TARP: A traffic-aware restructuring protocol for Bluetooth radio networks

[[abstract]]Bluetooth is a low-cost and short-range wireless communication technology. The Bluetooth device randomly searches and connects with other devices using the inquiry/inquiry scan and the page/page scan operations, resulting an uncontrolled scatternet topology. The unpredictable scatternet topology usually raises the problem of redundant traffic and causes inefficient communications. A traffic-aware restructuring protocol (TARP) is presented for partially restructuring a piconet or a pair of two neighboring piconets by applying role switch mechanism. The proposed TARP mainly consists of intra-piconet and inter-piconet restructuring protocols. According to the recent routes and their traffic load information, the intra-piconet restructuring protocol adjusts piconet structure by selecting the proper device to play a master role of a piconet and applies takeover operation to rapidly restructure the piconet topology. The inter-piconet restructuring protocol exchanges devices of two neighboring piconets to reduce the route length and thus improve the power and bandwidth consumptions and the end-to-end transmission delay. Performance results reveal that the proposed restructuring protocols reduce path length of recent routes and save power consumption, thus significantly improve the performance for a given connected scatternet.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[conferencelocation]]Berlin, German

The heterojunction effects of TiO2 nanotubes fabricated by atomic layer deposition on photocarrier transportation direction

The heterojunction effects of TiO2 nanotubes on photoconductive characteristics were investigated. For ITO/TiO2/Si diodes, the photocurrent is controlled either by the TiO2/Si heterojunction (p-n junction) or the ITO-TiO2 heterojunction (Schottky contact). In the short circuit (approximately 0 V) condition, the TiO2-Si heterojunction dominates the photocarrier transportation direction due to its larger space-charge region and potential gradient. The detailed transition process of the photocarrier direction was investigated with a time-dependent photoresponse study. The results showed that the diode transitioned from TiO2-Si heterojunction-controlled to ITO-TiO2 heterojunction-controlled as we applied biases from approximately 0 to -1 V on the ITO electrode

Enhancing National Chi Nan University Campus’s Ecological Friendliness by Creating a Butterfly Habitat Using Reclaimed Water

The campus of National Chi Nan University (NCNU), Taiwan is about 150 hectares, and surrounded by dense valleys and forests that provides a habitat for many wild animals. In order to further enhance the ecological friendliness of the campus, the school implemented courses to create habitats for butterflies around the Sun Pond in the campus. The reclaimed water, originated from Water Treatment Factory, in the Sun Pond is used to irrigate the vegetation in the habitat to enhance the ecological conservation value. From 2019 to 2020, a number of 17 species with 670 individuals and food plants for butterflies was planted, and special instruction signs focusing on butterfly ecology were set up, so that staff and students can better understand the actions and goals in ecological conservation of green university. From 2020 to mid-2021, a total of 6 courses with 750 students (13% of the total number of students) visited the wonderful habit. The number of 22 species of butterflies was recorded in the habitat and this number was an average of 132 per 30 minutes, which shows that the construction of the habitats is successful. The creation of the butterfly habitat is in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 and SDG 15. The habitat has become a distinguished place for environmental education in the university. In the future, more community residents and tourists can experience this fantastic place and realize the efforts and achievements in ecological conservation succeeded by NCNU.Keyword: Butterfly Habitat, Reclaimed Water, Green University, Environmental Education, Community Resident

Ankle-Brachial Index Is a Powerful Predictor of Renal Outcome and Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Ankle-brachial index (ABI) is an accurate tool to diagnose peripheral arterial disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether ABI is also a good predictor of renal outcome and cardiovascular events in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We enrolled 436 patients with stage 3–5 CKD who had not been undergoing dialysis. Patients were stratified into two groups according to the ABI value with a cut point of 0.9. The composite renal outcome, including doubling of serum creatinine level and commencement of dialysis, and the incidence of cardiovascular events were compared between the two groups. After a median follow-up period of 13 months, the lower ABI group had a poorer composite renal outcome (OR = 2.719, P = 0.015) and a higher incidence of cardiovascular events (OR = 3.260, P = 0.001). Our findings illustrated that ABI is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular events and renal outcome in patients with CKD

New D- A- A- - Configured Small Molecule Donors Employing Conjugation to Red- shift the Absorption for Photovoltaics

Four new donor- acceptor- acceptor- (D- A- A- )- configured donors, CPNT, DCPNT, CPNBT, and DCPNBT equipped with naphtho[1,2- c:5,6- c- ²]bis([1,2,5]- thiadiazole) (NT) or naphtho[2,3- c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (NBT) as the central acceptor (A) unit bridging triarylamine donor (D) and cyano or dicyanovinylene acceptor (A- ), were synthesized and characterized. All molecules exhibit bathochromic absorption shifts as compared to those of the benzothiadiazole (BT)- based analogues owing to improved electron- withdrawing and quinoidal character of NT and NBT cores that lead to stronger intramolecular charge transfer. Favorable energy level alignments with C70, together with the good thermal stability and the antiparallel dimeric packing render CPNT and DCPNT suitable donors for vacuum- processed organic photovoltaics (OPV)s. OPVs based on DCPNT- :- C70 active layers displayed the best power conversion efficiency (PCE)=8.3%, along with an open circuit voltage of 0.92- V, a short circuit current of 14.5- mA- cm- 2 and a fill factor of 62% under 1 sun intensity, simulated AM1.5G illumination. Importantly, continuous light- soaking with AM 1.5G illumination has verified the durability of the devices based on CPNT:C70 and DCPNT- :- C70 as the active blends. The devices were examined for their feasibility of indoor light harvesting under 500 lux illumination by a TLD- 840 fluorescent lamp, giving PCE=12.8% and 12.6%, respectively. These results indicate that the NT- based D- A- A- - type donors CPNT and DCPNT are potential candidates for high- stability vacuum- processed OPVs suitable for indoor energy harvesting.New donor- acceptor- acceptor- (D- A- A- )- configured small molecule donors with extended Ï - conjugation for red- shifting the absorption were characterized. The OPV comprising the donor DCPNT bearing naphtho[1,2- c:5,6- c- ²]bis([1,2,5]- thiadiazole) (NT) as A, cyano as A- , and acceptor C70 displayed the power conversion efficiency of 8.3% under AM 1.5G and 12.8% under 500 lux of TLD- 840 lamp, indicating the potential for indoor photovoltaics application.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156487/3/asia202000635.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156487/2/asia202000635-sup-0001-misc_information.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156487/1/asia202000635_am.pd

Continuous Production of Lipase-Catalyzed Biodiesel in a Packed-Bed Reactor: Optimization and Enzyme Reuse Study

An optimal continuous production of biodiesel by methanolysis of soybean oil in a packed-bed reactor was developed using immobilized lipase (Novozym 435) as a catalyst in a tert-butanol solvent system. Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box-Behnken design were employed to evaluate the effects of reaction temperature, flow rate, and substrate molar ratio on the molar conversion of biodiesel. The results showed that flow rate and temperature have significant effects on the percentage of molar conversion. On the basis of ridge max analysis, the optimum conditions were as follows: flow rate 0.1 mL/min, temperature 52.1°C, and substrate molar ratio 1 : 4. The predicted and experimental values of molar conversion were 83.31 ± 2.07% and 82.81 ± .98%, respectively. Furthermore, the continuous process over 30 days showed no appreciable decrease in the molar conversion. The paper demonstrates the applicability of using immobilized lipase and a packed-bed reactor for continuous biodiesel synthesis