EAGP: An energy-aware gossip protocol for wireless sensor networks

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), typically composed of nodes with resource constraints, leveraging efficient processes is crucial to enhance the network lifetime and, consequently, the sustainability in ultra-dense and heterogeneous environments, such as smart cities. Particularly, balancing the energy required to transport data efficiently across such dynamic environments poses significant challenges to routing protocol design and operation, being the trade-off of reducing data redundancy while achieving an acceptable delivery rate a fundamental research topic. In this way, this work proposes a new energy-aware epidemic protocol that uses the current state of the network energy to create a dynamic distribution topology by self-adjusting each node forwarding behavior as eager or lazy according to the local residual battery. Simulated evaluations demonstrate its efficiency in energy consumption, delivery rate, and reduced computational burden when compared with classical gossip protocols as well as with a directional protocol.FCT -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(UIDB/50014/2020

Improved vehicle-to-home (iV2H) operation mode: experimental analysis of the electric vehicle as off-line UPS

This paper presents experimental results of electric vehicle (EV) operation as an off-line uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Besides the traditional grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid modes, this paper presents an improved vehicle-to-home operation mode. This new operation mode consists of the detection of a power outage in the power grid and the change of the EV battery charger control to operate as an off-line UPS. When the power grid voltage is restored, the voltage produced by the on-board EV battery charger is slowly synchronized with the power grid voltage before a complete transition to the normal mode. This paper presents results of two algorithms to detect a power outage: the root mean square (rms) calculation method based on half-cycle of the power grid voltage, and the rms estimation based on a Kalman filter. The experimental results were obtained in steady and transient state considering two cases with the EV plugged in at home:when charging the batteries and without charging the batteries. This paper describes the EV battery charger, the power outage detection methods, and the voltage and current control strategies.- This work was supported by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) in the scope of the projects under Grant PEst-UID/CEC/00319/2013. The work of V. Monteiro was supported by the Doctoral Scholarship through the Portuguese FCT Agency under Grant SFRH/BD/80155/2011. The work of B. Exposto was supported by the Doctoral Scholarship through the Portuguese FCT Agency under Grant SFRH/BD/87999/2012.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Strecker degradation of amino acids promoted by a camphor-derived sulfonamide

A camphor-derived sulfonimine with a conjugated carbonyl group, oxoimine 1 (O2SNC10H13O), reacts with amino acids (glycine, L-alanine, L-phenylalanine, L-leucine) to form a compound O2SNC10H13NC10H14NSO2 (2) which was characterized by spectroscopic means (MS and NMR) and supported by DFT calculations. The product, a single diastereoisomer, contains two oxoimine units connected by a –N= bridge, and thus has a structural analogy to the colored product Ruhemann´s purple obtained by the ninhydrin reaction with amino acids. A plausible reaction mechanism that involves zwitterions, a Strecker degradation of an intermediate imine and water-catalyzed tautomerizations was developed by means of DFT calculations on potential transition states

Automated Verification of Care Pathways Using Constraint Programming

Bad construction of modeled care pathways can lead to satisfiability problems during the pathway execution. These problems can ultimately result in medical errors and need to be checked as formally as possible. Therefore, this study proposes a set of algorithms using a free open-source library dedicated to constraint programming allied with a DSL to encode and verify care pathways, checking four possible problems: states in deadlock, non-determinism, inaccessible steps and transitions with logically equivalent guard conditions. We then test our algorithms in 84 real care pathways used both in hospitals and surgeries. Using our algorithms, we were able to find 200 problems taking less than 1 second to complete the verification on most pathways

Lipocalin-2 is involved in emotional behaviors and cognitive function

Lipocalin-2 is involved in emotional behaviors and cognitive functionLipocalin-2 (LCN2), an iron-related protein well described to participate in the innate immune response, has been shown to modulate spine morphology and to regulate neuronal excitability. In accordance, LCN2-null mice are reported to have stress-induced anxiety. Here we show that, under standard housing conditions, LCN2-null mice display anxious and depressive-like behaviors, as well as cognitive impairment in spatial learning tasks. These behavioral alterations were associated with a hyperactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and with an altered brain cytoarchitecture in the hippocampus. More specifically, we found that the granular and pyramidal neurons of the ventral hippocampus, a region described to be associated with emotion, were hypertrophic, while neurons from the dorsal hippocampus, a region implicated in memory and cognition, were atrophic. In addition, LCN2-null mice presented synaptic impairment in hippocampal long-term potentiation. Whether the LCN2 effects are mediated through modulation of the level of corticosteroids or through a novel mechanism, the present observations bring further into light this immune-related protein as a player in the fine-tuning of behavior and of synaptic activity.We are grateful to Professor Shizuo Akira and Professor Cevayir Coban for the LCN2-null mice in the BALB/c background and to Professor Trude Flo for the LCN2-null mice in C57BL/6J background. Ana C. Ferreira, Sandro D. Mesquita, and Ashley Novais are recipients of Ph.D. and Fernanda Marques and Vitor Pinto are recipients of postdoctoral fellowships from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Portugal)

Development of an IoT system with smart charging current control for electric vehicles

This paper presents the development and test of an Internet of Things (IoT) system for monitoring and control of electric vehicles. The IoT architecture, which was developed using the Firebase platform, allows the synchronization of the vehicles' data to the online server, as well as the access to the data outside of the vehicle, though the Internet. The smart charging system proposed in this paper allows the control of the electric vehicle's battery charging current in real time, based on the demand at the residence (home current), which is measured using a residential wireless sensor network (WSN). An Android mobile app was developed to access the vehicle's data. This app communicates with the wireless sensor nodes of an intra-vehicular wireless sensor network (IVWSN), which was developed using the Bluetooth Low Energy (RLE) protocol. A real time notification system was also implemented to alert users about certain events, such as low battery and full battery charge. The main features of the proposed IoT system are validated through experimental results.This work is supported by FCT with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, COMPETE 2020 with the code POCI 01-0145-FEDER-006941

Functionalization of Ruthenium(II) terpyridine complexes with cyclic RGD peptides to target integrin receptors in cancer cells

The lack of selectivity for cancer cells and the resulting negative impact on healthy tissue is a severe drawback of actual cancer chemotherapy. Tethering of cytotoxic drugs to targeting vectors such as peptides, which recognize receptors overexpressed on the surface of tumor cells, is one possible strategy to overcome such a problem. The pentapeptide cyc(RGDfK) targets the integrin receptor αvβ3, important for tumor growth and metastasis formation. In this work, two terpyridine based Ru(II) complexes were prepared and for the first time conjugated to cyc(RGDfK) via amide bond formation resulting in a monomeric and a dimeric bioconjugate. Both Ru(II) complexes bind strongly and selectively to integrin αvβ3, with the dimeric molecule displaying a 20-fold higher affinity to the receptor than the monomeric one. However, the cytotoxicity of the complexes and related bioconjugates against human A549 and SKOV-3 cell lines is still not sufficient for application as anticancer agents. Nevertheless, considering the high selectivity for integrin receptor αvβ3, the synthesis of Ru-based bioconjugates with cyc(RGDfK) paves a promising way towards the design of effective targeted anticancer agents

Cactus Cladodes Opuntia or Nopalea and By-Product of Low Nutritional Value as Solutions to Forage Shortages in Semiarid Areas

Simple Summary In the different livestock production systems, forage is the main feed resource. However, the availability and quality of the forage fluctuate throughout the year due to variable environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, location, or lack of rainfall. In semiarid regions, this fact is even more critical. The option for forage plants adapted to the semiarid climate, such as cactus cladodes, becomes indispensable for the sustainability of the systems. Nonetheless, it is necessary to combine the cactus with high-fiber-content feeds (silage, hay, and agroindustry residues, among others) to increase fiber contents in the diet to promote ideal rumen conditions. Based on the knowledge that cactus cladodes (Opuntia spp. and Nopalea spp.) are one of the most viable crops in semiarid regions, the association with a by-product rich in NDF proves to be a more feasible alternative in terms of price and availability, with the producer making the final decision. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the cactus cladodes Nopalea cochenillifera (L). Salm-Dyck. (NUB) and cactus cladodes Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. (OUB), both combined with sugarcane bagasse (SB) plus urea, Tifton hay (TH), corn silage (CS), and sorghum silage (SS) plus urea on nutrient intake and digestibility, ruminal dynamics, and parameters. Five male sheep, fistulated in the rumen, were assigned in a 5 x 5 Latin square design. The NUB provided a higher intake of dry matter (DM) and any nutrients than SS. TH provided larger pools of DM and iNDF. The OUB and CS provided a higher DM degradation. CS provided a higher NDF degradation rate. OUB provided a lower ruminal pH. Depending on the collection time, the lowest pH value was estimated at 3.79 h after the morning feeding. There was an interaction between treatments and collection time on VFA concentrations. Due to the high degradation rate, greater energy intake, less change in rumen pH, greater volatile fatty acid production, and feasibility, we recommend using cactus associated with sugarcane bagasse plus urea in sheep diets