Distributed Recognition of Reference Nodes for Wireless Sensor Network Localization

All known localization techniques for wireless sensor and ad-hoc networks require certain set of reference nodes being used for position estimation. The anchor-free techniques in contrast to anchor-based do not require reference nodes called anchors to be placed in the network area before localization operation itself, but they can establish own reference coordinate system to be used for the relative position estimation. We observed that contemporary anchor-free localization algorithms achieve a low localization error, but dissipate significant energy reserves during the recognition of reference nodes used for the position estimation. Therefore, we have proposed the optimized anchor-free localization algorithm referred to as BRL (Boundary Recognition aided Localization), which achieves a low localization error and mainly reduces the communication cost of the reference nodes recognition phase. The proposed BRL algorithm was investigated throughout the extensive simulations on the database of networks with the different number of nodes and densities and was compared in terms of communication cost and localization error with the known related algorithms such as AFL and CRP. Through the extensive simulations we have observed network conditions where novel BRL algorithm excels in comparison with the state of art

Energy Analysis of Received Signal Strength Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents the investigation of energy demands during localization of wireless nodes in ad-hoc networks. We focus on the method based on the received signal strength (RSS) to estimate the distances between the nodes. To deal with the uncertainty of this technique, statistical methods are used. It implies more measurement samples to be taken and consequently more energy to be spent. Therefore, we investigate the accuracy of localization and the consumed energy in the relation to the number of measurement samples. The experimental measurements were conducted with IRIS sensor motes and their results related to the proposed energy model. The results show that the expended energy is not related linearly to the localization error. First, improvement of the accuracy rises fast with more measurement samples. Then, adding more samples, the accuracy increase is moderate, which means that the marginal energy cost of the additional improvement is higher

Experimental Temperature Measurements in Miniature Circuit Breaker

Low voltage switching apparatuses efficiency depends on the speed of movement of the switching arc from the contacts to the quenching chamber. The paper is focused on investigation of this movement of an arc. Measurement of radiation spectra of the electric arc burning inside miniature circuit breaker and moving to quenching chamber are presented. Measured radiation spectra contain suitable atomic spectra lines for calculation purposes. The problems connected with the measurements are discussed. The main part of the paper deals with a calculation of temperature of the investigated plasma of the arc. Atomic lines database of National Institute of Standards and Technology was used as a spectral data source for the calculations

RESPOND – A patient-centred program to prevent secondary falls in older people presenting to the emergency department with a fall: Protocol for a multi-centre randomised controlled trial

Introduction: Participation in falls prevention activities by older people following presentation to the Emergency Department (ED) with a fall is suboptimal. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) will test the RESPOND program which is designed to improve older persons’ participation in falls prevention activities through delivery of patient-centred education and behaviour change strategies. Design and setting: An RCT at two tertiary referral EDs in Melbourne and Perth, Australia. Participants: Five-hundred and twenty eight community-dwelling people aged 60-90 years presenting to the ED with a fall and discharged home will be recruited. People who: require an interpreter or hands-on assistance to walk; live in residential aged care or >50 kilometres from the trial hospital; have terminal illness, cognitive impairment, documented aggressive behaviour or history of psychosis; are receiving palliative care; or are unable to use a telephone will be excluded. Methods: Participants will be randomly allocated to the RESPOND intervention or standard care control group. RESPOND incorporates: (1) home-based risk factor assessment; (2) education, coaching, goal setting, and follow-up telephone support for management of one or more of four risk factors with evidence of effective intervention; and (3) healthcare provider communication and community linkage delivered over six months. Primary outcomes are falls and fall injuries per-person-year. Discussion: RESPOND builds on prior falls prevention learnings and aims to help individuals make guided decisions about how they will manage their falls risk. Patient-centred models have been successfully trialled in chronic and cardiovascular disease however evidence to support this approach in falls prevention is limited. Trial registration. The protocol for this study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12614000336684)

An MPI-CUDA Implementation for Massively Parallel Incompressible Flow Computations on Multi-GPU Clusters

Modern graphics processing units (GPUs) with many-core architectures have emerged as general-purpose parallel computing platforms that can accelerate simulation science applications tremendously. While multi-GPU workstations with several TeraFLOPS of peak computing power are available to accelerate computational problems, larger problems require even more resources. Conventional clusters of central processing units (CPU) are now being augmented with multiple GPUs in each compute-node to tackle large problems. The heterogeneous architecture of a multi-GPU cluster with a deep memory hierarchy creates unique challenges in developing scalable and efficient simulation codes. In this study, we pursue mixed MPI-CUDA implementations and investigate three strategies to probe the efficiency and scalability of incompressible flow computations on the Lincoln Tesla cluster at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). We exploit some of the advanced features of MPI and CUDA programming to overlap both GPU data transfer and MPI communications with computations on the GPU. We sustain approximately 2.4 TeraFLOPS on the 64 nodes of the NCSA Lincoln Tesla cluster using 128 GPUs with a total of 30,720 processing elements. Our results demonstrate that multi-GPU clusters can substantially accelerate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations

Catchment-scale biogeography of riverine bacterioplankton

Lotic ecosystems such as rivers and streams are unique in that they represent a continuum of both space and time during the transition from headwaters to the river mouth. As microbes have very different controls over their ecology, distribution and dispersion compared with macrobiota, we wished to explore biogeographical patterns within a river catchment and uncover the major drivers structuring bacterioplankton communities. Water samples collected across the River Thames Basin, UK, covering the transition from headwater tributaries to the lower reaches of the main river channel were characterised using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. This approach revealed an ecological succession in the bacterial community composition along the river continuum, moving from a community dominated by Bacteroidetes in the headwaters to Actinobacteria-dominated downstream. Location of the sampling point in the river network (measured as the cumulative water channel distance upstream) was found to be the most predictive spatial feature; inferring that ecological processes pertaining to temporal community succession are of prime importance in driving the assemblages of riverine bacterioplankton communities. A decrease in bacterial activity rates and an increase in the abundance of low nucleic acid bacteria relative to high nucleic acid bacteria were found to correspond with these downstream changes in community structure, suggesting corresponding functional changes. Our findings show that bacterial communities across the Thames basin exhibit an ecological succession along the river continuum, and that this is primarily driven by water residence time rather than the physiochemical status of the river

Community structure, picoplankton grazing and zooplankton control of heterotrophic nanoflagellates in a eutrophic reservoir during the summer phytoplankton maximum

An intensive 5 wk study was conducted to investigate the role of protists, especially heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), in microbial food webs during the summer phytoplankton bloom in the epilimnion and metalimnion of the eutrophic Rimov reservoir (South Bohemia, Czech Republic). On average, protists consumed similar to 90% of bacterial production in both layers. The community composition of HNF and the relative importance of different HNF groups as picoplankton consumers were determined. Small HNF (<8 mu m), as chrysomonads, bodonids and choanoflagellates, usually accounted for <30% of total HNF biomass but numerically dominated the community in both layers. They consumed most of (similar to 70 to 85 %) the bacterioplankton as well as autotrophic picoplankton (APP, exclusively cyanobacteria) production in the reservoir, with the rest consumed by ciliates. Both ciliates and HNF had higher clearance rates on APP than on bacteria and their grazing was likely responsible for a sharp decrease in APP abundance (from 3-4 x 10(5) to <2 x 10(3) ml(-1)) and a very constant size structure of bacterioplankton in which short rods in the size class of 0.4 to 0.8 mu m constituted 55 to 80 % of the total bacterial biomass in both layers. The proportion of HNF to total picoplankton biomass in the epilimnion indicated that the picoplankton biomass was sufficiently high to support HNF growth for most of the study. Uptake of picoplankton by less numerous, but larger, HNF (kathablepharids, Goniomonas sp., and Streptomonas sp.) was negligible, while their biomass, especially in the metalimnion, exceeded that of small HNF and the total biomass of picoplankton. This suggested that food items other than picoplankton were consumed to meet their carbon requirements. Analyzing potential bottom-up and top-down factors controlling HNF numbers and biomass, we did not find a tight relationship between HNF and the concentration of bacteria and chlorophyll. Variability of HNF abundance and biomass in the epilimnion could largely be explained by cladocerans or by pooled abundances of all potential crustacean consumers of HNF. In the metalimnion, the mean cell volume of HNF was positively linked to chlorophyll but negatively to the abundance of Cyclopidae and to the pooled abundances of Ceriodaphnia quadrangula and Diaphanosoma brachyurum

Investigation and Numerical Simulation of a High-Current AC Circuit Breaker

The article is devoted to the study of the high-current AC circuit breaker. The results of the study are presented for various configurations of the arc divider. The study includes methods of spectral diagnostics and high-speed camera shooting synchronized with the electrical characteristics of the circuit breaker (current, voltage) in time. The obtained results allow to determine the composition of the plasma and dynamics of changes in the composition of the discharge in time. Calculation of the plasma composition and properties is made according to the obtained data, which makes it possible to take into account the products of circuit breaker materials ablation in numerical simulation. Non-stationary two-dimensional mathematical model with a moving mesh is developed. The obtained results allow to correct and verify the developed mathematical model of the circuit breaker operation. The evaluation of the arc divider influence is presented in the article

Lack of Protection following Passive Transfer of Polyclonal Highly Functional Low-Dose Non-Neutralizing Antibodies

Recent immune correlates analysis from the RV144 vaccine trial has renewed interest in the role of non-neutralizing antibodies in mediating protection from infection. While neutralizing antibodies have proven difficult to induce through vaccination, extra-neutralizing antibodies, such as those that mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), are associated with long-term control of infection. However, while several non-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies have been tested for their protective efficacy in vivo, no studies to date have tested the protective activity of naturally produced polyclonal antibodies from individuals harboring potent ADCC activity. Because ADCC-inducing antibodies are highly enriched in elite controllers (EC), we passively transferred highly functional non-neutralizing polyclonal antibodies, purified from an EC, to assess the potential impact of polyclonal non-neutralizing antibodies on a stringent SHIV-SF162P3 challenge in rhesus monkeys. Passive transfer of a low-dose of ADCC inducing antibodies did not protect from infection following SHIV-SF162P3 challenge. Passively administered antibody titers and gp120-specific, but not gp41-specific, ADCC and antibody induced phagocytosis (ADCP) were detected in the majority of the monkeys, but did not correlate with post infection viral control. Thus these data raise the possibility that gp120-specific ADCC activity alone may not be sufficient to control viremia post infection but that other specificities or Fc-effector profiles, alone or in combination, may have an impact on viral control and should be tested in future passive transfer experiments