Detection and tracking of discrete phenomena in sensor-network databases

This paper introduces a framework for Phenomena Detection and Tracking (PDT, for short) in sensor network databases. Examples of detectable phenomena include the propagation over time of a pollution cloud or an oil spill region. We provide a crisp definition of a phenomenon that takes into consideration both the strength and the time span of the phenomenon.We focus on discrete phenomena where sensor readings are drawn from a discrete set of values, e.g., item numbers or pollutant IDs, and we point out how our work can be extended to handle continuous phenomena. The challenge for the proposed PDT framework is to detect as much phenomena as possible, given the large number of sensors, the overall high arrival rates of sensor data, and the limited system resources. Our proposed PDT framework uses continuous SQL queries to detect and track phenomena. Execution of these continuous queries is performed in three phases; the joining phase, the candidate selection phase, and the grouping/output phase. The joining phase employs an in-memory multi-way join algorithm that produces a set of sensor pairs with similar readings. The candidate selection phase filters the output of the joining phase to select candidate join pairs, with enough strength and time span, as specified by the phenomenon definition. The grouping/ output phase constructs the overall phenomenon from the candidate join pairs. We introduce two optimizations to increase the likelihood of phenomena detection while using less system resources. Experimental studies illustrate the performance gains of both the proposed PDT framework and the proposed optimizations

In vitro evaluation of electroporated gold nanoparticles and extremely-low frequency electromagnetic field anticancer activity against Hep-2 laryngeal cancer cells

Introduction. The extremely-low frequency electromagnetic field (ELFEMF) has been proposed for use in cancer therapy since it was found that magnetic waves interfere with many biological processes. Gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) have been widely used for drug delivery during cancer in vitro studies due to their low cytotoxity and high biocompatibility. The electroporation of cancer cells in a presence of Au-NPs (EP Au-NPs) can induce cell apoptosis, alterations of cell cycle profile and morphological changes. The impact of ELFEMF and EP Au-NPs on morphology, cell cycle and activation of apoptosis-associated genes on Hep-2 laryngeal cancer cell line has not been studied yet. Materials and methods. ELFEMF on Hep-2 cells were carried out using four different conditions: 25/50 mT at 15/30 min, while Au-NPs were used as direct contact (DC) or with electroporation (EP, 10 pulses at 200V, equal time intervals of 4 sec). MTT assay was used to check the toxicity of DC Au-NPs. Expression of CASP3, P53, BAX and BCL2 genes was quantified using qPCR. Cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used to observe cell morphology. Results. Calculated IC50 of DC Au-NPs 24.36 μM (4.79 μg/ml) and such concentration was used for further DC and EP AuNPs experiments. The up-regulation of pro-apoptotic genes (CASP3, P53, BAX) and decreased expression of BCL2, respectively, was observed for all analyzed conditions with the highest differences for EP AuNPs and ELFEMF 50 mT/30 min in comparison to control cells. The highest content of cells arrested in G2/M phase was observed in ELFEMF-treated cells for 30 min both at 25 or 50 mT, while the cells treated with EP AuNPs or ELFEMF 50 mT/15 min showed highest ratios of apoptotic cells. HE staining of electroporated cells and cells exposed to ELFEMF’s low and higher frequencies for different times showed nuclear pleomorphic cells. Numerous apoptotic bodies were observed in the irregular cell membrane of neoplastic and necrotic cells with mixed euchromatin and heterochromatin. Conclusions. Our observations indicate that treatment of Hep-2 laryngeal cancer cells with ELFEMF for 30 min at 25–50 mT and EP Au-NPs can cause cell damage inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest

Optimal allocation of a wind turbine and battery energy storage systems in distribution networks based on the modified BES-optimizer

Recently, incorporating renewable energy resources (RERs) like wind turbines (WTs) in a distribution network is rapidly increased to meet the load growth. However, distribution networks have been facing many challenges to withstand the intermittent output power of RERs. Battery energy storage (BES) is used with RERs to smoothly inject the output power to the grid by RERs. Therefore, this paper proposes an effective strategy for optimal allocation of WT and BES in RDS to decrease the total system losses. In addition, a modified bald eagle search (BES-optimizer) is proposed to obtain the preferable allocations of WT and BES simultaneously in the radial distribution system (RDS) considering the probabilistic distribution of the WT and load demand. IEEE 69-bus RDS is utilized as a test system. Based on the obtained results, installing WTs with BES gives better results than installing WTs alone in the RDS. However, the proposed algorithm proved its efficiency to obtain the best global results compared with other well-known techniques

Similar and Additive Effects of Ovariectomy and Diabetes on Insulin Resistance and Lipid Metabolism

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is among the leading causes of death in postmenopausal women. The disruption of ovarian function may contribute to the incidence of T2DM. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ovariectomy and T2DM on glucose and lipid homeostasis, perilipin levels in adipose tissues, as a lipolytic regulator, and levels of certain adipokines. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats were used as a model for postmenopausal women. The study was performed on sham, OVX, sham diabetic, and OVX diabetic female rats. The results indicated that ovariectomy alters adipose tissue metabolism through reducing perilipin content in white adipose tissue (WAT); however it has no effect on perilipin level in brown adipose tissue (BAT). OVX diabetic females suffer from serious metabolic disturbances, suggested by exacerbation of insulin resistance in terms of disrupted lipid profile, higher HOMA-IR, hyperinsulinemia, higher leptin, and lower adiponectin concentrations. These metabolic derangements may underlie the predisposition for cardiovascular disease in women after menopause. Therefore, for efficient treatment, the menopausal status of diabetic female should be addressed, and the order of events is of great importance because ovariectomy following development of diabetes has more serious complications compared to development of diabetes as result of menopause

Do renewable energy consumption and financial development contribute to environmental quality in MINT nations? Implications for sustainable development

Maintaining a balance between the well-being of the economy and the environment has become a top priority for governments globally. In the contemporary age, world economies, particularly the emerging ones like MINT nations, highlight the need for eco-friendly economic expansion. The MINT nations are thriving economically but are having difficulty reducing their Ecological footprint (EF). This paper aimed to determine if factors such as population density, renewable energy, foreign direct investment, economic growth, and financial development impact ecological footprint in the MINT countries between 1990 and 2018. The study applied ample advanced econometrics such as method of moments quantile regression (MMQR), augmented mean group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG). The overall results indicated that the variables are integrated at the first difference and are cointegrated. The AMG, CCEMG and MMQR results reveal that economic growth deteriorates ecological well-being by promoting the EF while foreign direct investment, population density and renewable energy assists in enhancing it by mitigating the EF in the MINT nations. In addition, financial development does not exert a significant effect on EF. The Dumitrescu Hurlin Panel Causality results show unidirectional causality from economic growth, financial development, population density, and renewable energy to EF. Based on these results policy recommendations are suggested

Implementation of ANN Controller Based UPQC Integrated with Microgrid

This study discusses how to increase power quality by integrating a unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) with a grid-connected microgrid for clean and efficient power generation. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) controller for a voltage source converter-based UPQC is proposed to minimize the system’s cost and complexity by eliminating mathematical operations such as a-b-c to d-q-0 translation and the need for costly controllers such as DSPs and FPGAs. In this study, nonlinear unbalanced loads and harmonic supply voltage are used to assess the performance of PV-battery-UPQC using an ANN-based controller. Problems with voltage, such as sag and swell, are also considered. This work uses an ANN control system trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation technique to provide effective reference signals and maintain the required dc-link capacitor voltage. In MATLAB/Simulink software, simulations of PV-battery-UPQC employing SRF-based control and ANN-control approaches are performed. The findings revealed that the proposed approach performed better, as presented in this paper. Furthermore, the influence of synchronous reference frame (SRF) and ANN controller-based UPQC on supply currents and the dc-link capacitor voltage response is studied. To demonstrate the superiority of the suggested controller, a comparison of percent THD in load voltage and supply current utilizing SRF-based control and ANN control methods is shown

Induced secondary metabolites from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus versicolor through bacterial co-culture and OSMAC approaches

LBK

Vanadium Carbide (V4C3) MXene as an Efficient Anode for Li-Ion and Na-Ion Batteries

Li-ion batteries (LIBs) and Na-ion batteries (SIBs) are deemed green and efficient electrochemical energy storage and generation devices; meanwhile, acquiring a competent anode remains a serious challenge. Herein, the density-functional theory (DFT) was employed to investigate the performance of V4C3 MXene as an anode for LIBs and SIBs. The results predict the outstanding electrical conductivity when Li/Na is loaded on V4C3. Both Li2xV4C3 and Na2xV4C3 (x = 0.125, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2) showed expected low-average open-circuit voltages of 0.38 V and 0.14 V, respectively, along with a good Li/Na storage capacity of (223 mAhg?1) and a good cycling performance. Furthermore, there was a low diffusion barrier of 0.048 eV for Li0.0625V4C3 and 0.023 eV for Na0.0625V4C3, implying the prompt intercalation/extraction of Li/Na. Based on the findings of the current study, V4C3-based materials may be utilized as an anode for Li/Na-ion batteries in future applications. 2022 by the authors.This work was financially funded by the authors express their gratitude for the support of the Researchers Supporting Project Number (RSP-2021/267) King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This work is also supported by Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (No. 21B0637).Scopu

Bioactive Hydroperoxyl Cembranoids from the Red Sea Soft Coral Sarcophyton glaucum

A chemical investigation of an ethyl acetate extract of the Red Sea soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum has led to the isolation of two peroxide diterpenes, 11(S) hydroperoxylsarcoph-12(20)-ene (1), and 12(S)-hydroperoxylsarcoph-10-ene (2), as well as 8-epi-sarcophinone (3). In addition to these three new compounds, two known structures were identified including: ent-sarcophine (4) and sarcophine (5). Structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, with the relative configuration of 1 and 2 confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Isolated compounds were found to be inhibitors of cytochrome P450 1A activity as well as inducers of glutathione S-transferases (GST), quinone reductase (QR), and epoxide hydrolase (mEH) establishing chemo-preventive and tumor anti-initiating activity for these characterized metabolites