Improving the Performance of MANET Gateway Selection Scheme for Disaster Recovery

In this paper, we propose an improved MANET gateway selection scheme suitable for disaster recovery applications. Having an infrastructure less and decentralize features, MANET is well suited to bring the network back that has been collapse after a disaster. We focus on improving throughput performance of MANET by designing a better gateway selection scheme. The key idea is to eliminate the congestion at each MANET gateway for improved performance. Simulation results show that the proposed gateway selection scheme can efficiently manage the traffic distribution at each gateway to maximize the network performance

Dielectric Elastomer Sensors

Dielectric elastomers (DEs) represent a class of electroactive polymers (EAPs) that exhibit a significant electromechanical effect, which has made them very attractive over the last several decades for use as soft actuators, sensors and generators. Based on the principle of a plane‐parallel capacitor, dielectric elastomer sensors consist of a flexible and stretchable dielectric polymer sandwiched between two compliant electrodes. With the development of elastic polymers and stretchable conductors, flexible and sensitive dielectric elastomer tactile sensors, similar to human skin, have been used for measuring mechanical deformations, such as pressure, strain, shear and torsion. For high sensitivity and fast response, air gaps and microstructural dielectric layers are employed in pressure sensors or multiaxial force sensors. Multimodal dielectric elastomer sensors have been reported that can detect mechanical deformation but can also sense temperature, humidity, as well as chemical and biological stimulation in human‐activity monitoring and personal healthcare. Hence, dielectric elastomer sensors have great potential for applications in soft robotics, wearable devices, medical diagnostic and structural health monitoring, because of their large deformation, low cost, ease of fabrication and ease of integration into monitored structures

Use staged reading to improve sentences reading skill in Chinese language teaching: qualitative research management

This study was to examine the effectiveness in improving the skills of reading sentences. Skills in reading sentences focus on teaching and learning Chinese. In the study, the samples were identified as non-Chinese students. They are among those who use or learn Chinese as a second language. The method used in this study is reading stages. The methodology of this study is qualitative. The study was conducted in one of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) or Chinese National Type School in Lawas, Sarawak, Malaysia. The samples selected were 4 students who are studying in year one based on their results in the summative evaluation on the Chinese Language subject at this point. The research data will be collected and analyzed through observation, interviews, record reflections of researcher and also the supporting documents. Through the data obtained from the 3 cycles of studies, students can recognize available samples and pronounce of 5 simple words, 5 average difficult words and 5 difficult words with correct pronunciation. Samples students can also read at least two simple sentences, 1 average difficult sentence and 1 difficult sentence correctly, fluently and with the correct intonation

Mg-7Gd-5Y-Nd-Zr Alloy Plate Corrosion-resistance Property to Chloride Ion

AbstractRare earth Mg alloy has aroused increasing attention in aviation, spaceflight, war industry application fields; however, its poor corrosion-resistance restricted its wide range of application. For Mg-7Gd-5Y-Nd-Zr extruding plate, the grain orientation and size are different in three planes, which is extruding plane (surface), side plane, and cross-section plane. Microstructure may lead to the variation of corrosion resistant to marine climate environment. The corrosion resistance of chloride ion in three different planes of rare earth Mg plate was studied. The immersion and dynamic potential polarization curves in 3.5wt. % concentration of sodium chloride solution were used to analysis and compare electrochemical characteristics among the three planes. Optical microscope was employed to observe the microstructure of Mg alloy before and after the chloride ion erosion. The X-ray diffraction was used to determine its corrosion product. The results show that corrosion-resistance properties of the three planes (surface, side and cross section) are different. Pitting corrosion are mainly characteristics and corrosion product is magnesium hydroxide. The different resistant properties of three planes are mainly attributed to different grain size and orientation of the different planes

Importance of A-loop complementarity with tRNA(His )anticodon for continued selection of tRNA(His )as the HIV reverse transcription primer

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) preferentially selects tRNA(Lys,3 )as the primer for reverse transcription. HIV-1 can be forced to select alternative tRNAs through mutation in the primer-binding site (PBS) and a region upstream of the PBS designated as the A-loop. Alteration of the PBS and A-loop to be complementary to the 3' terminal nucleotides and anticodon of tRNA(His )results in HIV-1 that can stably utilize this tRNA for replication. RESULTS: In the current study, we have investigated the effect that mutations within the A-loop have on the stability of HIV-1 with a PBS complementary to tRNA(His). For these studies, we have altered the A-loop to be complementary to tRNA(Met), tRNA(Gln), tRNA(Ile), tRNA(Thr )and tRNA(Ser). All substitutions of the A-loops with the PBS complementary to tRNA(His )resulted in a reduction of infectious virus obtained following transfection of proviral genomes in the 293T cells. Virus replication in SupT1 cells was also impaired as a result of the alteration of the A-loop. Viruses with the A-loop complementary to tRNA(Lys,3 )and tRNA(Ser )reverted to utilize tRNA(Lys,3 )following in vitro replication. In contrast, viruses with the A-loop complementary to the other tRNAs remained stable and continued to use tRNA(His). RNA modeling of the stem-loop structure revealed that nucleotides were displayed on the loop region that could potentially interact with the anticodon of tRNA(His). To further explore the effects of the A-loop mutations on virus replication, the A-loops complementary to tRNA(Ser )or tRNA(His )were cloned into the wild type genome with the PBS complementary to tRNA(Lys,3). Transfection of proviral genomes which contained the wild type PBS and A-loops complementary to tRNA(Ser )or tRNA(His )into 293 T cells did not impact on the production of viruses as measured by p24 antigen ELISA. However, viruses with the A-loop complementary to tRNA(His )had greatly reduced infectivity and replicated poorly in SupT1 compared to the wild type or viruses with the A-loop complementary to tRNA(Ser). CONCLUSION: These studies demonstrate that complementarity of A-loop region with the anticodon of tRNA(His )has a pronounced effect on the capacity of HIV-1 to utilize tRNA(His )as the primer for reverse transcription. Complementarity between A-loop and anticodon of the tRNA then is important for the selection of the tRNA primer used for reverse transcription

Is the red dragon green? An examination of the antecedents and consequences of environmental proactivity in China

China is the world’s second largest economy and the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, yet we know little about environmental proactivity in the most populated country in the world. We address this gap through a survey of 161 Chinese companies with two respondents per firm (N = 322) where we seek to identify the antecedents and consequences of environmental proactivity. We identify two categorizations of environmental proactivity: Environmental operational improvements and environmental reporting. We find that ecological motivations and regulatory stakeholder pressure are positively related to both types of environmental proactivity, and external stakeholder pressure is negatively related to environmental reporting. Furthermore, we find that (1) if a firm is environmentally proactive (as it relates to either measure) and they are ecologically motivated, there is a positive and significant cost advantage, and (2) if a firm makes use of environmental operational improvement and they are competitively motivated, there is a positive and significant reputation advantage. Implications for researchers, managers, and policy-makers in China are discussed

Identification of candidate genes involved in wax deposition in Poa pratensis by RNA-seq

A, Randomness test of cDNA fragments; B, Sequencing saturation analysis. T1 and T2 represent NEZm; T3 and T4 represent EBZ. (PDF 290 kb

Empirical Archetypes for Strong Corporate Environmental Performance

We examine 45 existing case studies of firms with strong corporate environmental performance (CEP) to empirically identify four organizational configurations for successful sustainability. These four configurations represent different combinations of variables describing a firm’s external environment, organizational structure, and its strategy-related activities. More specifically, these configurations vary in having a benign or challenging external environment, a mechanistic or organic structure, a low-cost or differentiation strategy, hands-on or hands-off participation by the top-management-team, high or low consideration given to stakeholders, and a short or long-term time orientation. Taken together the four organizational configurations introduce an understanding of equifinality for achieving CEP. In other words, given an adequate variety of ingredients, there are multiple recipes for successful sustainability. Implications for scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers and other stakeholders are discussed

Fasting of Ramadan in peoples with diabetes in Benghazi, Libya: an exploratory study

Background: The epidemiology of diabetes and Ramadan fasting was reported from many Muslim countries, but not from Libya. Methodology: We interviewed 493 consecutive diabetic patients at Benghazi Diabetes and Endocrine Center for the potential complications of fasting during Ramadan. Results: We found 70% of diabetic patients completed the 30 days of Ramadan fasting. Hypo- and hyperglycemia was the most commonly reported complications especially during the first two weeks of Ramadan month. Conclusion: It seems majority of diabetic patients in Libya manage to fast during Ramadan month. Patient education and early planned adjustment of diabetic medication is needed to decrease the frequency of diabetic complication during Ramadan month.Keywords: diabetes; hypoglycemia; hyperglycemia; fasting; Ramada