This paper proposes an improved Traffic Class Prioritization based Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (TCP-CSMA/CA) scheme for prioritized channel access to heterogenous-natured Bio-Medical Sensor Nodes (BMSNs) for IEEE 802.15.4 Medium Access Control (MAC) in intra-Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). The main advantage of the scheme is to provide prioritized channel access to heterogeneous-natured BMSNs of different traffic classes with reduced packet delivery delay, packet loss, and energy consumption, and improved throughput and packet delivery ratio (PDR). The prioritized channel access is achieved by assigning a distinct, minimized and prioritized backoff period range to each traffic class in every backoff during contention. In TCP-CSMA/CA, the BMSNs are distributed among four traffic classes based on the existing patient’s data classification. The Backoff Exponent (BE) starts from 1 to remove the repetition of the backoff period range in the third, fourth, and fifth backoffs. Five moderately designed backoff period ranges are proposed to assign a distinct, minimized, and prioritized backoff period range to each traffic class in every backoff during contention. A comprehensive verification using NS-2 was carried out to determine the performance of the TCP-CSMA/CA in terms of packet delivery delay, throughput, PDR, packet loss ratio (PLR) and energy consumption. The results prove that the proposed TCP-CSMA/CA scheme performs better than the IEEE 802.15.4 based PLA-MAC, eMC-MAC, and PG-MAC as it achieves a 47% decrease in the packet delivery delay and a 63% increase in the PDR.

The major problem computer network users face concerning data – whether in storage, in transit, or being processed - is unauthorized access. This unauthorized access typically leads to the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. Consequently, it is essential to implement an accurate Intrusion Detection System (IDS) for every information system. Many researchers have proposed machine learning and deep learning models, such as autoencoders, to enhance existing IDS. However, the accuracy of these models remains a significant research challenge. This paper proposes a Correlation-Based Feature Selection and Autoencoder (CFS-AE) to enhance detection accuracy and reduce the false alarms associated with the current anomaly-based IDS. The first step involves feature selection for the NSL-KDD and CIC-IDS2017 datasets which are used to train and test our model. Subsequently, an autoencoder is employed as a classifier to categorize data traffic into attack and normal categories. The results from our experimental study revealed an accuracy of 94.32% and 97.71% for the NSL-KDD and CIC-IDS2017 datasets, respectively. These results demonstrate improved performance over existing IDS systems.

This paper proposes an emergency Traffic Adaptive MAC (eTA-MAC) protocol for WBANs based on Prioritization. The main advantage of the protocol is to provide traffic ranking through a Traffic Class Prioritization-based slotted-Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance (TCP-CSMA/CA) scheme. The emergency traffic is handled through Emergency Traffic Class Provisioning-based slotted-CSMA/CA (ETCP-CSMA/CA) scheme. The emergency-based traffic adaptivity is provided through Emergency-based Traffic Adaptive slotted-CSMA/CA (ETA-CSMA/CA) scheme. The TCP-CSMA/CA scheme assigns a distinct, minimized and prioritized backoff period range to each traffic class in every backoff during channel access in Contention Access Period (CAP). The ETCP-CSMA/CA scheme delivers the sporadic emergency traffic that occurs at a single or multiple BMSN(s) instantaneously, with minimum delay and packet loss. It does this while being aware of normal traffic in the CAP. Then, the ETA-CSMA/CA scheme creates a balance between throughput and energy in the sporadic emergency situation with energy preservation of normal traffic BMSNs. The proposed protocol is evaluated using NS-2 simulator. The results indicate that the proposed protocol is better than the existing Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols by 86% decrease in packet delivery delay, 61% increase in throughput, and a 76% decrease in energy consumption.

Recently, MANET (Mobile Ad Hoc Network) researchers have shown increased interest in using mobile robot technology for their testbed platforms. Despite the existence of review papers that discuss the usage of mobile robot technology pertaining to a MANET testbed from the perspective of a MANET researcher, said findings are rather lacklustre as it is not the sole purpose of said reviews. Hence, this review aims to comprehensively discuss the technical aspects that were facilitated with mobile robot technology for previous undertaken research. Only selected MANET testbed relevant to this review are compiled, namely Mobile Emulab, MiNT-m, MiNT-2, Proteus, w-ilab.t, ARUM, Sensei-UU, Kansei, CONET-IT, CONE, Roomba MADNet, Explorebots, SCORPION, MOTEL, iRobotSense, IoT-Lab, and NITOS. The discussions in this article are divided into three parts, namely hardware, software as well as mobile robot positioning and localization. The technical content of this review is expected to be a source of reference for other MANET researchers who are interested to use mobile robots for real mobility in their MANET testbeds.

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), an efficient clustering technique is critical in optimizing the energy level of networked sensors and prolonging the network lifetime. While the traditional bee colony optimization technique has been widely used as a clustering technique in WSN, it mostly suffers from energy efficiency and network performance. This study proposes a Bee Colony Optimization that synergistically combines K-mean algorithms (referred to as K-BCO) for efficient clustering in heterogeneous sensor networks. This is to develop a robust and efficient clustering algorithm that addresses the challenges of energy consumption and network performance in WSNs. The K-BCO algorithm outperformed comparative clustering algorithms such as H-LEACH, DBCP, and ABC-ACO in average error rate (AER), average data delivery rate (ADDR), and average energy consumption (AEC) for transmitting data packets from sensors to cluster heads. The K-BCO outperformed other algorithms in terms of ADDR at 95.00% against H-LEACH (75.86%), DBCP (72.07%) and ABC-ACO (90.08%). The findings indicate that the K-BCO not only optimizes energy consumption but also guarantees more stable and robust solutions, thereby extending the network lifetime of WSNs. Thus, K-BCO is recommended to practitioners in wireless sensor networks as it paves the way for more efficient and sustainable wireless communication.

Generally, treatment default of diseases by patients is regarded as the biggest threat to favourable disease treatment outcomes. It is seen as the reason for the resurgence of infectious diseases including tuberculosis in some developing countries. Sadly, its occurrence in chronic disease management is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Many reasons have been adduced for this phenomenon. Exploration of treatment default using biographic and behavioral metrics collected from patients and healthcare providers remains a challenge. The focus on contextual nonbiomedical measurements using a supervised machine learning modeling technique is aimed at creating an understanding of the reasons why treatment default occurs, including identifying important contextual parameters that contribute to treatment default. The predicted accuracy scores of four supervised machine learning algorithms, namely, gradient boosting, logistic regression, random forest, and support vector machine were 0.87, 0.90, 0.81, and 0.77, respectively. Additionally, performance indicators such as the positive predicted value score for the four models ranged between 98.7298.87, and the negative predicted values of gradient boosting, logistic regression, random forest, and support vector machine were 50, 75, 22.22, and 50, respectively. Logistic regression appears to have the highest negative-predicted value score of 75, with the smallest error margin of 25 and the highest accuracy score of 0.90, and the random forest had the lowest negative predicted value score of 22.22, registering the highest error margin of 77.78. By performing a chi-square correlation statistic test of variable independence, this study suggests that age, presence of comorbidities, concern for long queuing/waiting time at treatment facilities, availability of qualified clinicians, and the patients nutritional state whether on a controlled diet or not are likely to affect their adherence to disease treatment and could result in an increased risk of default.