Application of Optical Hydrogels in Environmental Sensing

The ever-increasing complexity of environmental pollutants urgently warrants the development of new detection technologies.Sensors based on the optical properties of hydrogels enabling fast and easy in situ detection are attracting increasing attention.In this paper,the data from 138 papers about different optical hydrogels(OHs)are extracted for statistical analysis.The detection performance and potential of various types of OHs in different environmental pollutant detection scenarios were evaluated and compared to those obtained using the standard detection method.Based on this analysis,the target recognition and sensing mechanisms of two main types of OHs are reviewed and discussed:photonic crystal hydrogels(PCHs)and fluorescent hydrogels(FHs).For PCHs,the environmental stimulus response,target receptors,inverse opal structures,and molecular imprinting techniques related to PCHs are reviewed and summarized.Furthermore,the different types of fluorophores(i.e.,compound probes,biomacromolecules,quantum dots,and luminescent microbes)of FHs are discussed.Finally,the potential academic research directions to address the challenges of applying and developing OHs in environmental sensing are proposed,including the fusion of various OHs,introduction of the latest technologies in various fields to the construction of OHs,and development of multifunctional sensor arrays.

Metaheuristic Clustering Protocol for Healthcare DataCollection in MobileWireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

Nowadays,healthcare applications necessitate maximum volume of medical data to be fed to help the physicians,academicians,pathologists,doctors and other healthcare professionals.Advancements in the domain of Wireless Sensor Networks(WSN)andMultimediaWireless Sensor Networks(MWSN)are tremendous.M-WMSN is an advanced form of conventional Wireless Sensor Networks(WSN)to networks that use multimedia devices.When compared with traditional WSN,the quantity of data transmission in M-WMSN is significantly high due to the presence of multimedia content.Hence,clustering techniques are deployed to achieve low amount of energy utilization.The current research work aims at introducing a new Density Based Clustering(DBC)technique to achieve energy efficiency inWMSN.The DBC technique is mainly employed for data collection in healthcare environment which primarily depends on three input parameters namely remaining energy level,distance,and node centrality.In addition,two static data collector points called Super Cluster Head(SCH)are placed,which collects the data from normal CHs and forwards it to the Base Station(BS)directly.SCH supports multi-hop data transmission that assists in effectively balancing the available energy.Adetailed simulation analysiswas conducted to showcase the superior performance of DBC technique and the results were examined under diverse aspects.The simulation outcomes concluded that the proposed DBC technique improved the network lifetime to a maximum of 16,500 rounds,which is significantly higher compared to existing methods.

Further Development of RWIS and Its New Potential Marketplaces in Latvia

In the past,development of road weather information system(RWIS)mainly reflected in gradual expansion of a network of environmental sensing stations(ESS)along the main roads in Latvia.Since a concept of common platform of Intelligent Transportation System(ITS)became mature and has a Pan European framework,RWIS as its integral part,got opportunities for more effective usage,but at the same time,new challenges of data accessibility and interoperability occurred.The presentation deals with ongoing projects and future vision about:how existing ESS stations should be built up to a multifunctional road,traffic and environment control points;how RWIS of different authorities and other data sources should be integrated;how to cover road network(including secondary routes)with low-cost sensors and provide proper decision-making tool for antiicing strategy and overall road management;how RWIS data can be used wider and processed for new marketplaces in Latvia.

Polymer-derived SiBCN ceramic pressure sensor with excellent sensing performance

Pressure measurement with excellent stability and long time durability is highly desired,especially at high temperature and harsh environments.A polymer-derived silicoboron carbonitride(SiBCN)ceramic pressure sensor with excellent stability,accuracy,and repeatability is designed based on the giant piezoresistivity of SiBCN ceramics.The SiBCN ceramic sensor was packaged in a stainless steel case and tested using half Wheatstone bridge with the uniaxial pressure up to 10 MPa.The SiBCN ceramic showed a remarkable piezoresistive effect with the gauge factor(K)as high as 5500.The output voltage of packed SiBCN ceramic sensor changes monotonically and smoothly versus external pressure.The as received SiBCN pressure sensor possesses features of short response time,excellent repeatability,stability,sensitivity,and accuracy.Taking the excellent high temperature thermo-mechanical properties of polymer-derived SiBCN ceramics(e.g.,high temperature stability,oxidation/corrosion resistance)into account,SiBCN ceramic sensor has significant potential for pressure measurement at high temperature and harsh environments.

FloodNet： Coupling Adaptive Sampling with Energy Aware Routing in a Flood Warning System

We describe the design of FloodNet, a flood warning system, which uses a grid-based flood predictor model developed by environmental experts to make flood predictions based on readings of water level collected by a set of sensor nodes. To optimize battery consumption, the reporting frequency of sensor nodes is required to be adaptive to local conditions as well as the flood predictor model. We therefore propose an energy aware routing protocol which allows sensor nodes to consume energy according to this need. This system is notable both for the adaptive sampling regime and the methodology adopted in the design of the adaptive behavior, which involved development of simulation tools and very close collaboration with environmental experts.