Individualized music for dementia:Evolution and application of evidence-based protocol

The theory-based intervention of individualized music has been evaluated clinically and empirically leading to advancement and refinement of an evidence-based protocol, currently in its 5th edition. An expanded version of the protocol was written for professional health care providers with a consumer version tailored for family caregivers. The underlying mid-range theory is presented along with a seminal study that was followed by further research in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Norway, Japan and Taiwan. Key studies are summarized. Given its efficacy when implemented by research staff, studies have advanced to testing the intervention under real-life conditions when implemented and evaluated by trained nursing assistants in long-term care facilities and visiting family members. In addition, one study evaluated the implementation of music by family members in the home setting. Initial research focused on agitation as the dependent variable with subsequent research indicating a more holistic response such as positive affect, expressed satisfaction, and meaningful interaction with others. The article advances by describing on-line programs designed to train health care professionals in the assessment, implementation and evaluation of individualized music. In addition, Gerdner has written a story for apicture book intended for children and their families(in press). The story models principles of individualized music to elicit positive memories, reduce anxiety and agitation, and promote communication. The article concludes with implications for future research.

Location-Based Routing Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey

Recently, location-based routings in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are attracting a lot of interest in the research community, especially because of its scalability. In location-based routing, the network size is scalable without increasing the signalling overhead as routing decisions are inherently localized. Here, each node is aware of its position in the network through some positioning device like GPS and uses this information in the routing mechanism. In this paper, we first discuss the basics of WSNs including the architecture of the network, energy consumption for the components of a typical sensor node, and draw a detailed picture of classification of location-based routing protocols. Then, we present a systematic and comprehensive taxonomy of location-based routing protocols, mostly for sensor networks. All the schemes are subsequently discussed in depth. Finally, we conclude the paper with some insights on potential research directions for location-based routing in WSNs.

Protocol of Jidong Women Health Cohort Study: Rationale, Design, and Baseline Characteristics

Objective The Jidong Women Health Cohort Study is a prospective cohort study on female-specific characteristics and risks of chronic diseases in Chinese women and focuses on the potential association between menopause and risks of cardiovascular disease(CVD). Methods The study includes 4,179 female participants with an age of older than 18 years from Caofeidian district, Tangshan city, northern China. Baseline information on female-specific characteristics and potential cardiovascular risk factors was collected and all the participants underwent a physical examination with blood samples collected in 2013. To establish a better risk assessment tool of female CVD, updated information from questionnaire investigation, physical examinations and occurrence of outcome events will be collected through a longitudinal follow-up annually up to the year 2024. Results At baseline, Mean age of the participants was 42.3 ± 12.8 years. Reproduction occurred in 2,948 participants(70.5%), menopausal transition in 173(4.3%), and postmenopause in 1,058(25.3%). The incidence of arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes showed significant difference across different groups stratified by Stage of Reproductive Aging Workshop(STRAW) system(P < 0.05). Conclusion The Jidong Women Health Cohort Study will contribute to the scientific evidence on association between female-specific characteristics and cardiovascular risks, and will also be helpful to provide a new path for early detection and prevention of CVD.

Performance Comparison between Delay-Tolerant and Non-Delay-Tolerant Position-Based Routing Protocols in VANETs

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are a new emerging recently developed advanced technology that allows a wide group of applications related to providing more safety on roads, more convenience for passengers, self-driven vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS). There are various routing protocol categories used in VANETs, like unicast, multicast, and broadcast protocols. In unicast position-based protocols, the routing decisions are based on the geographic position of the vehicles. This does not require establishment or maintenance of routes but needs location services to determine the position of the destination. Non-delay-tolerant network protocols (non-DTN), also identified as minimum delay protocols, are aimed at minimizing the delivery time of the information. Delay-tolerant protocols (DTN) are used in a variety of operating environments, including those that are subject to failures and interruptions and those with high delay, such as VANETs. This paper discusses the comparison between non-DTN and DTN routing protocols belonging to the unicast delay-tolerant position-based category. The comparison was conducted using the NS2 simulator, and the simulations of three non-DTN routing protocols and three DTN routing protocols were recorded. Simulation results show that the DTN routing protocols outperform in delivery ratio compared to the non-DTN routing protocols, but they lead to more average delay due to buffering, the processing algorithm, and priority calculation. In conclusion, non-DTN protocols are more suitable for the city environment since the distance between nodes is relatively smaller and the variations in the network topology are slower than they are on highways. On the other hand, DTN protocols are more suitable for highways due to the buffering of packets until a clear route to destination is available.

Twin-Field Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Based on Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing Technology

Quantum key distribution(QKD) generates information-theoretical secret keys between two parties based on the physical laws of quantum mechanics. Following the advancement in quantum communication networks, it becomes feasible and economical to combine QKD with classical optical communication through the same fiber using dense wavelength division multiplexing(DWDM) technology. This study proposes a detailed scheme of TF-QKD protocol with DWDM technology and analyzes its performance, considering the influence of quantum channel number and adjacent quantum crosstalk on the secret key rates. The simulation results show that the scheme further increases the secret key rate of TF-QKD and its variants. Therefore, this scheme provides a method for improving the secret key rate for practical quantum networks.

A Novel Approach towards Cost Effective Region-Based Group Key Agreement Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks Using Elliptic Curve Cryptography

This paper addresses an interesting security problem in wireless ad hoc networks: the dynamic group key agreement key establishment. For secure group communication in an ad hoc network, a group key shared by all group members is required. This group key should be updated when there are membership changes (when the new member joins or current member leaves) in the group. In this paper, we propose a novel, secure, scalable and efficient region-based group key agreement protocol for ad hoc networks. This is implemented by a two-level structure and a new scheme of group key update. The idea is to divide the group into subgroups, each maintaining its subgroup keys using group elliptic curve diffie-hellman (GECDH) Protocol and links with other subgroups in a tree structure using tree-based group elliptic curve diffie-hellman (TGECDH) protocol. By introducing region-based approach, messages and key updates will be limited within subgroup and outer group;hence computation load is distributed to many hosts. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results show that this Region-based key agreement protocol performs well for the key establishment problem in ad hoc network in terms of memory cost, computation cost and communication cost.

Two-Tier Hierarchical Cluster Based Topology in Wireless Sensor Networks for Contention Based Protocol Suite

The 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) becomes more economical, feasible and sustainable for new generation communication environment, however their limited resource constraints such as limited power capacity make them difficult to detect and defend themselves against variety of attacks. The radio interference attacks that generate for WSN at the Physical Layer cannot be defeated through conventional security mechanisms proposed for 802.15.4 standards. The first section introduces the deployment model of two-tier hierarchical cluster topology architecture and investigates different jamming techniques proposed for WSN by creating specific classification of different types of jamming attacks. The following sections expose the mitigation techniques and possible built-in mechanisms to mitigate the link layer jamming attacks on proposed two-tier hierarchical clustered WSN topology. The two-tier hierarchical cluster based topology is investigated based on contention based protocol suite through OPNET simulation scenarios.

Mathematical Model with Energy and Clustering Energy Based Routing Protocols as Remediation to the Directional Source Aware Routing Protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, a routing protocol for wireless sensor network, baptized energy based protocol (EBP) is proposed. Wireless sensor network presents many challenges and constraints, and one of the major constraints is the routing problem. Due to the limited energy of sensor nodes, routing in this type of network shall perform efficiently to maximize the network lifetime. One of the proposed algorithms is the directional source aware routing protocol (DSAP) which, after simulation, showed a lot of limitations and drawbacks. The modified directional source aware routing protocol (MDSAP) was proposed by the authors of this paper to address some of the DSAP’s limitations but remains limited to a fixed topology, fixed source and stationary nodes. So EBP is proposed and operated under different scenarios and showed, after its simulation using TinyOS, many advantages in terms of load balancing, free looping, minimizing packet error rate and maximizing network lifetime.

A Novel Basis Splitting Eavesdropping Scheme in Quantum Cryptography Based on the BB84 Protocol

We propose a novel strategy numed basis-splitting scheme to split the intercepted quanta into several portions based on different bases, for eavesdropping in the process of quantum cryptography. Compared with intercept- resend strategy, our simulation results of the basis-splitting scheme under the non-ideal condition show a greater performance, especially with the increase of the length of shifted bits. Consequently our scheme can aid eaves- dropper to gather much more useful information.

Tree Based Energy and Congestion Aware Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have inherent and unique characteristics rather than traditional networks. They have many different constraints, such as computational power, storage capacity, energy supply and etc;of course the most important issue is their energy constraint. Energy aware routing protocol is very important in WSN, but routing protocol which only considers energy has not efficient performance. Therefore considering other parameters beside energy efficiency is crucial for protocols efficiency. Depending on sensor network application, different parameters can be considered for its protocols. Congestion management can affect routing protocol performance. Congestion occurrence in network nodes leads to increasing packet loss and energy consumption. Another parameter which affects routing protocol efficiency is providing fairness in nodes energy consumption. When fairness is not considered in routing process, network will be partitioned very soon and then the network performance will be decreased. In this paper a Tree based Energy and Congestion Aware Routing Protocol (TECARP) is proposed. The proposed protocol is an energy efficient routing protocol which tries to manage congestion and to provide fairness in network. Simulation results shown in this paper imply that the TECARP has achieved its goals.

Mean Territorial Energy Based Clustering Protocol for Randomly Deployed Wireless Sensor Networks

Clustering algorithms can balance the power consumption of energy constraint wireless sensor networks. This paper proposes a new clustering protocol called Mean Territorial Energy Based Clustering Protocol (MTEP) for randomly deployed wireless sensor networks. In MTEP, cluster heads are selected according to residual energy and location information of a node in current round as well as mean territorial energy and total base station distance of node’s corresponding cluster territory in previous round. Energy consumption in conventional protocols becomes unbalanced because of clusters having different lengths. Proposed MTEP protocol addresses this problem by setting thresholds on cluster length and node to cluster head distance for producing equal length clusters. Simulation results show that MTEP protocol extends network lifetime and stability with reduction in energy dissipation compared to other clustering protocols such as LEACH and REAC.

Development of an assessment and intervention protocol for postpartum hemorrhage in the mainland of China: an evidence-based method and Delphi consult

Objective: Postpartum hemorrhage(PPH) is a leading cause of maternal death. Although guidelines have been updated, those with detailed protocols are limited for nursing practice. This study aims at establishing an early assessment and intervention protocol as a toolkit for PPH for midwives and obstetrical nurses.Methods: Employing the evidence-based method, a systematic Internet search of guidelines was conducted and appraisal of literatures was conducted with AGREE system and Oxman-Guyatt Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire(OQAQ), according to which a protocol draft was therefore developed. Then, a two-round modified Delphi method was utilized to reach a consensus of the protocol built on best practices. Selection criteria for each intervention measure included consensus level with a threshold of 70%, mean of importance(M) >3.5, and coefficient of variation(CV) <0.25. Reliability of experts' opinion was calculated by positive coefficient and authoritative coefficient. Items without consistency were enlisted in the second-round consult. When all items met the selection criteria, the protocol would be finally formulated.Results: A 122-measure protocol was established, including prevention, assessment, and intervention of PPH. With a panel of 14 experts participated in the consult, the positivity coefficient was 0.93 and 1.00 for two rounds, respectively, and the authority coefficient was 0.88. After a two-round consult and revision of the draft, the final program was formulated, containing 5 first-level indexes and 14 second-level indexes with a total item of 120.Conclusions: The PPH protocol, based on high-quality evidences, was formulated with a two-round Delphi method, which can provide insight for midwives and obstetrical nurses to effectively deal with PPH.

Contention-Based Beaconless Real-Time Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents a novel real-time routing protocol, called CBRR, with less energy consumption for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). End-to-End real-time requirements are fulfilled with speed or delay constraint at each hop through integrating the contention and neighbor table mechanisms. More precisely, CBRR maintains a neighbor table via the contention mechanism being dependent on wireless broadcast instead of beacons. Comprehensive simulations show that CBRR can not only achieve higher performance in static networks, but also work well for dynamic networks.

Ad Hoc Network Hybrid Management Protocol Based on Genetic Classifiers

The purpose of this paper is to solve the problem of Ad Hoc network routing protocol using a Genetic Algorithm based approach. In particular, the greater reliability and efficiency, in term of duration of communication paths, due to the introduction of Genetic Classifier is demonstrated.

适用于智能家居的格上基于身份多方认证密钥协商协议

随着物联网应用的日益普及,物联网设备终端数量激增、种类多样、层次复杂,常处于不可控的环境之中,因此,确保数据传输过程的安全性和隐私性至关重要。对基于物联网架构的智能家居服务进行探讨得出,启用智能家居应用需涉及多个方面,如用户、云、物联网智能集线器(the IoT smart hub,ISH)和智能设备,它们需要多方验证以进行安全通信。由此提出了一种针对智能家居应用的格上基于身份多方认证密钥协商协议,并证明在eCK模型下是安全的。其安全性可以归约到环上带误差学习(ring learning with errors,RLWE)问题的困难性,能够抗量子计算攻击。所提协议由一个格上基于身份的加密方案转换而成,无须公钥证书,避免了部署一个庞大的公钥基础设施(public key infrastructure,PKI)。通过信息交互实现显式认证,且可具有一定的匿名性质,与其他相关的后量子格上多方认证密钥协商协议方案相比,该协议在安全性和执行效率方面更具优势。

ElasticDAG:弹性图式区块链

图式区块链采用有向无环图(directed acyclic graph,DAG)的并行拓扑结构,相较于基于串行拓扑结构的传统链式区块链,能够显著提升系统性能,已受到业界广泛关注.然而,现有图式区块链的共识协议与存储模型高度耦合,缺乏灵活性,难以适应多元化应用需求.同时,大部分图式区块链在共识协议层面上缺乏灵活性,局限于概率性共识协议,难以兼顾确认延迟和安全性,尤其对于延迟敏感型应用很不友好.为此,提出弹性图式区块链系统ElasticDAG,其核心思想是将存储模型和共识协议进行解耦,让两者并行、独立地运行,从而灵活适配多元化应用.针对提升系统吞吐量和活性的需求,为存储模型设计自适应区块确认策略和基于划分的确认区块排序算法;针对降低交易确认延迟的需求,设计低延迟DAG区块链混合共识协议.实验结果表明,ElasticDAG原型系统在广域网下的吞吐量高达11 Mb/s,并具有10秒级确认性能.与OHIE相比,Elastic DAG在实现同等吞吐量的情况下,可将确认延迟降低17倍;与Haootia相比,Elastic DAG在实现同等共识延迟的情况下,可将安全性从91.04%提升到99.999914%.

心肾综合征患者容量管理护理方案的构建

目的:构建心肾综合征患者容量管理护理方案,为预防和管理容量超负荷及相关并发症提供依据。方法:按照“6S”证据资源模型,系统检索国内外数据库中心肾综合征患者容量管理相关文献,检索时限为2015年1月至2024年1月,提取证据并进行内容分析,构建方案初稿;通过专家会议法对方案初稿进行论证和修改,形成最终方案。结果:共13名专家参加论证会议,其权威系数为0.84。形成的心肾综合征患者容量管理护理方案包括6个主题,分别为入院评估、病情监测与管理、容量动态评估与管理、营养支持、健康教育、出院随访,共有21条具体实施内容。结论:构建的方案较为全面地归纳了心肾综合征容量管理护理要点,具有一定的科学性和可行性,可为医护人员进行心肾综合征患者容量管理实践提供指导。

无人机自组网中基于优先级和发送概率的低时延MAC协议设计

媒体接入控制(MAC)协议是满足数据传输质量服务需求的一项关键技术,其性能的优劣直接决定了网络的整体运行效率。相较于其他经典MAC协议,基于统计优先级的多址接入(SPMA)协议采用了多优先级接入、信道检测和流量控制等机制,因此它能更好地满足无人机自组网的低时延、区分服务、大规模组网等重要需求。其中,不同优先级阈值是影响该协议性能的关键指标之一,而现有研究中的阈值设置策略会导致无人机自组网吞吐量波动较大的问题。除此之外,在大规模节点组网的情况下,由于特殊的发送机制,该协议面临数据包冲突加剧的问题。针对以上问题,本文提出了一种新的阈值设置方法和低优先级数据概率性接入信道的方法。在大规模节点网络高业务量的情况下,该改进策略根据新的阈值和周期性负载统计的比较结果决定是否延迟或者拒绝相关数据的接入。与此同时,将SPMA协议的多优先级接入机制和排队论基本原理相结合,通过计算设定发送概率对不同低优先级数据进行接入控制。仿真结果表明,所提方法能够使得无人机自组网的吞吐量保持稳定,并为不同类型业务的差异性服务质量(QoS)需求提供良好支持,提高不同优先级数据的首发传输成功率的同时不会带来较大的额外时延损耗,性能优于现有的SPMA协议。

一种适配多协议的水利物联网平台架构方案研究

本文聚焦智慧水利感知网建设,提出一种适配多协议的水利物联网平台架构方案,通过分层标准化架构和高度灵活的配置化、插件化设计,实现不同协议的差异化管理。详细阐述了方案的技术背景、设计细节及测试方案,并对方案性能进行了深入分析和评估。实验结果验证了本方案在兼容性、拓展性方面的较大优势,能够解决大规模终端设备接入带来的协议多样性问题,显著降低了水利物联网平台的运维成本。