A Coverage-Aware Unequal Clustering Protocol with Load Separation for Ambient Assisted Living Based on Wireless Sensor Networks

Ambient Assisted Living(AAL) is becoming an important research field. Many technologies have emerged related with pervasive computing vision, which can give support for AAL. One of the most reliable approaches is based on wireless sensor networks(WSNs). In this paper, we propose a coverage-aware unequal clustering protocol with load separation(CUCPLS) for data gathering of AAL applications based on WSNs. Firstly, the coverage overlap factor for nodes is introduced that accounts for the degree of target nodes covered. In addition, to balance the intra-cluster and inter-cluster energy consumptions, different competition radiuses of CHs are computed theoretically in different rings, and smaller clusters are formed near the sink. Moreover, two CHs are selected in each cluster for load separation to alleviate the substantial energy consumption difference between a single CH and its member nodes. Furthermore, a backoff waiting time is adopted during the selection of the two CHs to reduce the number of control messages employed. Simulation results demonstrate that the CUCPLS not only can achieve better coverage performance, but also balance the energy consumption of a network and prolong network lifetime.

Reviving and characterizing three species of dinoflagellate cysts dormant for about 70 years in the East China Sea:Biecheleria brevisulcata,Biecheleriopsis adriatica,and Scrippsiella donghaienis

Many marine dinoflagellates can form resting cysts as a part of their life cycle,and the cysts could be buried in sediment and remained viable for as long as over 150 years.However,only a very limited number of cyst species have been revived from long-buried sediments and investigated in regard to a possible shift in the intra-specific genetic structure of a species detected from the historical record at a particular location.Here,we report a successful germination of three species of resting cysts that were sampled from the depth dated back to 1941±18 AD from a 44-cm sediment core from the East China Sea.Seven isolates were established from germination of single cyst isolation or multi-cyst germinations.LSU rRNA gene or ITS sequences of these strains were obtained,then they were identified to be Biecheleria brevisulcata(five strains),Biecheleriopsis adriatica(one strain),and Scrippsiella donghaienis(one strain)in terms of morphology and rRNA gene sequence.Biecheleria brevisulcata strain 1,Bps.adriatica strain 21,and S.donghaienis strain 23 were examined in detail with light microscope(LM)and scanning electron microscope(SEM),and analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)for their pigment compositions,and genetic diversity.We also confirmed the presence of a resting cyst of Bps.adriatica in the field for the first time.The LSU rRNA gene-based genetic distances of Bps.adriatica from that obtained from water sample,single-cell PCR sequencing for the cysts isolated from the surface sediment of the same sea area and that reported from other regions during the recent years,and ITS-based genetic distances of S.donghaienis from that obtained from cysts isolated from the surface sediment of the same location and that reported from other regions during the recent years indicated that the intra-specific genetic structure of each species in the sampling area may have shifted during the last 70 years.Our work confirms that B.brevisulcata,Bps.adriatica,and S.donghaienis,all described as new species around 2010,have inhabited the East China Sea for about 70 years.The present work reports for the first time the revival of dinoflagellate resting cysts long-buried in the coastal sediments of China,which facilitates further study on the historical occurrences of other harmful dinoflagellates and their relevance to the regional climate and environmental changes in China.

Synergistic realization of high efficiency solar desalination and carbon dioxide reduction

Methods of seawater desalination and carbon dioxide(CO_(2))reduction using clean and renewable energy have attracted much attention withing the reducing fresh water and growing CO_(2)concentration.Here,we propose a synergistic method for solardriven desalination and CO_(2)reduction at the surface of sea using a three-dimensional titanium oxide-gold semiconductor/metal(TiO_(2)-Au NW/NPs(NW:nanowire,NP:nanoparticle))photothermal conversion membrane that can efficiently harvest a broad solar spectrum(200 to 2500 nm,94%)to undertake the conversion of light-to-heat and light-to-electricity.The TiO_(2)-Au NW/NPs membrane demonstrated a high solar vapor conversion efficiency of~90%,CO_(2)reduction yields of 0.066μmol·cm^(-2)CH_(4)and 0.015μmol·cm^(-2)CO within 5 h.In addition,the membrane efficiently evaporated seawater with different salt concentrations to produce drinking water which meet World Health Organization(WHO)and US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)standards.This work provides an integrated solution for solar desalination and CO_(2)reduction at the surface of sea to reduce the harm to marine life caused by ocean acidification while producing pure water.

Vitamin B_(12)-auxotrophy in dinoflagellates caused by incomplete or absent cobalamin-independent methionine synthase genes(metE)

Dinoflagellates are responsible for most marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) and play vital roles in many ocean processes.More than 90% of dinoflagellates are vitamin B_(12) auxotrophs and that B_(12) availability can control dinoflagellate HABs,yet the genetic basis of B_(12) auxotrophy in dinoflagellates in the framework of the ecology of dinoflagellates and particularly HABs,which was the objective of this work.Here,we investigated the presence,phylogeny,and transcription of two methionine synthase genes(B_(12)-dependent metH and B_(12)-independent metE)via searching and assembling transcripts and genes from transcriptomic and genomic databases,cloning 38 cDNA isoforms of the two genes from 14 strains of dinoflagellates,measuring the expression at different scenarios of B_(12),and comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of more than 100 organisms.We found that 1)metH was present in all 58 dinoflagellates accessible and metE was present in 40 of 58 species,2)all metE genes lacked N-terminal domains,3)metE of dinoflagellates were phylogenetically distinct from other known metE genes,and 4)expression of metH in dinoflagellates was responsive to exogenous B_(12) levels while expression of metE was not responding as that of genuine metE genes.We conclude that most,hypothetically all,dinoflagellates have either non-functional metE genes lacking N-terminal domain for most species,or do not possess metE for other species,which provides the genetic basis for the widespread nature of B_(12) auxotrophy in dinoflagellates.The work elucidated a fundamental aspect of the nutritional ecology of dinoflagellates.