensor network, Hierarchical topologies, Cluster-based routing, Statistical analysis, Network simulatio

Design of a Bimodal Home Automation System using ESP8266 and ATMEGA328 Microcontroller

Home automation systems are garnering increasing popularity and widespread use due to the relative ease of domestic management and comparatively high return on technology investment tied to its adoption. However, Nigeria and other emerging ICT economies are yet to fully actualize and maximize the inherent potential of these smart home technologies due to endemic challenges associated with poor infrastructure, erratic power supply and unreliable Internet connectivity. These challenges necessitate an innovative paradigmatic shift that could provide a pragmatic technological solution suitable to the context of Nigeria and other developing climes. For most smart home systems in this research context, the status quo is based on choosing whether the design would be for short- or long-range communication network. Short-range designs which are usually realized with Bluetooth technology suffer from limited range issues while poor connectivity, bandwidth and latency issues are some of the problems plaguing Wi-Fi-based long-range designs. Consequently, this research presents a hybrid adaptive architecture that combines desirable features of both short- and long-range modes. The proposed smart home system is based on using embedded systems which use mobile application to send messages to ESP8266 Wi-Fi module. Together with notifications received from the monitoring unit, these messages are parsed by Arduino's ATMEGA328 microcontroller from where instruction codes are sent for controlling the load by switching ON or OFF various relays connected to the load

Design of a Bimodal Home Automation System using ESP8266 and ATMEGA328 Microcontroller

Home automation systems are garnering increasing popularity and widespread use due to the relative ease of domestic management and comparatively high return on technology investment tied to its adoption. However, Nigeria and other emerging ICT economies are yet to fully actualize and maximize the inherent potential of these smart home technologies due to endemic challenges associated with poor infrastructure, erratic power supply and unreliable Internet connectivity. These challenges necessitate an innovative paradigmatic shift that could provide a pragmatic technological solution suitable to the context of Nigeria and other developing climes. For most smart home systems in this research context, the status quo is based on choosing whether the design would be for short- or long-range communication network. Short-range designs which are usually realized with Bluetooth technology suffer from limited range issues while poor connectivity, bandwidth and latency issues are some of the problems plaguing Wi-Fi-based long-range designs. Consequently, this research presents a hybrid adaptive architecture that combines desirable features of both short- and long-range modes. The proposed smart home system is based on using embedded systems which use mobile application to send messages to ESP8266 Wi-Fi module. Together with notifications received from the monitoring unit, these messages are parsed by Arduino's ATMEGA328 microcontroller from where instruction codes are sent for controlling the load by switching ON or OFF various relays connected to the load

Clinicopathological and molecular characteristics of Ku 70/80 expression in Nigerian breast cancer and its potential therapeutic implications

Ku 70/80 is a regulator of the Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ) roles in clinicopathological features, and has prognostic significance in breast cancer (BC) in Caucasian populations. However, its significance in the Nigerian BC population, which is characterized by a higher rate of the triple-negative and basal phenotype, p53 mutation rate and BRCA1 deficiency, still needs to be investigated. We hypothesize that Ku70/80 expression shows adverse expression in Nigerian BC and, furthermore, that it is likely to have a therapeutic implication for Black BC management.This study investigated the biological, clinicopathological and prognostic significance of Ku 70/80 expression in a BC cohort from a Nigerian population. Ku 70/80 expression was determined in 188 well-characterized formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) BC samples using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. Ku 70/80 expression was correlated with clinicopathological, molecular and prognostic characteristics of patients.Ku 70/80 was expressed in 113 (60.1%) tumors, and was positively associated with metastatic disease, triple-negative and basal phenotype, BRCA1 down regulators (MTA-1 and ID4), p-cadherin, PI3KCA and p53 expression. It inversely correlated with BRCA1, BRCA2, BARD1 and p27. Ku 70/80 was predictive of breast cancer-specific survival in multivariate analysis, but not of disease-free interval.This study demonstrated that Ku 70/80 expression is associated with triple negativity and down-regulation of the homologous recombination pathway of DNA repair. Therefore, the development of novel drugs to target KU70/80 may improve the patients’ outcome in the treatment of Black BC

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Dual Band Fractal Antenna Design for Wireless Application

The objective of this paper was to design and analyze a dual wide band compact antenna for wireless application. Microstrip patch antenna limitation was overcome by using fractal geometry. The proposed antenna was designed with a radius of 15mm on a FR4 lossy substrate with relative permittivity of 4.4 and loss factor of 0.025. Measurement result showed that the antenna has a dual band of operation with bandwidth for return loss below -10dB of 1.84GHz (2.2GHz-4.07GHz) and 2GHz (6GHz-8GHz) which can be applied to wireless local area network (WLAN) and Ultra wide band applications