Design and Performance Analysis of a Geographic Routing Protocol for Highly Dynamic MANETs

Efficient multi-hop routing has become important for airborne telemetry networks. The highly dynamic nature in these scenarios results in short-lived links. Geographic-based routing has an advantage over topology-based routing to make rapid forwarding decisions based on neighbor and destination position. The AeroRP geographic routing protocol is detailed, which uses a heuristic metric for forwarding decisions that takes transmission range and a neighbor's location and velocity into consideration. The main contributions of this work include detailing and finalizing the routing decision metrics, design, and simulation implementation of AeroRP. The analysis of the simulations shows AeroRP has several advantages over other MANET routing protocols and offers tradeoffs for different performance metrics in the form of different AeroRP modes. Specifically, AeroRP yields higher accuracy than all compared routing protocols and various AeroRP modes can be chosen depending on how packet delivery and delay are prioritized

All Purpose Mobile GPS

The aim of the All Purpose Mobile GPS (The System) is to create a GPS tracking device that can accurately record location and calculate velocity, distance traveled and elevation change even when the satellite signal is lost. This data can later overlay on existing internet-based maps illustrating a trip to oneself or others. The portable tracker consumes very little power achieving several days’ worth of power in a single charge. A solar cell provides a quick battery boost in a pinch. SD Card storage increases compatibility with computers and other forms of data transfer. Data processing, such as viewing the route on a map, occurs on a computer after the completed data logging

Treasure Valley Road Design

The intent of this project was to design a roadway for Treasure Valley Scout Reservation of Rutland, MA that would address the existing limitations of both existing road links. ArcGIS was used to identify alignments and Civil 3D was used to model alignments. Finalized alignments were selected and the designs were judged on a criteria developed from user needs. Full plans and costs were created for the two highest scoring alternatives. Recommendations were provided for construction planning and processes

Palatability and chemical defenses of sponges from the western Antarctic Peninsula

The present study surveyed the palatability of all sponge species that could be collected in sufficient quantities in a shallow-water area along the western Antarctic Peninsula. Of 27 species assayed, 78% had outermost tissues that were significantly unpalatable to the sympatric, omnivorous sea star Odontaster validus. Of those species with unpalatable outer tissues, 62% had inner tissues that were also unpalatable to the sea stars. Sea stars have often been considered as the primary predators of sponges in other regions of Antarctica, and their extra-oral mode of feeding threatens only the outermost sponge tissues. The observation that many of the sponges allocate defenses to inner tissues suggests the possibility that biting predators such as mesograzers, which could access inner sponge layers, may also be important in communities along the Antarctic Peninsula. In feeding bioassays with extracts from 12 of the unpalatable species in artificial foods, either lipophilic or hydrophilic extracts were deterrent in each species. These data indicate an overall level of chemical defenses in these Antarctic sponges that is comparable to, and slightly greater than, that found in a previous survey of tropical species

Explorations, Vol. 3, No. 3

Cover: Artwork by Marcia Spencer, University of Maine art student. Articles include: Characterization of Normal and Carcinogen Induced Neoplastic Cells of Teleost Origin, by Tim Lyden Attitutdes and Opinions of Maine Dairy Farmers, by John Muth and James Leiby Background: the quest for the eighteen month oyster, by Kevin Scully The Quest for the Eighteen Month Oyster, by Kevin Scully Measurement of Surface Tension of Kraft Black Liquor, by Jayalakshmi Jaya Krishnagopalan From the former student, by Jayalakshmi Krishnagopalan From the faculty advisor, by Ivar H. Stockel Aquatic Fungal Decomposers in Two Adjacent Maine Lakes of Different Acidity, by Peter Wagner Studies on a New Mouse Mutation, by Luanne L. Peters Opportunities for Students: Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Research Programs, by Mark W. Anderson Experimental Embryogenesis in Red Pine, by Judy C. Gates The V-Notched Lobster in Maine, by Cheryl Waltz Undernutrition in a Pediatric Population, by Paula Quatromoni From the Advisor Archaeology of the Central Maine Coast, by Douglas Kellogg Marketing Strategies for Computer Consultants in Small Business, by Kimberly Dagher Our Cover Artist From the Advisor, by James Lineha

Mutant KLF1 in Adult Anemic Nan Mice Leads to Profound Transcriptome Changes and Disordered Erythropoiesis.

Anemic Nan mice carry a mutation (E339D) in the second zinc finger of erythroid transcription factor KLF1. Nan-KLF1 fails to bind a subset of normal KLF1 targets and ectopically binds a large set of genes not normally engaged by KLF1, resulting in a corrupted fetal liver transcriptome. Here, we performed RNAseq using flow cytometric-sorted spleen erythroid precursors from adult Nan and WT littermates rendered anemic by phlebotomy to identify global transcriptome changes specific to the Nan Klf1 mutation as opposed to anemia generally. Mutant Nan-KLF1 leads to extensive and progressive transcriptome corruption in adult spleen erythroid precursors such that stress erythropoiesis is severely compromised. Terminal erythroid differentiation is defective in the bone marrow as well. Principle component analysis reveals two major patterns of differential gene expression predicting that defects in basic cellular processes including translation, cell cycle, and DNA repair could contribute to disordered erythropoiesis and anemia in Nan. Significant erythroid precursor stage specific changes were identified in some of these processes in Nan. Remarkably, however, despite expression changes in large numbers of associated genes, most basic cellular processes were intact in Nan indicating that developing red cells display significant physiological resiliency and establish new homeostatic set points in vivo

Gender identity and HIV risk among men who have sex with men in Cape Town, South Africa

Gender identity plays a potentially important role contributing to HIV risk among MSM in South Africa. Where studies have included a focus on gender identity, MSM reporting gender non-conformity have been found to have a higher risk of being HIV positive than other MSM. This article examines HIV risk among gender non-conforming MSM in a sample of 316 MSM in Cape Town, South Africa. Reporting gender non-conformity was associated with higher HIV prevalence and increased HIV risk behaviour. Gender non-conformity was also associated with a higher likelihood of being unemployed and reporting low household incomes. These findings highlight the importance of gender-identity as a factor affecting access to HIV treatment, care, and prevention in South Africa and this is an issue that needs to be addressed in interventions targeting MSM populations.U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [grant number 674-A-12-00015].http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/caic202019-04-18hj2018Medical Microbiolog

Increased water-use efficiency and reduced CO2 uptake by plants during droughts at a continental-scale

Severe droughts in the Northern Hemisphere cause a widespread decline of agricultural yield, the reduction of forest carbon uptake, and increased CO2 growth rates in the atmosphere. Plants respond to droughts by partially closing their stomata to limit their evaporative water loss, at the expense of carbon uptake by photosynthesis. This trade-off maximizes their water-use efficiency (WUE), as measured for many individual plants under laboratory conditions and field experiments. Here we analyse the 13C/12C stable isotope ratio in atmospheric CO2 to provide new observational evidence of the impact of droughts on the WUE across areas of millions of square kilometres and spanning one decade of recent climate variability. We find strong and spatially coherent increases in WUE along with widespread reductions of net carbon uptake over the Northern Hemisphere during severe droughts that affected Europe, Russia and the United States in 2001–2011. The impact of those droughts on WUE and carbon uptake by vegetation is substantially larger than simulated by the land-surface schemes of six state-of-the-art climate models. This suggests that drought-induced carbon–climate feedbacks may be too small in these models and improvements to their vegetation dynamics using stable isotope observations can help to improve their drought response

Neomorphic effects of the neonatal anemia (Nan-Eklf) mutation contribute to deficits throughout development

Transcription factor control of cell-specific downstream targets can be significantly altered when the controlling factor is mutated. We show that the semi-dominant neonatal anemia (Nan) mutation in the EKLF/KLF1 transcription factor leads to ectopic expression of proteins that are not normally expressed in the red blood cell, leading to systemic effects that exacerbate the intrinsic anemia in the adult and alter correct development in the early embryo. Even when expressed as a heterozygote, the Nan-EKLF protein accomplishes this by direct binding and aberrant activation of genes encoding secreted factors that exert a negative effect on erythropoiesis and iron use. Our data form the basis for a novel mechanism of physiological deficiency that is relevant to human dyserythropoietic anemia and likely other disease states