Dynamic priority-based efficient resource allocation and computing framework for vehicular multimedia cloud computing

© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works In intelligent transportation system, smart vehicles are equipped with a variety of sensing devices those offer various multimedia applications and services related to smart driving assistance, weather forecasting, traffic congestion information, road safety alarms, and many entertainment and comfort-related applications. These smart vehicles produce a massive amount of multimedia related data that required fast and real-time processing which cannot be fully handled by the standalone onboard computing devices due to their limited computational power and storage capacities. Therefore, handling such multimedia applications and services demanded changes in the underlaying networking and computing models. Recently, the integration of vehicles with cloud computing is emerged as a challenging computing paradigm. However, there are certain challenges related to multimedia contents processing, (i.e., resource cost, fast service response time, and quality of experience) that severely affect the performance of vehicular communication. Thus, in this paper, we propose an efficient resource allocation and computation framework for vehicular multimedia cloud computing to overcome the aforementioned challenges. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated in terms of quality of experience, service response time, and resource cost by using the Cloudsim simulator

Effect of Workforce Diversity on Employee Work Performance of Selected Firms in Bangladesh

To analyze the moderating effect of management between workforce diversity and performance of the employees and to determine the relationship between workforce diversity and employee’s performance. Quantitative study was conducted in private sector firms. Sample of 90 employees of different private firms was selected in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. The data was collected through structured questionnaires. Pearson Correlation and Regression was run to analyze the data. Findings show that there is positive and significant relationship between the workforce diversity and the performance of the employees. Sample size was too short it can be replicated in future by large sample in same sector. Relation of management between workforce diversity and employee’s performance can be checked in future. Keywords: Workforce, Diversity, Employee Performance, Bangladesh

Zero-Power Defense Done Right: Shielding IMDs from Battery-Depletion Attacks

The wireless capabilities of modern Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) make them vulnerable to security attacks. One prominent attack, which has disastrous consequences for the patient’s wellbeing, is the battery Denial-of-Service attack whereby the IMD is occupied with continuous authentication requests from an adversary with the aim of depleting its battery. Zero-Power Defense (ZPD), based on energy harvesting, is known to be an excellent protection against these attacks. This paper raises essential design considerations for employing ZPD techniques in commercial IMDs, offers a critical review of ZPD techniques found in literature and, subsequently, gives crucial recommendations for developing comprehensive ZPD solutions

Four bioactive compounds isolated from the stem of Anethum sowa L. and their bioactivities

Anethum sowa L., (a well-known herb in folk medicine, has a greater medicinal significance due to its diversified activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and antispasmodic activity. Very few bioactive compounds have been reported from this species. Our study focused on the isolation, structure elucidation and bioactivity assay of the compounds. In the present work, 6-hydroxy-1, 3-dimethoxy-7-methyl-xanthen-9-one (AS-1) from dichloromethane extract and scopoletin (AS-2), 1, 3, 4-trimethoxy-xanthen-9-one (AS-3), graveolone (AS-4) from ethyl acetate extract of stem of A. sowa were isolated from the stem as well as the plant for the first time. All the characterizations and chemical structures of the compounds were determined by extensive modern spectroscopic techniques such as ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR), mass, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrophotometer. Moreover, the cytotoxic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of AS-2, AS-3 and AS-4 were assessed. AS-2 exhibited significant activity against Salmonella typhi while mild antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger. Furthermore AS-3 revealed significant antifungal activity against Sacharomyces cerevacae as well as antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi. Besides AS-4 exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Bacillus megaterium. In addition AS-2, AS-3 and AS-4 presented mild cytotoxic with respect to positive control (Vincristine sulphate) while AS-3 exhibited moderate antioxidant activity as compared to positive control (Ascorbic acid)

Quality of inpatient care of small and sick newborns in Pakistan: Perceptions of key stakeholders

Background: In LMICs including Pakistan, neonatal health and survival is a critical challenge, and therefore improving the quality of facility-based newborn care services is instrumental in averting newborn mortality. This paper presents the perceptions of the key stakeholders in the public sector to explore factors influencing the care of small and sick newborns and young infants in inpatient care settings across Pakistan.Methods: This exploratory study was part of a larger study assessing the situation of newborn and young infant in-patient care provided across all four provinces and administrative regions of Pakistan. We conducted 43 interviews. Thirty interviews were conducted with the public sector health care providers involved in newborn and young infant care and 13 interviews were carried out with health planners and managers working at the provincial level. A semi-structured interview guide was used to explore participants\u27 perspectives on enablers and barriers to the quality of care provided to small and sick newborns at the facility level. The interviews were manually analyzed using thematic content analysis.Findings: The study respondents identified multiple barriers contributing to the poor quality of small and sick newborn care at inpatient care settings. This includes an absence of neonatal care standards, inadequate infrastructure and equipment for the care of small and sick newborns, deficient workforce for neonatal case management, inadequate thermal care management for newborns, inadequate referral system, absence of multidisciplinary approach in neonatal case management and need to institute strong monitoring system to prevent neonatal deaths and stillbirths. The only potential enabling factor was the improved federal and provincial oversight for reproductive, maternal, and newborn care.Conclusion: This qualitative study was insightful in identifying the challenges that influence the quality of inpatient care for small and sick newborns and the resources needed to fix these. There is a need to equip Sick Newborn Care Units with needed supplies, equipment and medicines, deployment of specialist staff, strengthening of in-service training and staff supervision, liaison with the neonatal experts in customizing neonatal care guidelines for inpatient care settings and to inculcate the culture for inter-disciplinary team meetings at inpatient care settings across the country