Integration of Autonomous Wireless Sensor Networks in Academic School Gardens

In this work, the combination of capabilities provided by Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) with parameter observation in a school garden is employed in order to provide an environment for school garden integration as a complementary educational activity in primary schools. Wireless transceivers with energy harvesting capabilities are employed in order to provide autonomous system operation, combined with an ad-hoc implemented application called MySchoolGardenApp. The system enables direct parameter observation, data analysis and processing capabilities, which can be employed by students in a cloud based platform. Providing remote data access allows the adaptation of content to specific classroom/homework needs. The proposed monitoring WSN has been deployed in an orchard located in the schoolyard of a primary school, which has been built with EnOcean’s energy harvesting modules. For the assessment of the wireless link quality and the deployment of the modules, especially the central module which needs to receive directly the signals of all the sensor modules, simulation results obtained by an in-house developed 3D Ray Launching deterministic method have been used. Preliminary trials with MySchoolGardenApp have been performed, showing the feasibility of the proposed platform as an educational resource in schools

Wireless System Integration to Enable Smart Cities and Smart Regions

The advent of Smart Cities and its extension to Smart Regions requires seamless interaction of systems as well as with users, in a context where a great deal of devices exhibit potential network connectivity. Wireless systems are key elements in order to enable high interactivity, with multiple different systems operating simultaneously within a given region. Multiple network coordination and analysis is compulsory in order to enhance coverage/capcity relations, whilst achieving required bit rates and Quality of Service demands. In this work, the analysis of multiple wireless systems, based on the combination of WLAN/WBAN/NFC will be analyzed in the context of Smart Cities, examining inter-operation performance and overall deployment considerations

Carbonaceous filler type and content dependence of the physical-chemical and electromechanical properties of thermoplastic elastomer polymer composites

Graphene, carbon nanotubes (CNT), and carbon nanofibers (CNF) are the most studied nanocarbonaceous fillers for polymer-based composite fabrication due to their excellent overall properties. The combination of thermoplastic elastomers with excellent mechanical properties (e.g., styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene (SEBS)) and conductive nanofillers such as those mentioned previously opens the way to the preparation of multifunctional materials for large-strain (up to 10% or even above) sensor applications. This work reports on the influence of different nanofillers (CNT, CNF, and graphene) on the properties of a SEBS matrix. It is shown that the overall properties of the composites depend on filler type and content, with special influence on the electrical properties. CNT/SEBS composites presented a percolation threshold near 1 wt.% filler content, whereas CNF and graphene-based composites showed a percolation threshold above 5 wt.%. Maximum strain remained similar for most filler types and contents, except for the largest filler contents (1 wt.% or more) in graphene (G)/SEBS composites, showing a reduction from 600% for SEBS to 150% for 5G/SEBS. Electromechanical properties of CNT/SEBS composite for strains up to 10% showed a gauge factor (GF) varying from 2 to 2.5 for different applied strains. The electrical conductivity of the G and CNF composites at up to 5 wt.% filler content was not suitable for the development of piezoresistive sensing materials. We performed thermal ageing at 120 °C for 1, 24, and 72 h for SEBS and its composites with 5 wt.% nanofiller content in order to evaluate the stability of the material properties for high-temperature applications. The mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties of SEBS and the composites were identical to those of pristine composites, but the electrical conductivity decreased by near one order of magnitude and the GF decreased to values between 0.5 and 1 in aged CNT/SEBS composites. Thus, the materials can still be used as large-deformation sensors, but the reduction of both electrical and electromechanical response has to be considered.ThisworkwassupportedbythePortugueseFoundationforScienceandTechnology(FCT)intheframework of the StrategicFunding UID/FIS/04650/2013 and UID/CTM/50025/2013. Financial support was also provided by ERDF funds through the Portuguese Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization-COMPETE 2020, and national funds through FCT, under projects PTDC/EEI-SII/5582/2014 and PTDC/CTM-ENE/5387/2014. PC thanks to FCT by financial support for the SFRH/BPD/110914/2015 grant. Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project MAT2016-76039-C4-3-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) (including the FEDER financial support) and from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK (ACTIMAT project) and HAZITEK programare also acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The IS2 Element Improves Transcription Efficiency of Integration-Deficient Lentiviral Vector Episomes

Integration-defective lentiviral vectors (IDLVs) have become an important alternative tool for gene therapy applications and basic research. Unfortunately, IDLVs show lower transgene expression as compared to their integrating counterparts. In this study, we aimed to improve the expression levels of IDLVs by inserting the IS2 element, which harbors SARs and HS4 sequences, into their LTRs (SE-IS2-IDLVs). Contrary to our expectations, the presence of the IS2 element did not abrogate epigenetic silencing by histone deacetylases. In addition, the IS2 element reduced episome levels in IDLV-transduced cells. Interestingly, despite these negative effects, SE-IS2-IDLVs outperformed SE-IDLVs in terms of percentage and expression levels of the transgene in several cell lines, including neurons, neuronal progenitor cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells. We estimated that the IS2 element enhances the transcriptional activity of IDLV LTR circles 6- to 7-fold. The final effect the IS2 element in IDLVs will greatly depend on the target cell and the balance between the negative versus the positive effects of the IS2 element in each cell type. The better performance of SE-IS2-IDLVs was not due to improved stability or differences in the proportions of 1-LTR versus 2-LTR circles but probably to a re-positioning of IS2-episomes into transcriptionally active regions. Keywords: IDLV, HS4 insulator, gene therapy, scaffold or matrix attachment regions, lentiviral vecto