Adaptive Distributed Resource Allocation in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks have emerged as a promising technology for a wide range of important applications. A major research challenge in this field is the distributed resource allocation problem, which concerns how the limited resources in a wireless sensor network should be allocated or scheduled to minimize costs and maximize the network capability. In this paper, we propose the Adaptive Distributed Resource Allocation (ADRA) scheme, an adaptive approach for distributed resource allocation in wireless sensor networks. Our scheme specifies relatively simple local actions to be performed by individual sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network for mode management. Each node adapts its operation over time in response to the status and feedback of its neighboring nodes. Desirable global behavior results from the local interactions between nodes. We study the effectiveness of the ADRA scheme for a realistic application scenario; namely, the sensor mode management in an acoustic sensor network to track vehicle movement. We evaluated the scheme via simulations, and also prototyped it using the Crossbow MICA2 motes. Our simulation and hardware implementation results indicate that the ADRA scheme provides a good tradeoff between performance objectives such as coverage area, power consumption, and network lifetime.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

SENSOR NETWORK: LOCALIZATION AND POWER MANAGEMENT

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENC

Food Subsidies: Incentive Benefit and Competitive Design

Firstly, the evolution process of grain subsidy policy in China was introduced. In the first stage, the nation carried out grain policy of unified purchase and sale. In the second stage, the nation carried out price subsidy for grain purchasing. In the third stage, the nation carried out direct subsidy for grain production. Secondly, the incentive mechanism of grain subsidy was analyzed under two conditions based on the basic hypotheses. Under the condition of complete information, the effects of grain subsidy policy are optimal. Under the condition of information asymmetry, there are two cases. Grain subsidy policy shows zero effect when information is completely opaque. When information is translucence, the effect of the policy will be suboptimal due to the problem of adverse selection. The adjustment design for incentive mechanism of subsidy was made in order to improve the effects of subsidy policy. The grain production choice of farmers was also analyzed according to evaluation function of farmers’ achievements. Finally, the causes why the productive positivity of farmers was not improved with the development of economy and society were discussed

Food Subsidies: Incentive Benefit and Competitive Design

Firstly, the evolution process of grain subsidy policy in China was introduced. In the first stage, the nation carried out grain policy of unified purchase and sale. In the second stage, the nation carried out price subsidy for grain purchasing. In the third stage, the nation carried out direct subsidy for grain production. Secondly, the incentive mechanism of grain subsidy was analyzed under two conditions based on the basic hypotheses. Under the condition of complete information, the effects of grain subsidy policy are optimal. Under the condition of information asymmetry, there are two cases. Grain subsidy policy shows zero effect when information is completely opaque. When information is translucence, the effect of the policy will be suboptimal due to the problem of adverse selection. The adjustment design for incentive mechanism of subsidy was made in order to improve the effects of subsidy policy. The grain production choice of farmers was also analyzed according to evaluation function of farmers’ achievements. Finally, the causes why the productive positivity of farmers was not improved with the development of economy and society were discussed.Grain subsidy, Incentive efficiency, Competitive design, China, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Induced Resistance Combined with RNA Interference Attenuates the Counteradaptation of the Western Flower Thrips

The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande, is an invasive pest that damages agricultural and horticultural crops. The induction of plant defenses and RNA interference (RNAi) technology are potent pest control strategies. This study investigated whether the anti-adaptive ability of F. occidentalis to jasmonic acid (JA)- and methyl jasmonate (MeJA)-induced defenses in kidney bean plants was attenuated after glutathione S-transferase (GST) gene knockdown. The expression of four GSTs in thrips fed JA- and MeJA-induced leaves was analyzed, and FoGSTd1 and FoGSTs1 were upregulated. Exogenous JA- and MeJA-induced defenses led to increases in defensive secondary metabolites (tannins, alkaloids, total phenols, flavonoids, and lignin) in leaves. Metabolome analysis indicated that the JA-induced treatment of leaves led to significant upregulation of defensive metabolites. The activity of GSTs increased in second-instar thrips larvae fed JA- and MeJA-induced leaves. Co-silencing with RNAi simultaneously knocked down FoGSTd1 and FoGSTs1 transcripts and GST activity, and the area damaged by second-instar larvae feeding on JA- and MeJA-induced leaves decreased by 62.22% and 55.24%, respectively. The pupation rate of second-instar larvae also decreased by 39.68% and 39.89%, respectively. Thus, RNAi downregulation of FoGSTd1 and FoGSTs1 reduced the anti-adaptive ability of F. occidentalis to JA- or MeJA-induced defenses in kidney bean plants

Enhanced optical response of crystalline silicon photovoltaic devices with integration of silver nanoparticles and ultrathin TiO2 dielectric layer

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and the titanium dioxide (TiO2) dielectric layer produced by magnetron sputtering and subsequent annealing treatment, were integrated at the front side of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. A photovoltaic device was realized based on the c-Si substrate and stacked Ag NPs/TiO2/n/p/Ag layer. The results show that the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) can be improved by 9.9% with the introduction of well-sized Ag NPs and an ultrathin TiO2 dielectric layer to the c-Si solar cells. The presence of the dielectric layer enables Ag NPs to fully exert the advantage of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and light scattering, and the recombination of the photogenerated carriers originating from Ag NPs is effectively avoided at the surface or in the vicinity of Ag NPs. Moreover, COMSOL Multiphysics simulations were performed to investigate the reflection and absorption of incident light in the c-Si. The simulation results match well with the experimental data

The application advances of dendrimers in biomedical field

Abstract Dendrimers are a family of nano‐sized three‐dimensional polymers with unique dendritic branching structures and compact spherical geometries. In recent years, dendrimers have made a series of breakthroughs in the biomedical field. In this review, we introduce the synthesis principles, modification methods, and new materials designed based on dendrimers; discuss the importance of cytotoxicity of dendrimers for applications; and elaborate on their applications in the field of molecular assembly and cancer diagnosis and treatment. We speculate that in the near future, more new materials based on dendrimers will be applied in the biomedical field

Diagnostic and prognostic value of ferroptosis-related genes in patients with Myelodysplastic neoplasms

ABSTRACTThis study delves into the emerging role of ferroptosis in Myelodysplastic Neoplasms (MDS) and aims to identify a prognostic ferroptosis-related gene signature for MDS. Utilizing RNA-seq data and clinical information from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, the researchers extracted ferroptosis-related genes from the FerrDb website and conducted differential expression analysis using the 'limma' package in R. Hub ferroptosis-related genes in MDS were screened using the “RandomForest” and “carat” R packages. Kaplan -Meier and Cox regression analyses were employed to assess the prognostic role of three identified hub genes (BNIP3, MDM2, and RRM2). Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis confirmed the diagnostic efficacy of these genes. The study delved further into immune infiltration correlations, ncRNA-transcription factor coregulatory network analysis, and the identification of potential therapeutic drugs targeting hub ferroptosis-related genes in MDS. The researchers constructed a 3-gene signature-based risk score using datasets GSE58831 and GSE19429, demonstrating high accuracy (AUC > 0.75) in both datasets for survival prediction in MDS. A nomogram analysis reinforced the prognostic value of the risk-scoring model. Immunological analysis revealed an association between the risk score and immune infiltration. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) data indicated significant expression differences in MDM2, RRM2, and BNIP3 between MDS and healthy bone marrow samples. Notably, MDM2 and RRM2 showed decreased expression, while BNIP3 exhibited increased expression in MDS samples. This comprehensive study concludes that BNIP3, MDM2, and RRM2 hold diagnostic and prognostic significance in MDS and provide valuable insights into immune cell landscapes and potential therapeutic avenues for this condition