Usman Khan
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, Anthropology, Graduate Student
Polio is a very sensitive issue ruled medical research. WHO and other organisations, working for human health, are trying their level best to eradicate this menace of underdeveloped and developing countries including Pakistan. Keeping in... more
Polio is a very sensitive issue ruled medical research. WHO and other organisations, working for human health, are trying their level best to eradicate this menace of underdeveloped and developing countries including Pakistan. Keeping in view the current scenario of polio, the present study was conducted at Village Ghazi Baba, Bajaur Agency. In order to evaluate the community response towards polio vaccination, this qualitative type research through in depth interviews were conducted among the local people of the study area. This study revealed that the local masses are miss-guided by the local leaders by creating different miss beliefs in their mind such as; polio vaccines diminish reproductive capabilities of their children, making them disrespectful towards parents and elders, and it is a campaign to eradicate their population etc. It is urgently needed to educate these masses by arranging trainings, seminars and workshops for them. Mass awareness programs should be initiated on ...
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This preliminary study was conducted in order to know the perception of local communities of tehsil Timergara, district Dir (Lower), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan towards climate change during September through November 2014. The study was... more
This preliminary study was conducted in order to know the perception of local communities of tehsil Timergara, district Dir (Lower), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan towards climate change during September through November 2014. The study was aimed to identify the impacts of climatic changes on the lives of local people of the study area, based on the last few years or a decade or two. The study was conducted through administering a questionnaire to recruited subjects while semi-structured interviews were conducted from illiterate ones. The local communities’ perception was assessed both quantitatively as well as qualitatively. All recruited respondents were of the opinion that climate change has visible changes in their lives. All the respondents pointed out a reasonable risk of climate change affected their lives and still continue. Their response demonstrated that change in climate is having an equitable risk to lives of Dirvis. The recruited subjects was more inclined towards the ne...
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This ethnographic encounter explores the historical, cultural, and political erasure faced by the Pashtuns in the formal educational institutions of Pakistan. Besides this erasure, Pashtuns are seen as a suspect community in the... more
This ethnographic encounter explores the historical, cultural, and political
erasure faced by the Pashtuns in the formal educational institutions of
Pakistan. Besides this erasure, Pashtuns are seen as a suspect community in
the metanarrative and state discourse of Pakistan. This study aims to provide
an insight into ways that a group of Pashtuns resist the popular hegemonic
narrative of the state and provide an alternative narrative using spaces which
this study calls “informal spaces.” Qualitative research methods, including indepth
interviews, participant observation, and informal discussions are used
to collect data in the informal spaces that how the Pashtuns encounter the
assimilationist project of the state. Findings show that the Pashtuns are
stereotyped and suspected irrespective of their class, regional and tribal
affiliation. Their historical and political figures are erased in the formal
textbooks, and their language and cultural attire are synonymously and
interchangeably equated with the Taliban and terrorists in popular media.
Facing this marginalization and stigmatization in the metanarrative, a group
of the Pashtuns resist the popular image somewhat James Scott terms as
“resistance in disguise.” This study suggests that, for the nation-building
project, the state must follow an inclusive and democratic approach that
includes the historical, cultural, and political existence of the Pashtuns.
erasure faced by the Pashtuns in the formal educational institutions of
Pakistan. Besides this erasure, Pashtuns are seen as a suspect community in
the metanarrative and state discourse of Pakistan. This study aims to provide
an insight into ways that a group of Pashtuns resist the popular hegemonic
narrative of the state and provide an alternative narrative using spaces which
this study calls “informal spaces.” Qualitative research methods, including indepth
interviews, participant observation, and informal discussions are used
to collect data in the informal spaces that how the Pashtuns encounter the
assimilationist project of the state. Findings show that the Pashtuns are
stereotyped and suspected irrespective of their class, regional and tribal
affiliation. Their historical and political figures are erased in the formal
textbooks, and their language and cultural attire are synonymously and
interchangeably equated with the Taliban and terrorists in popular media.
Facing this marginalization and stigmatization in the metanarrative, a group
of the Pashtuns resist the popular image somewhat James Scott terms as
“resistance in disguise.” This study suggests that, for the nation-building
project, the state must follow an inclusive and democratic approach that
includes the historical, cultural, and political existence of the Pashtuns.
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Page 1. On connectivity, observability, and stability in distributed estimation ∗ Usman A. Khan, Soummya Kar, Ali Jadbabaie, José MF Moura AbstractWe introduce a new model of social learning and distributed estimation ...
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Research Interests: Distributed Algorithms, Iterative Methods, Information Filtering, Markov Processes, Kalman Filter, and 15 moreGaussian processes, Kalman Filtering, Inverse Problem, Implementation, Information Loss, Local Community, Error Processing, Bipartite Graph, Lower Bound, Gaussian Process, Large Scale, Dynamic System, Distributed Algorithm, Lyapunov equation, and Distributed Estimation
This paper identifies the main impediments to investment and industrial productivity in Punjab, which have led to a decline in growth. This is done by analyzing the impediments and constraints to productivity and investment using the... more
This paper identifies the main impediments to investment and industrial productivity in Punjab, which have led to a decline in growth. This is done by analyzing the impediments and constraints to productivity and investment using the World Bank’s 2007 Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) data at the level of Punjab’s seven main industrial zones. This is followed by an analysis of a pilot survey of 100 firms conducted in the Lahore district. Almost 71 percent of the firms surveyed declared electricity to be the most important constraint and macroeconomic stability was ranked as the second-most important constraint. An inadequate workforce, access to raw materials, and corruption were ranked third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
Research Interests: Industry and Constraint
The paper develops DILOC, a \emph{distributive}, \emph{iterative} algorithm that locates M sensors in $\mathbb{R}^m, m\geq 1$, with respect to a minimal number of m+1 anchors with known locations. The sensors exchange data with their... more
The paper develops DILOC, a \emph{distributive}, \emph{iterative} algorithm that locates M sensors in $\mathbb{R}^m, m\geq 1$, with respect to a minimal number of m+1 anchors with known locations. The sensors exchange data with their neighbors only; no centralized data processing or communication occurs, nor is there centralized knowledge about the sensors' locations. DILOC uses the barycentric coordinates of a sensor with respect to its neighbors that are computed using the Cayley-Menger determinants. These are the determinants of matrices of inter-sensor distances. We show convergence of DILOC by associating with it an absorbing Markov chain whose absorbing states are the anchors. We introduce a stochastic approximation version extending DILOC to random environments when the knowledge about the intercommunications among sensors and the inter-sensor distances are noisy, and the communication links among neighbors fail at random times. We show a.s. convergence of the modified DILOC and characterize the error between the final estimates and the true values of the sensors' locations. Numerical studies illustrate DILOC under a variety of deterministic and random operating conditions.
Research Interests: Signal Processing, Wireless Sensor Networks, Localization, Markov Processes, Distributed System, and 14 moreMultidisciplinary, Sensor networks, Sensor Network, Barycentric coordinates, Stochastic Approximation, Absorbing Markov Chain, Signal Detection, Random Environment, Data Processing, Sensor Array, Markov chain, Sensor Networks, Distributed Algorithm, and Iterative Algorithm
Abstract In this thesis, we develop the theory of High Dimensional Consensus (HDC), a general class of distributed algorithms in large-scale networks. HDC relies only on (i) local information,(ii) local communication, and (iii) low-order... more
Abstract In this thesis, we develop the theory of High Dimensional Consensus (HDC), a general class of distributed algorithms in large-scale networks. HDC relies only on (i) local information,(ii) local communication, and (iii) low-order computation, and, hence, is ideally ...
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An epidemic of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of non-traditional aetiology has been recently recognized by health authorities as a public health priority in Central America. Previous studies have identified strenuous manual work,... more
An epidemic of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of non-traditional aetiology has been recently recognized by health authorities as a public health priority in Central America. Previous studies have identified strenuous manual work, agricultural activities and residence at low altitude as potential risk factors; however, the aetiology remains unknown. Because individuals are frequently diagnosed with CKD in early adulthood, we measured biomarkers of kidney injury among adolescents in different regions of Nicaragua to assess whether kidney damage might be initiated during childhood. Participants include 200 adolescents aged 12-18 years with no prior work history from four different schools in Nicaragua. The location of the school served as a proxy for environmental exposures and geographic locations were selected to represent a range of factors that have been associated with CKD in adults (e.g. altitude, primary industry and CKD mortality rates). Questionnaires, urine dipsticks and kidney...
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It is often desirable in today's highly congested inter networks that the data rate be... more
It is often desirable in today's highly congested inter networks that the data rate be adaptively controlled in order to prevent congestion. Nowadays, streaming applications are finding their importance in applications like video conferencing. These applications are responsible for pumping larger amounts of data into a network, as they follow UDP (user datagram protocol); thus, a means that can adapt
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Page 1. Cooperation for aggregating complex electric power networks to ensure system observability Usman A. Khan, Student Member, IEEE, Marija D. Ilic, Fellow, IEEE, and José MF Moura, Fellow, IEEE Carnegie Mellon University ...
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Page 1. Modeling Future Cyber-Physical Energy Systems Marija D. Ilic, Fellow, IEEE, Le Xie, Student Member, IEEE, Usman A. Khan, Student Member, IEEE, and José MF Moura, Fellow, IEEE AbstractIn this paper a model ...
Research Interests: Power Systems, Data Mining, Signal Processing, Sensors, Model Identification, and 12 moreCyber Physical Systems, Quality of Service, Feedback, Energy System, Availability, Dynamic Loading, Physical Model, Energy Source, AGC In Interconnected Power System, Power System Simulation, Phasor Measurement Unit, and Electrical Network
ABSTRACT Phase shift ring down measurement approach (PS-CRDS) is used to develop a real time biosensor which can simultaneously track the quality factor Q and the resonant wavelength λr of microcavities as a function of the biodetection... more
ABSTRACT Phase shift ring down measurement approach (PS-CRDS) is used to develop a real time biosensor which can simultaneously track the quality factor Q and the resonant wavelength λr of microcavities as a function of the biodetection event. We have developed a mathematical model to predict the binding event with high accuracy by utilizing the information from these two physical parameters (Q and λr). Experiments are also conducted to validate the model. Hence, PS-CRDS biosensor in conjunction with the estimation model, will pave the way for highly sensitive measurements of biological entities/processes ranging from micron to nano scale.
Page 1. Spectroscopy and Materal Properties High Frequency Dielectric Measurements OfLiquids And Solids Usman Khan, MN Afsar Millimeter and Submillimeter Waves Laboratory, Dept. ofElectrical Engineering Tufts University ...
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An empirical study has been carried out to decide about the performance of various estimators used in unequal probability sampling without replacement and a sample of size 2. The Hansen-Hurwitz estimator and simple random sampling method... more
An empirical study has been carried out to decide about the performance of various estimators used in unequal probability sampling without replacement and a sample of size 2. The Hansen-Hurwitz estimator and simple random sampling method has also been compared in this study. Some suggestions have been given at the end.
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ABSTRACT In this paper, we introduce a distributed algorithm for single source shortest path problem for undirected graphs. In this problem, we find the shortest path from a given source node to other nodes in the graph. We start with... more
ABSTRACT In this paper, we introduce a distributed algorithm for single source shortest path problem for undirected graphs. In this problem, we find the shortest path from a given source node to other nodes in the graph. We start with undirected unweighted graphs in which the shortest path is a path with minimum number of edges. Following, we modify the algorithm to find shortest path for weighted graphs in which the shortest path is a path with minimum cost, i.e., sum of the edge weights. We examine the convergence time of the random algorithm for random Erdos-Renyi graphs as a random variable; based on that we can approximate the stop-time criteria of the algorithm for graphs with unknown topology. We claim that the stop-time criteria is related to the graph parameters such as number of nodes and graph diameter.
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... Vinayak Ramesh†, Usman Khan‡ and Marija D. Ilic§ ... Different commu-nication strategies among smart meters in an AMI network are studied - relevant smart meter readings are collected in a decentralized manner and then transmitted to... more
... Vinayak Ramesh†, Usman Khan‡ and Marija D. Ilic§ ... Different commu-nication strategies among smart meters in an AMI network are studied - relevant smart meter readings are collected in a decentralized manner and then transmitted to the substation. ...
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The dielectric properties of common household powders from 0.6 to 1.2 THz are presented in this paper. Terahertz Dispersive Fourier Transform Spectroscopy was used to yield the dielectric properties of powders as a continuous function of... more
The dielectric properties of common household powders from 0.6 to 1.2 THz are presented in this paper. Terahertz Dispersive Fourier Transform Spectroscopy was used to yield the dielectric properties of powders as a continuous function of frequency. Tests were conducted using a polarized interferometer and two cryogenically-cooled high frequency detectors. Dielectric spectroscopy was utilized to provide high-resolution and precise information
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Dielectric characterization of powders has become increasingly important since anthrax-laced mail packages were sent to prominent offices and since several hoax attacks using household materials suchas salt and flour occurred globally.... more
Dielectric characterization of powders has become increasingly important since anthrax-laced mail packages were sent to prominent offices and since several hoax attacks using household materials suchas salt and flour occurred globally. For security purposes, it has become ...
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... in Sensor Networks Usman A. Khan, Soummya Kar, and Jos ´e MF Moura Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ... For a matrix P, λi(P) is its ith eigenvalue and ρ(P) is its... more
... in Sensor Networks Usman A. Khan, Soummya Kar, and Jos ´e MF Moura Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ... For a matrix P, λi(P) is its ith eigenvalue and ρ(P) is its spectral radius, that is, ρ(P) = max i ...
ABSTRACT This paper studies distributed averaging of arbitrary vectors in the presence of network interference by casting an algebraic structure over the interference. While communicating locally with its neighbors for consensus, each... more
ABSTRACT This paper studies distributed averaging of arbitrary vectors in the presence of network interference by casting an algebraic structure over the interference. While communicating locally with its neighbors for consensus, each agent causes an additive interference, lying on a low-dimensional subspace, in other communication links. We consider a particular case when this interference subspace depends only on the inter-ferer, referred to as uniform outgoing interference. We show that consensus is possible in a low-dimensional subspace of the initial conditions whose dimension is complimentary to the largest interference subspace across all of the agents. In this context, we derive a global information alignment and a local pre-conditioning, followed by local consensus iterations to ensure subspace consensus. We further provide the conditions under which this subspace consensus recovers the exact average. The analytical results are illustrated graphically to describe the setup and the information alignment scheme.
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ABSTRACT Mn/Fe co-doped ZnO thin films are prepared by simple sol–gel and spin coating method. Five different sols with the change in concentration (1–5 wt%) of both Mn and Fe are synthesized. Molar ratio of Mn and Fe is kept constant,... more
ABSTRACT Mn/Fe co-doped ZnO thin films are prepared by simple sol–gel and spin coating method. Five different sols with the change in concentration (1–5 wt%) of both Mn and Fe are synthesized. Molar ratio of Mn and Fe is kept constant, i.e., 1:1. Sols are spun onto glass and copper substrates by spin coating method followed by the post magnetic field annealing at 300 °C for 1 h. Effect of Mn and Fe codoping on ferromagnetic properties of ZnO is reported in this paper. Structural and magnetic properties of as prepared and annealed samples are investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Scanning electron microscope is used to study the surface morphology of co-doped films. XRD results show incorporation of Mn and Fe in the host lattice upto a dopant concentration of 4 wt%. However, small crystallites of Mn and Fe2O3 are observed by increasing the dopant concentration to 5 wt%. VSM results indicate room temperature ferromagnetism in all samples without the presence of any secondary phases. Low value of shape anisotropy is observed in the case of Mn doped ZnO. However, no shape anisotropy is observed in the case of co-doped thin films. Moreover, Mn/Fe co-doped thin films show magnetic hysteresis equivalent to that of multilayered structure, indicating that such complex structures used in spintronic devices can be replaced by a single ZnO layer with codoping of Mn and Fe.
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... 2008. [12] Usman Khan, Soummya Kar, and José MF Mour, Distributed algorithms in sensor networks, in Handbook on sensor and array processing, Simon Haykin and KJ Ray Liu, Eds. Wily-Interscience, New York, NY, 2009, to appear, 33... more
... 2008. [12] Usman Khan, Soummya Kar, and José MF Mour, Distributed algorithms in sensor networks, in Handbook on sensor and array processing, Simon Haykin and KJ Ray Liu, Eds. Wily-Interscience, New York, NY, 2009, to appear, 33 pages. ...
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A novel intelligent approach into 3D freeform surface reconstruction from planar sketches is proposed. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network is employed to induce 3D freeform surfaces from planar freehand curves. Planar curves were... more
A novel intelligent approach into 3D freeform surface reconstruction from planar sketches is proposed. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network is employed to induce 3D freeform surfaces from planar freehand curves. Planar curves were used to represent the ...
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Interpersonal relationships are viewed as important contexts within which psychopathology emerges and persists or desists. Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans especially in families and... more
Interpersonal relationships are viewed as important contexts within which psychopathology emerges and persists or desists. Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans especially in families and lifelong friendships. The present study was aimed at investigating attachment styles in adult patients with epilepsy as compared to subjects with migraine and their potential correlates with a history of mood disorders. A consecutive sample of 219 adult outpatients with epilepsy (117) or migraine (102) was assessed with the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Patients with epilepsy and a lifetime history of mood disorders presented elevated scores for Need for approval (p<0.001) and Preoccupation with relationships (p<0.001). Age correlated with the Relationships as secondary (r=0.322; p<0.001) and Need for approval (r=0.217; p=0.019) subscales while age at onset correlated only with Relationships as secondary (r=0.225; p=0.015). Seizure-free ...
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The paper entitled " Socio-economic and psychological exploitation of Migrants in Middle East " focuses on mass migration which is not a new phenomenon in human history. The people migrated from one place to another due to many reasons,... more
The paper entitled " Socio-economic and psychological exploitation of Migrants in Middle East " focuses on mass migration which is not a new phenomenon in human history. The people migrated from one place to another due to many reasons, e.g. better life opportunities, prosperous, healthy lives with satisfying basic needs. This study focuses on issues and challenges faced by the emigrants in their destination countries, that's how the labor class is exploited and used by the bourgeoisie class for their own profits and benefits. It is a qualitative anthropological study, data collected through anthropological research methods with major emphasis on In-depth interviews, case studies and focus group discussions (FGDs). This study was conducted in the two villages Zulam and Shagokas in District Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Apart from the above the focus of this article is on the issues and exploitation of labour migrants, which they faced during the recruiting process and also the way they are exploited in the destination countries in the name of Kafala, Tanazol system etc.