Sensor networks are currently an active research area mainly due to the potential of their applications. In this paper we investigate the use of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) for air pollution monitoring in Mauritius. With the fast growing industrial activities on the island, the problem of air pollution is becoming a major concern for the health of the population. We proposed an innovative system named Wireless Sensor Network Air Pollution Monitoring System (WAPMS) to monitor air pollution in Mauritius through the use of wireless sensors deployed in huge numbers around the island. The proposed system makes use of an Air Quality Index (AQI) which is presently not available in Mauritius. In order to improve the efficiency of WAPMS, we have designed and implemented a new data aggregation algorithm named Recursive Converging Quartiles (RCQ). The algorithm is used to merge data to eliminate duplicates, filter out invalid readings and summarise them into a simpler form which significantly reduce the amount of data to be transmitted to the sink and thus saving energy. For better power management we used a hierarchical routing protocol in WAPMS and caused the motes to sleep during idle time.Comment: 15 Pages, IJWM

With the widespread adoption of mobile technologies, mobile-assisted learning is gaining lots of momentum. This new learning paradigm promotes education across different contexts, which is a key factor that contributes to enhancing learning irrespective of the conditions and location of the learner. Therefore, it creates an authentic learning setting whereby students can make meaningful connections to the real world while learning takes place. Previous research works in the field of mobile learning showed that improper design of learning elements is still present in mobile systems and consequently results in poor dynamic content adaptation. Some attempts to adapt learning contents with appropriate instructional design principles are conducted, but with moderate exploitation of smart technological assets in mobile learning systems and limited pedagogical reflections and cognitive factors. In this paper, a learning efficiency model chart is derived using important learning factors that can be considered to enhance mobile learning experiences. Some popular learning theories are analysed and compared with the proposed learning efficiency model chart. This investigation is considered to significantly reduce complexities that exist in mobile learning platforms and promote an enhanced mobile learning experience.

In monitoring systems, multiple sensor nodes can detect a single target of interest simultaneously and the data collected are usually highly correlated and redundant. If each node sends data to the base station, energy will be wasted and thus the network energy will be depleted quickly. Data aggregation is an important paradigm for compressing data so that the energy of the network is spent efficiently. In this paper, a novel data aggregation algorithm called Redundancy Elimination for Accurate Data Aggregation (READA) has been proposed. By exploiting the range of spatial correlations of data in the network, READA applies a grouping and compression mechanism to remove duplicate data in the aggregated set of data to be sent to the base station without largely losing the accuracy of the final aggregated data. One peculiarity of READA is that it uses a prediction model derived from cached values to confirm whether any outlier is actually an event which has occurred. From the various simulations conducted, it was observed that in READA the accuracy of data has been highly preserved taking into consideration the energy dissipated for aggregating the dat

Pervasive mobile healthcare system has the potential to improve healthcare and the quality of life of chronic disease patients through continuous monitoring. Recently, many articles related to pervasive mobile healthcare system focusing on health monitoring using wireless technologies have been published. The main aim of this review is to evaluate the state-of-the-art pervasive mobile healthcare systems to identify major technical requirements and design challenges associated with the realization of a pervasive mobile healthcare system. A systematic literature review was conducted over IEEE Xplore Digital Library to evaluate 20 pervasive mobile healthcare systems out of 683 articles from 2011 to 2016. The classification of the pervasive mobile healthcare systems and other important factors are discussed. Potential opportunities and challenges are pointed out for the further deployment of effective pervasive mobile healthcare systems. This article helps researchers in health informatics to have a holistic view toward understanding pervasive mobile healthcare systems and points out new technological trends and design challenges that researchers have to consider when designing such systems for better adoption, usability, and seamless integration.

Purpose This work shows the results of a systematic literature review on biomedical text mining. The purpose of this study is to identify the different text mining approaches used in different application areas of the biomedical domain, the common tools used and the challenges of biomedical text mining as compared to generic text mining algorithms. This study will be of value to biomedical researchers by allowing them to correlate text mining approaches to specific biomedical application areas. Implications for future research are also discussed. Design/methodology/approach The review was conducted following the principles of the Kitchenham method. A number of research questions were first formulated, followed by the definition of the search strategy. The papers were then selected based on a list of assessment criteria. Each of the papers were analyzed and information relevant to the research questions were extracted. Findings It was found that researchers have mostly harnessed data sources such as electronic health records, biomedical literature, social media and health-related forums. The most common text mining technique was natural language processing using tools such as MetaMap and Unstructured Information Management Architecture, alongside the use of medical terminologies such as Unified Medical Language System. The main application area was the detection of adverse drug events. Challenges identified included the need to deal with huge amounts of text, the heterogeneity of the different data sources, the duality of meaning of words in biomedical text and the amount of noise introduced mainly from social media and health-related forums. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, other reviews in this area have focused on either specific techniques, specific application areas or specific data sources. The results of this review will help researchers to correlate most relevant and recent advances in text mining approaches to specific biomedical application areas by providing an up-to-date and holistic view of work done in this research area. The use of emerging text mining techniques has great potential to spur the development of innovative applications, thus considerably impacting on the advancement of biomedical research.

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