This paper proposes a new two-way double-relay selection strategy for wireless cooperative communication systems with its bit error rate (BER) performance analysis. In this work, two relays are first ...chosen to maximize the overall system performance in terms of BER. Then, either the two-phase or three-phase protocol is performed to achieve two-directional communications between the communicating terminals through the selected relay nodes that apply orthogonal space-time coding (STC) scheme in a distributed fashion to improve the overall system performance with linear decoding complexity. In other words, the proposed strategy offers an improvement in the reliability of the system and enjoys very low decoding complexity by enabling a symbol-wise decoder. On the other hand, another improvement in the performance at the communication terminals is achieved by performing a network coding method at the selected relay nodes. Furthermore, we offer also analytical approximation of the BER performance for the proposed strategy where the simulation results match perfectly the analytical ones. From the simulation results section, the proposed strategy shows a substantially improved BER performance as compared to the current ones.
This work proposes novel bi-directional dual-relay selection techniques based on Alamouti space-time block coding (STBC) using the decode and forward (DF) protocol and analyzes their performance. In ...the proposed techniques, two- and the three-phase relaying schemes are used to perform bi-directional communication between the communicating terminals via two selected single-antenna relays that employ the Alamouti STBC in a distributed fashion to achieve diversity and orthogonalization of the channels and hence improve the reliability of the system and enable the use of a symbol-wise detector. Furthermore, the network coding strategy applied at all relays is not associated with any power wastage for broadcasting data already known at any terminal, resulting in improved overall performance at the terminals. Our simulations confirm the analytical results and show a substantially improved bit error rate (BER) performance of our proposed techniques compared with the current state of the art.
In this article, a novel two-way double-relay selection strategy with its bit error rate (BER) performance analysis is proposed. In this novel strategy, as a first step we choose two relays out of a ...set of relay-nodes in a way to maximize the system performance in terms of BER and complexity. In the second step, the selected relays apply orthogonal space-time coding scheme using the three-phase protocol to establish a two-way communication between the transceivers, which will lead to a significant improvement in the achievable diversity and coding gain with a very low decoding complexity by using a symbol-wise decoder. Furthermore, the performance of the overall system is further enhanced through the use of a network coding method at the selected relay-nodes. Moreover, this paper proposes the analytical approximation of the BER performance. As well, we show that the analytical results match perfectly the simulated ones. In addition, we prove that our strategy outperforms the current state-of-the-art ones by proposing a better cooperative communication system in terms of BER.
In the recent past, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have become more abundant and present one of the most serious security threats. In a DDoS attack, the attacker controls a
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residing ...in vulnerable hosts that send a significant amount of traffic to flood the victim or the network infrastructure. In this paper, a common type of DDoS attacks known as "TCP SYN-Flood" is studied. This type of attack uses spoofed Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for SYN packets by exploiting the weakness in Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) 3-Way handshake used by the TCP/IP suite of protocols, which make the web servers unreachable for legitimate users or even worse, it might lead to server crash. In this paper, a resilient, efficient, lightweight, and robust IP traceback algorithm is proposed using an IP tracing packet for each attack path. The proposed algorithm suggests that edge routers-where the attack starts from-observe the traffic pattern passing through, and if the observed traffic carries the signature of TCP SYN-Flood DDoS attack and a high percentage of it is destined to a particular web server(s), it starts the tracing process by generating an IP trace packet, which accompanies the attack path recording the routers' IP addresses on the path between the attacker/daemon and the victim, which can extract the path and react properly upon receiving it by discarding any SYN packets originating from that attacker/daemon. To our knowledge, this is the first research that efficiently traces these kinds of attacks while they are running. The proposed solution has low computation and message overhead, efficient detection and tracing time, and converges in near optimal time. The results are validated using extensive simulation runs.
The design and management of smart cities and the IoT is a multidimensional problem. One of those dimensions is cloud and edge computing management. Due to the complexity of the problem, resource ...sharing is one of the vital and major components that when enhanced, the performance of the whole system is enhanced. Research in data access and storage in multi-clouds and edge servers can broadly be classified to data centers and computational centers. The main aim of data centers is to provide services for accessing, sharing and modifying large databases. On the other hand, the aim of computational centers is to provide services for sharing resources. Present and future distributed applications need to deal with very large multi-petabyte datasets and increasing numbers of associated users and resources. The emergence of IoT-based, multi-cloud systems as a potential solution for large computational and data management problems has initiated significant research activity in the area. Due to the considerable increase in data production and data sharing within scientific communities, the need for improvements in data access and data availability cannot be overlooked. It can be argued that the current approaches of large dataset management do not solve all problems associated with big data and large datasets. The heterogeneity and veracity of big data require careful management. One of the issues for managing big data in a multi-cloud system is the scalability and expendability of the system under consideration. Data replication ensures server load balancing, data availability and improved data access time. The proposed model minimises the cost of data services through minimising a cost function that takes storage cost, host access cost and communication cost into consideration. The relative weights between different components is learned through history and it is different from a cloud to another. The model ensures that data are replicated in a way that increases availability while at the same time decreasing the overall cost of data storage and access time. Using the proposed model avoids the overheads of the traditional full replication techniques. The proposed model is mathematically proven to be sound and valid.
Recent studies have recognized the importance of characterizing the extent of lung disease in pulmonary hypertension patients by using Computed Tomography. The trustworthiness of an artificial ...intelligence system is linked with the depth of the evaluation in functional, operational, usability, safety and validation dimensions. The safety and validation of an artificial tool is linked to the uncertainty estimation of the model's prediction. On the other hand, the functionality, operation and usability can be achieved by explainable deep learning approaches which can verify the learning patterns and use of the network from a generalized point of view. We developed an artificial intelligence framework to map the 3D anatomical models of patients with lung disease in pulmonary hypertension. To verify the trustworthiness of the framework we studied the uncertainty estimation of the network's prediction, and we explained the learning patterns of the network. Therefore, a new generalized technique combining local explainable and interpretable dimensionality reduction approaches (PCA-GradCam, PCA-Shape) was developed. Our open-source software framework was evaluated in unbiased validation datasets achieving accurate, robust and generalized results.
Massage is ubiquitous in elite sport and increasingly common at amateur level but the evidence base for this intervention has not been reviewed systematically. We therefore performed a systematic ...review and meta-analysis examining the effect of massage on measures of sporting performance and recovery.
We searched PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane to identify randomised studies that tested the effect of manual massage on measures of sporting performance and/or recovery. We performed separate meta-analyses on the endpoints of; strength, jump, sprint, endurance, flexibility, fatigue and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
We identified 29 eligible studies recruiting 1012 participants, representing the largest examination of the effects of massage. We found no evidence that massage improves measures of strength, jump, sprint, endurance or fatigue, but massage was associated with small but statistically significant improvements in flexibility and DOMS.
Although our study finds no evidence that sports massage improves performance directly, it may somewhat improve flexibility and DOMS. Our findings help guide the coach and athlete about the benefits of massage and inform decisions about incorporating this into training and competition.
This research addresses the accuracy issues in IoT-based human activity recognition (HAR) applications, essential for health monitoring, elderly care, gait analysis, security, and Industry 5.0. This ...study uses 12 machine learning approaches, split equally between support vector machine (SVM) and k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) models. Data from 102 individuals, aged 18–43, were used to train and test these models. The researchers aimed to detect twelve daily activities, such as sitting, walking, and cycling. Results showed k-NN models achieved slightly higher accuracy (97.08%) compared to SVM models (95.88%), though SVM had faster processing times. The improved machine learning approaches proved effective in accurately classifying daily activities, with k-NN models outperforming SVM models marginally. The paper provides significant contributions to the field of HAR by enhancing the performance of SVM and k-NN classifiers, optimizing them for higher accuracy and faster processing. Through robust testing with samples of real-world data, the study provides a detailed comparative analysis that highlights strengths and weaknesses of each classifier model, specifically within IoT-based systems. This work not only advances the theoretical understanding and practical applications of HAR systems in areas, such as healthcare and industrial automation, but also sets the stage for future research that could explore hybrid models or further enhancements, consequently improving the efficiency and functionality of IoT devices based on activity recognition.
Elevated myocardial T1-mapping and extracellular volume (ECV) measured on cardiac MR (CMR) imaging is associated with myocardial abnormalities such as oedema or fibrosis. This meta-analysis aims to ...provide a summary of T1-mapping and ECV values in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and compare their values with controls.
We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science in August 2020. We included CMR studies reporting T1-mapping or ECV values in adults with any type of PAH. We calculated the mean difference of T1-values and ECV between PAH and controls.
We included 12 studies with 674 participants. T1-values were significantly higher in PAH with the highest mean difference (MD) recorded at the RV insertion points (RVIP) (108 milliseconds (ms), 95% confidence intervals (CI) 89 to 128), followed by the RV free wall (MD 91 ms, 95% CI 56 to 126). The pooled mean T1-value in PAH at the RVIP was 1084, 95% CI (1071 to 1097) measured using 1.5 Tesla Siemens systems. ECV was also higher in PAH with an MD of 7.5%, 95% CI (5.9 to 9.1) at the RV free wall.
T1 mapping values in PAH patients are on average 9% higher than healthy controls when assessed under the same conditions including the same MRI system, magnetic field strength or sequence used for acquisition. The highest T1 and ECV values are at the RVIP. T1 mapping and ECV values in PH are higher than the values reported in cardiomyopathies and were associated with poor RV function and RV dilatation.
The intraoral Tongue Drive System (iTDS) is a wireless assistive technology (AT) that may be operated using a variety of user-defined voluntary tongue motions. In this study, we introduce a novel ...arch-shaped iTDS that takes up the buccal shelf space in the mouth without constricting tongue motions. Damage to the central nervous system that causes upper limb paralysis. For instance, severe spinal cord injuries, certain strokes or multiple amputations of the upper limbs can make it very difficult for a lot of individuals to go about their everyday lives since they cause them to lose function, control, and independence. Because its muscles are strong and dexterous and do not quickly tire when not necessary to exert power, the tongue is an excellent choice for controlling an AT. Additionally, through cranial nerves, which are unaffected by a spinal cord damage, the tongue is directly attached to the brain. Furthermore, since the tongue movements may be totally hidden from view, TDS-based AT safeguard users' privacy. In order to provide an effective solution, this paper proposed a novel antenna design with dual-band and implantability. The antenna is modelled in single-layer human muscle considering the feasibility and computational time. Then, the performance is evaluated through multi-layered human oral cavity model. A protective layer is established to prevent direct contact between the antenna and human body. Simulation results show that the proposed antenna has better reflection coefficient, impedance, and radiation pattern as compared with existing antennas.