Loss Of Valuable Data Research Articles

Performance assessment of discrete wavelet transform for de-noising of FBG sensors signals embedded in asphalt pavement

In recent years, the Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor technology has been increasingly utilized as an optical measurement system in various engineering applications, particularly for structural health monitoring (SHM) purposes. This trend can be attributed to the inherent benefits of FBG sensors, such as their small size, immunity to electromagnetic interference, resistance to corrosion, and high accuracy and sensitivity. Various factors cause noise in the FBG sensor signal, which has a significant effect on measurement precision. As a result, de-noising plays an important role in the use of FBG sensor systems. In this study, strain data collected from FBG sensors embedded in a road section were used to evaluate the performance of discretized wavelet transform (DWT) for denoising FBG signals. The presence of noise poses a significant challenge in accurately measuring low-amplitude strains and light loads. To address this issue, various approaches have been investigated, including the selection of appropriate mother wavelets, levels of decomposition, thresholding functions, and thresholding selection approaches, with the aim of identifying the optimal parameters for effective denoising. The results show that FBG signals could be denoised successfully and low amplitude strains appeared completely without any loss of valuable data.

A Secure and Intelligent Software-Defined Networking Framework for Future Smart Cities to Prevent DDoS Attack

Smart cities have experienced significant growth in recent years, transforming people’s lives into a more futuristic version. The smart city initiative includes a diverse collection of specifications, encompassing a large number of users whose requirements vary significantly and heterogeneously. Each device in smart cities generates a significant amount of data, which places a load on the gateways. Smart cities face a major challenge due to the enormous amount of data they generate. Through software-defined networking (SDN), network information paths are optimized, ensuring that traffic flow is evenly distributed across all network nodes. A considerable number of IoT devices with limited resources are susceptible to various security threats, such as device hijacking, ransomware, man-in-the-middle (MiM) attacks, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. These threats can pose a severe challenge to network security. Additionally, DDoS attacks have disrupted web businesses, resulting in the loss of valuable data. To counter DDoS attacks in a smart city, several options exist, yet many challenges remain. This research presents a secure and intelligent system to combat DDoS attacks on smart cities. SDN security controllers and machine learning models with optimization are employed in this study to reduce the impact of common DDoS attacks on smart cities. This work utilizes an SDN based on security controllers and a detection mechanism rooted in a machine learning model with optimization to mitigate various types of prevalent DDoS attacks within smart cities. Employing binary classification, XGBoost achieved an accuracy of 99.99%, precision of 97%, recall of 99%, an F1 score of 98%, and a false-positive rate of 0.05. In multiclass classification, the average accuracy is 99.29%, precision is 97.7%, recall is 96.69%, and the F1 score is 97.51%. These results highlight the superiority of this approach over other existing machine learning techniques.

Adaptive Fault Diagnosis for Simultaneous Sensor Faults in Structural Health Monitoring Systems

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a non-destructive testing method that supports the condition assessment and lifetime estimation of civil infrastructure. Sensor faults may result in the loss of valuable data and erroneous structural condition assessments and lifetime estimations, in the worst case with structural damage remaining undetected. As a result, the concepts of fault diagnosis (FD) have been increasingly adopted by the SHM community. However, most FD concepts for SHM consider only single-fault occurrence, which may oversimplify actual fault occurrences in real-world SHM systems. This paper presents an adaptive FD approach for SHM systems that addresses simultaneous faults occurring in multiple sensors. The adaptive FD approach encompasses fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and it builds upon analytical redundancy, which uses correlated data from multiple sensors of an SHM system. Specifically, faults are detected using the predictive capabilities of artificial neural network (ANN) models that leverage correlations within sensor data. Upon defining time instances of fault occurrences in the sensor data, faults are isolated by analyzing the moving average of individual sensor data around the time instances. For fault accommodation, the ANN models are adapted by removing faulty sensors and by using sensor data prior to the occurrence of faults to produce virtual outputs that substitute the faulty sensor data. The proposed adaptive FD approach is validated via two tests using sensor data recorded by an SHM system installed on a railway bridge. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach is capable of ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and performance of real-world SHM systems, in which faults in multiple sensors occur simultaneously.

Remaining useful life estimation of a Product

A sudden failure of a product or a component may result in loss of valuable data or interruption in the task being carried out. In order to eliminate these kind of scenarios and to avoid unnecessary investments on the used products, the remaining life need to be predicted/estimated. In this work, a comprehensive two-phase approach is proposed. In the first stage phase, statistically analyzing the behavior of components for reuse, a well-known reliability assessment method, the Weibull analysis, is applied to the time-to-failure data to assess the mean life of components. In the second phase, the degradation and condition monitoring data are analyzed by developing an Artificial Neural Network model (ANN model). This project is aimed on estimating the remaining useful life of washing machine and LED bulb

A methodology for data gap filling in wave records using Artificial Neural Networks

Wave measuring equipment are subject to malfunction that can be caused by various reasons such as maintenance, navigation accidents, errors in communications and biofouling of sensors. This can eventually result in loss of valuable data before the equipment is fixed. A continuous data set is often critical for modelling and/or analysis of wave conditions. Data gaps in wave records can be filled using numerical modelling. This study presents an alternative method for filling missing data based on publicly available wind and wave information and artificial neural networks (ANN). The ANN developed in this study uses offshore hindcast wave and wind information (significant wave height, peak wave period and direction, wind speed and direction) from a data set publicly available for any region of the globe. The results of the application of this method to two one-week gaps in wave measurements are compared against a spectral wave model developed and implemented to estimate wave conditions at the measurement location. The ANN results for the validation period show slightly better statistical performance when compared to the wave model results in terms of the correlation coefficient, root mean square error, bias and scatter index. ANN are viable alternative methods to wave modelling for filling gaps in data and have several advantages since specific knowledge of wave models is not required, input data to feed the neural network is available for any region of the globe and the processing time is highly reduced when compared to numerical modelling.

Wireless Multiple Access Network With a Sectional Configured Data Collection System and Codeword Filtering Mechanism

Swarm robotics is an approach to collective robotics with which it is easily possible to complete the tasks that are difficult to do with single robot. The wireless multiple access network contributes significantly in wireless mobile swarm robotics for communication and networking, especially in disaster scenarios. Since the unpredictable impacts may fail the sensing robots or nodes, causing the loss of valuable data, a coding scheme called the Growth codes is designed to increase data persistence. In the wireless multiple access network, a key requirement of data collection in disaster scenarios is to maintain a high data intermediate recovery rate. In the later period of the Growth codes, the large amount of redundant data in the network affects the efficiency of data collection. In this paper, we design and analyze techniques to reduce the number of redundant data, and propose a sectional configured data collection strategy based on the Growth codes, called the SCGC protocol. Setting cache nodes around the sink to filter the redundant codewords, the sink can collect data faster, ensuring a high data intermediate recovery rate. We also design an information update strategy and some constraints to control node overhead. Through the simulations, we show that the proportion of redundant codewords can be reduced by 10-15%, while the negative impact of these valid codewords is not considered in the Growth codes. We also show that the SCGC protocol can improve the data recovery efficiency without affecting the stability of the network or shortening the network lifetime.

The Current State of the Antiquities Trade: An Art Dealer’s Perspective

Abstract:The antiquities trade is the subject of contentious debate. The anti-trade position stems from a long unquestioned stance within academia that private ownership of antiquities inherently results in archaeological site destruction and the loss of valuable data. However, there is little data to support this notion. It also ignores the enormous contributions to our shared knowledge of the past that have been made through art collecting and museum acquisitions. The narrative that the destruction of ancient sites is directly tied to Western demand for ancient art is overly simplistic. Despite the ongoing destruction in the Middle East and North African region, virtually no artifacts from there have entered the Western trade in recent years. Opportunistic treasure hunting by desperate locals and intentional destruction of ancient objects for religious reasons cannot be curtailed by increased legislation in Western nations. Fetishizing mundane ubiquitous antiquities as sacrosanct objects of great national importance that must be retained within modern borders in a globalized world and demanding criminalization of the legitimate international art trade are counterproductive. In many archaeologically rich countries, antiquities are regarded as items to sell to foreigners at best or sacrilegious objects to be destroyed at worst. The free trade in cultural objects is itself an institution that needs to be protected. An open legitimate trade in antiquities is now more than ever necessary to ensure the preservation and dissemination of worldwide cultural property.

CBiT: A transcriptomics database for innovative biomaterial engineering

Creating biomaterials that are suited for clinical application is still hampered by a lack of understanding of the interaction between a cell and the biomaterial surface it grows on. This surface communication can strongly impact cellular behavior, which in turn affects the chances of a successful interaction between a material and the host tissue. Transcriptomics data have previously been linked to measurements of biomaterial properties in order to explain the biological mechanisms underlying these cell-biomaterial interactions. However, such multi-assay data are highly complex and therefore require careful and unambiguous characterization and storage. Failure to do so may result in loss of valuable data or erroneous data analysis. In order to start a new initiative that tackles these issues and offers a platform for innovative biomaterial development, we have created a publically accessible repository called The Compendium for Biomaterial Transcriptomics (cBiT, https://cbit.maastrichtuniversity.nl). cBiT is a data warehouse that gives users the opportunity to search through biomaterial-based transcriptomics data sets using a web interface. Data of interest can be selected and downloaded, together with associated measurements of material properties. Researchers are also invited to add their data to cBiT in order to further enhance its scientific value. We aim to make cBiT the hub for biomaterial-associated data, thereby enabling major contributions to a more efficient development of new materials with improved body integration. Here, we describe the structure of cBiT and provide a use case with clinically applied materials to demonstrate how cBiT can be used to correlate data across transcriptomics studies.

Security and management framework for an organization operating in cloud environment

Cloud computing has attained tremendous popularity recently, leading to its fast and rapid deployment. However, privacy and security concerns have also increased in the same ratio. The adoption of cloud model has revealed new dimensions of attack, demanding major reconsideration and reevaluation of traditional security mechanisms. If an organization is operating in cloud environment without adopting essential security measures, it may face catastrophic consequences including loss of valuable data, financial damages, or reputation loss etc. Any organization in cloud architecture faces severe security threats and challenges for which a comprehensive security framework is needed. Certain frameworks exist in literature which focus deeply on specific cloud security issues; however, there is a dire need of comprehensive framework encompassing both security-related and management-related issues. This paper initially reviews security challenges and threats to data/applications in cloud environment. Furthermore, a comprehensive security and management framework is proposed for an organization operating in cloud environment. Proposed framework has been implemented in virtualized cloud environment to validate the efficacy of certain features of the model. The data center has been setup in virtualized environment through virtual machines on VMware ESXi-6 hypervisor layer. VMware vCloud-6 has been installed on top of it for provision of services to the users. The proposed framework is a set of guidelines that will adequately secure the organization’s data and applications. The framework incorporates a layered security architecture to achieve utmost level of security for nullifying the impact of threats.

Calibrated UV reflectance photography of Hebomoia glaucippe sulphurea

Abstract Ultraviolet (UV) reflective and absorbent markings on wings of male Hebomoia glaucippe sulphurea butterflies are important visual markers used in mating to differentiate them from other species. The objective of our study was to determine whether these markings deteriorate in museum collections over time. We first characterized quantitatively the UV reflective and UV absorbent wing markings from fresh and naturally aged male H. glaucippe sulphurea using UV reflectance microphotography, which was calibrated with handmade reflectance standards. The results of calibrated UV reflectance photography were then compared qualitatively with the same markings using visible light photography, transmitted and reflected visible light microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A UV-converted Nikon D200 with a Baader Ultraviolet Venus lens filter was used to record UV reflective and UV absorbent wing markings of the specimens. The handmade reflectance standards were prepared using magnesium oxide, plaster, and carbon, photographed alongside the specimens, and used to calibrate the photographs. The easily and affordably produced handmade reflectance standards were effective in calibrating the UV reflectance digital photographs, which allowed for each pixel of the digital photographs to be used for optical densitometry measurements. Quantitative data from calibrated UV reflectance photography demonstrated little evidence of deterioration in the UV reflective markings, although there was clear deterioration in the UV absorbent markings. This quantitative data, along with the calibrated UV photographs themselves, offered complementary documentation to visible light microscopy and SEM images. Results show that both visible-spectrum and UV markings fade in naturally aging museum specimens. We conclude that by using calibrated UV reflectance photography, a relatively inexpensive technique, a baseline and eventual degradation of Lepidoptera wing markings may be quantified and may provide valuable data to clarify the mechanisms behind this degradation. With the rate of change quantified, and the mechanisms of fading understood, it is hoped that preventative measures can be taken in the future to remedy this loss of valuable data in collections.

Addition of passive acoustic telemetry mitigates lost data from satellite-tracked manatees

Satellite-tracked manatees routinely lose satellite tags or tag functionality, resulting in the loss of valuable data on migration and habitat use patterns. Fortunately, some movement data from these animals remain salvageable because manatees typically retain a peduncle belt containing an acoustic transmitter that can be detected with a submersible hydrophone. We deployed an array of moored datalogging hydrophones at key locations in our study area to detect manatee belt-embedded acoustic transmitters, a technique not typically used to track manatees. Our array was successful in detecting five tagged manatees, and concurrently detected compatible acoustic tags of other estuarine fauna (e.g. Bull Sharks) tagged by local researchers. Moored datalogging hydrophones, therefore, provided a method to mitigate the loss of satellite tags from estuarine megafauna, and enhanced collaborative opportunities with researchers who tagged other species using compatible equipment.

Akademische multizentrische Studien im Fokus: Auswirkungen der Arzneimittelgesetzgebung auf Therapieoptimierungsstudien in der Hämatologie/Onkologie

Hintergrund: Zweck dieser Erhebung war die Erfassung der Auswirkungen gesetzlicher Rahmenbedingungen für klinische Studien auf Prüfzentren hämatologisch-onkologischer Investigator-initiierter Studien (IIT). Methode: Fragebögen wurden an Leitungen hämatologisch-onkologischer Prüfzentren versandt. Ergebnisse: Teilnehmende Zentren an IIT weisen eine gute Infrastruktur und umfassende Studienerfahrung auf. Je nach Erkrankung wird ein hoher Anteil der Patienten in Studien behandelt, um Therapieergebnisse zu verbessern. Dennoch werden 35% der Umfrageteilnehmer ihre Teilnahme an IIT reduzieren, da unter anderem für die aufwendige Organisation keine ausreichende Finanzierung für Studienpersonal besteht. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Studienlandschaft der Hämatologie/Onkologie mit ihren aka-demischen Multicenterstudien ist gefährdet. Dies hat weitreichende Folgen für Patienten, da qualitativ hochwertige Studien an vielen Standorten nicht aktiviert werden und so wertvolle Daten für die Optimierung der Therapien verloren gehen. Um diese Entwicklung zu stoppen, ist eine Änderung der Rahmenbedingungen durch Gesetzgeber, Überwachungsbehörden und Kostenträger erforderlich.

Information Fusion-Based Storage and Retrieve Algorithms for WSNs in Disaster Scenarios

Sensor networks are especially useful in catastrophic or disaster scenarios such as abysmal sea, floods, fires, or earthquakes where human participation may be too dangerous. Storage technologies take a critical position for WSNs in such scenarios since the sensor nodes may themselves fail unpredictably, resulting in the loss of valuable data. This paper focuses on fountain code-based data storage and recovery solutions for WSNs in disaster scenarios. A review on current technologies is given on challenges posed by disaster environments. Two information fusion-based distributed storage (IFDS) algorithms are proposed in the “few global knowledge” and “zero-configuration” paradigm, respectively. Correspondingly, a high-efficient retrieve algorithm is designed for general storage algorithms using Robust Soliton distribution. We observe that the successful decoding probability can be provisioned by properly selecting parameters—the ratio of number of source node and total nodes, and the storage capacity M in each node.

Bidding adieu IJP

My term as Chief Editor ends with this issue. I had a great experience as Editor of the Indian Journal of Pharmacology (IJP) for 3 years. I cherish these memorable moments. I am also feeling good about my contribution to the Society. The new incumbent, Dr. RK Dikshit, is an able and suitable candidate to be the Chief Editor, and has served IJP as Executive Editor for 3 years. He has contributed immensely during this period and he is the right person to continue the good work. Any takeover has to be smooth and complete; we cannot and should not be starting from scratch. Starting from scratch leads to a loss of valuable data and expertise and the credits gained by the journal take a dip. A communication gap does most damage to authors, who lose out on the articles they submitted in the previous regime. Hence, I assure that the changeover is smooth and complete. The journal needs committed reviewers. With increasing specialization and researchers getting more focused, reviewers with generic interest may not be able to do justice to certain areas of research. We have been inviting researchers, monitoring the reviewers and trying to build up the database of reviewers with varied research interests. The online system also has a facility to search and invite reviewers through PubMed from distant places. Distance, therefore, is not a deterrent if the valuable manuscripts get their due justice. Young researchers and academicians should be motivated to publish and also review. A formal training in scientific writing and reviewing should be made mandatory in all postgraduate courses in pharmacology. Senior reviewers can train their proteges and students and initiate them into this difficult task from an early stage. The members of the current editorial team conducted three workshops on scientific writing so far, the latest one being the 28th Annual Conference of Indian Pharmacological Society, Gujarat Chapter, at Karamsad. As this journal caters to basic and clinical researchers in pharmacology, a balance needs to be maintained between the articles published. The present editorial board has tried to bridge this gap and bring in a balance by encouraging articles on drug utilisation studies, pharmacovigilance, pharmacoepidemiology and clinical research in a journal without compromising on good quality and relevant articles on basic research in pharmacology. As the stature of the journal increases, a reverse trend of offshore researchers submitting their research work to an “Indian” journal may occur. IJP has been receiving articles from Malaysia, China, Turkey, Nigeria and Nepal. We must strive to take it farther. The most important development for the Journal is the listing in PubMed and Science Citation Index. This has increased the global accessibility of scientific articles from IJP and credibility to the authors. This was possible only by the constant striving of our publisher, Medknow Publications, and the editorial team. I sincerely thank Dr. DK Sahu for his personal efforts in this direction. I am sure he will continue to lend the support to our Journal. I also feel, as outgoing Chief Editor, that the quality of pharmacology research is diminishing in India. The reasons may be political or inadequate facilities in the educational institutes, or may be animal right issues. It is time that the Society steps in and does some soul-searching to discover the reasons for the decrease in good-quality pharmacology research. Pharmacology as a science has an immense role to play in the discovery of new drugs in future within India. We need liberal laws to encourage research that will eventually help in finding new drugs for many neglected diseases. Thank you for providing me an opportunity to work with this Journal. I have learnt a lot academically and also on human and professional fronts, some the hard way and some the nice way. I thank all Executive members of the Society for giving me an opportunity to serve this great Journal. I wish the Journal a great success under the leadership of the now Chief Editor. Good Bye

A Theft‐Resistant Adjustable Security Box for Digital Cameras

Abstract: Remote camera traps are becoming an increasingly popular, affordable, and valuable tool for wildlife research. However, theft and vandalism of these camera systems can result in substantial financial loss and loss of valuable data. We developed an adjustable steel camera security box to protect our Cuddeback® (Non Typical, Inc., Park Falls, WI) digital scouting cameras. Our cameras were deployed for 160 days and experienced no theft or vandalism during that time. Our armored camera box successfully protected our equipment and data, can be sized to accommodate any brand of camera, and can be used in a variety of field situations.

Growth codes

Sensor networks are especially useful in catastrophic or emergency scenarios such as floods, fires, terrorist attacks or earthquakes where human participation may be too dangerous. However, such disaster scenarios pose an interesting design challenge since the sensor nodes used to collect and communicate data may themselves fail suddenly and unpredictably, resulting in the loss of valuable data. Furthermore, because these networks are often expected to be deployed in response to a disaster, or because of sudden configuration changes due to failure, these networks are often expected to operate in a "zero-configuration" paradigm, where data collection and transmission must be initiated immediately, before the nodes have a chance to assess the current network topology. In this paper, we design and analyze techniques to increase "persistence" of sensed data, so that data is more likely to reach a data sink, even as network nodes fail. This is done by replicating data compactly at neighboring nodes using novel "Growth Codes" that increase in efficiency as data accumulates at the sink. We show that Growth Codes preserve more data in the presence of node failures than previously proposed erasure resilient techniques.

Neural network-based prediction of missing key features in vertical GRF–time recordings

Ground reaction force (GRF) time recordings are frequently corrupted due to faulty stepping on a force platform during gait, and this results in the loss of valuable data and the need for additional data acquisition. This paper proposes a new approach based on artificial neural networks for the estimation of lost key gait parameters using the available features of an affected GRF–time trace. GRF–time plots were recorded using a force platform during normal walking of 14 young and 13 elderly individuals. Back-propagation neural network models were developed using features extracted from 466 vertical GRF–time characteristics that would be unaffected as inputs, and the likely affected gait features (e.g. stance time (ST), push-off force, (Fmax2) and push-off time (Tmax2)) as output. Performance of the models in predicting ST, Fmax2 and Tmax2 were tested using data from 30 new gait trials. The neural network model predicted the missing STs with 96.5% (±2.6%) accuracy (r > 0.9). Accuracy of the ST prediction deteriorated when push-off force/time data were unavailable for the prediction model. Fmax2 and its time were reconstructed with an accuracy of 95.7% (±2.8%) and 97.6% (±1.7%) respectively. These results suggest that an artificial neural network may be applied to estimate missing ST, Fmax2 or Tmax2 information using features from an affected vertical GRF–time plot, and the method shows good promise for reconstructing gait forces from a corrupted force–time trace.

The Case For The Inexperienced User

Most citizen satisfaction surveys use filter questions to limit satisfaction responses to only those citizens with direct, personal experience with the service. The resulting small response set is inherently problematic, but no more so than the loss of valuable data on the expectations of service satisfaction from citizens who do not use the service. Borrowing a theoretical framework from the consumer satisfaction literature, this article identifies differences in the mean service satisfaction between inexperienced and experienced users of four common local government services (police, fire, emergency medical, and parks). The authors conclude that both experienced and inexperienced users have important information about service quality for local policy makers, especially when the satisfaction results can be disaggregated by neighborhood. Recommendations for modifying common citizen survey practice follow from the findings.

The Relation of Heredity to Cancer: With Regard to the Communication of President C. C. Little of the University of Michigan

I think that the unprofessional and contemptuous note which characterizes President Little's communication should properly be passed here with mere recognition. Studies in the relation of heredity to cancer susceptibility and to cancer resistance are made very difficult by several things. 1. Cancer is a disease of middle and late life and many potentially cancerous individuals may die of other causes before the occurrence of their potential cancers. 2. Irritations or lesions, gross or microscopic, seem to be instrumental in the causation of cancer. Apparently some such irritation has usually been added to hereditary susceptibility when cancer occurs. Individuals, therefore, susceptible by heredity, may never encounter the type of irritation or lesion fitted to induce cancer in the locally susceptible tissues. This could account for the low incidence of breast cancer in males. The conservative estimate of breast cancer occurrence in human males is about 1 per cent. Breast cancer susceptibility therefore cannot be sex limited as President Little thinks it to be. A more logical explanation would seem to be that male breast tissues are less subject to lesions than are those of females. Hence the less frequent occurrence of breast malignancy in males. The fact that susceptible tissues may never encounter the type of lesion to induce cancer may cause loss of valuable data. I have found that my males with breast cancer transmit it just as surely as do the females with breast cancer.