GRID: A Fully Location-Aware Routing Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is one consisting of a set of mobile hosts capable of communicating with each other without the assistance of base stations. One prospective direction to assist routing in such an environment is to use location information provided by positioning devices such as global positioning systems (GPS). In this paper, we propose a new routing protocol called GRID, which tries to exploit location information in route discovery, packet relay, and route maintenance. Existing protocols, as compared to ours, are either not location-aware or partially location-aware in that location knowledge is not fully exploited in all these three aspects. One attractive feature of our protocol is its strong route maintenance capability – the intermediate hosts of a route can perform a handoff operation similar to that in cellular systems when it roams away to keep a route alive. This makes routes in the MANET more stable and insensitive to host mobility. Simulation results show that our GRID routing protocol can reduce the probability of route breakage, reduce the number of route discovery packets used, and lengthen routes' lifetime.     

Numerical simulation of flow patterns of disks in the asymmetric louvered-wall moving granular filter bed

Using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) model [P.A. Cundall, O. Strack, Geotechnique, 29 (1979) 47.], the granular solid flow pattern histories, velocity field and quasi-stagnant zone development close to the louvered walls of six kinds of 2-D asymmetrical moving granular filter beds were studied numerically. The numerical results reported here and the experimental results [J.T. Kuo, J. Smid, S.S. Hsiau, C.Y. Wang, C.S. Chou, Filtr. Sep., 35(6) (1998) 529.] provide fundamental and important information for designing moving granular bed high-temperature flue gas cleanup filters.     

PD-L1 Expression in Monocytes Correlates with Bacterial Burden and Treatment Outcomes in Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis

The PD-1/PD-L1 pathway is critical in T cell biology; however, the role of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients is unclear. We prospectively enrolled PTB, latent TB infection (LTBI), and non-TB, non-LTBI subjects. The expression of PD-1/PD-L1 on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was measured and correlated with clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in PTB patients. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to visualize PD-1/PD-L1-expressing cells in lung tissues from PTB patients and from murine with heat-killed MTB (HK-MTB) treatment. A total of 76 PTB, 40 LTBI, and 28 non-TB, non-LTBI subjects were enrolled. The expression of PD-1 on CD4+ T cells and PD-L1 on CD14+ monocytes was significantly higher in PTB cases than non-TB subjects. PTB patients with sputum smear/culture unconversion displayed higher PD-L1 expression on monocytes. PD-L1-expressing macrophages were identified in lung tissue from PTB patients, and co-localized with macrophages in murine lung tissues. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) whole cell lysate/EsxA stimulation of human and mouse macrophages demonstrated increased PD-L1 expression. In conclusion, increased expression of PD-L1 on monocytes in PTB patients correlated with higher bacterial burden and worse treatment outcomes. The findings suggest the involvement of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in MTB-related immune responses.     

Enhanced optical confinement and lasing characteristics of individual urchin-like ZnO microstructures prepared by oxidation of metallic Zn

We prepared urchin-like micron-sized ZnO cavities with high optical quality by oxidizing metallic Zn and proposed the mechanism that resulted in the growth of the urchin-like microstructures. The photoluminescence spectra of the ZnO microstructures had a predominant excitonic emission at room temperature. The lasing properties of the urchin-like ZnO microstructures were investigated systematically through excitation power- and size-dependent photoluminescence measurements. The results showed that a low lasing threshold with high quality factors could be achieved because of the high reflectivity of the optical reflectors formed by the tapered nanowires. The unique optical characteristics may facilitate the development of high-efficiency random lasers.     

Rapid and highly sensitive method for influenza A (H1N1) virus detection

In this study, we applied the developed paired surface plasma waves biosensor (PSPWB) in a dual-channel biosensor for rapid and sensitive detection of swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV). In conjunction with the amplitude ratio of the signal and the reference channel, the stability of the PSPWB system is significantly improved experimentally. The theoretical limit of detection (LOD) of the dual-channel PSPWB for S-OIV is 30 PFU/mL (PFU, plaque-forming unit), which was calculated from the fitting curve of the surface plasmon resonance signal with a S-OIV clinical isolate concentration in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) over a range of 18-1.8 × 10(6) PFU/mL. The LOD is 2 orders of magnitude more sensitive than the commercial rapid influenza diagnostic test at worst and an order of magnitude less sensitive than real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) whose LOD for S-OIV in PBS was determined to be 3.5 PFU/mL in this experiment. Furthermore, under in vivo conditions, this experiment demonstrates that the assay successfully measured S-OIV at a concentration of 1.8 × 10(2) PFU/mL in mimic solution, which contained PBS-diluted normal human nasal mucosa. Most importantly, the assay time took less than 20 min. From the results, the dual-channel PSPWB potentially offers great opportunity in developing an alternative PCR-free diagnostic method for rapid, sensitive, and accurate detection of viral pathogens with epidemiological relevance in clinical samples by using an appropriate pathogen-specific antibody.     

Marine Microbial Metagenomics: From Individual to the Environment

Microbes are the most abundant biological entities on earth, therefore, studying them is important for understanding their roles in global ecology. The science of metagenomics is a relatively young field of research that has enjoyed significant effort since its inception in 1998. Studies using next-generation sequencing techniques on single genomes and collections of genomes have not only led to novel insights into microbial genomics, but also revealed a close association between environmental niches and genome evolution. Herein, we review studies investigating microbial genomics (largely in the marine ecosystem) at the individual and community levels to summarize our current understanding of microbial ecology in the environment.     

Dual bacterial strains TTI for monitoring fish quality in food cold chain

Most microbial time–temperature indicators (TTIs) considered only one spoilage strain. This research compared single and dual spoilage strains-based microbial TTI for quality changes of chilled grouper fish (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus x E. lanceolatus) fillet products during distribution. The next-generation sequencing (NGS) and traditional plate count approach showed that Pseudomonas fragi and Vibrio parahaemolyticus were specific spoilage bacteria at 7 and 15°C. A dual-strain TTI response provides more accurate results than a single-strain TTI and provides an irreversible color change from yellow to reddish-brown, showing levels of fish freshness. The microbial TTI comprises fish spoilage bacteria strains with 3 log CFU/ml, a nutrient broth supplemented with 2% NaCl as a medium, and phenol red with 0.25 mg/ml as a pH indicator. Overall, this study points to the applicability of a dual-strain microbial TTI as a valuable tool for monitoring fish quality changes during cold chain break condition.     

Reducing wireless multi‐hop delay via RSU re‐routing in vehicular wireless networks

Vehicular wireless networks offer wireless multi‐hop communications between vehicles and roadside units (RSUs). To reduce deployment cost, the distance between two RSUs could be long; that is, the communications between an RSU and a vehicle may be carried out through multi‐hops among intermediate vehicles. When a vehicle is driven from one RSU to another, the wireless multi‐hop delay becomes more serious as the number of multi‐hop relays increases. The wireless multi‐hop delay is critical for some emergency service. For instance, in a traffic accident, when a patient was sent to the hospital by ambulance, the life information of the patient must be transmitted to the hospital on time through the multi‐hop wireless network. If the ambulance is moved from one RSU to another, the wireless multi‐hop delay becomes more and more serious as the ambulance is closing to another RSU. In this paper, we propose an RSU re‐routing strategy that dynamically alters multi‐hop communications until the best RSU with the shortest path using location information is found. Moreover, we compare the proposed strategy with the existing strategy in terms of broadcasting costs, re‐routing delay, and wireless multi‐hop delay of data transmission. Performance results show that the proposed strategy can reduce the wireless multi‐hop delay significantly. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Micro-patternable nanoporous polymer integrated with microstructures for molecular filtration

This paper proposes a facile method to fabricate nanoporous microstructures by a photo-patternable SU-8 photoresist, to serve as a molecular filter in microfluidic systems. The fabrication process involves solvent-controlled nanoporous structure formation combined with standard photolithography steps for microstructure fabrication. The self-formed nanoporous morphology embedded inside the microstructure exhibits a sufficient mechanical strength and eliminates complex processes or protocols for integration/assembly of nano-?and microstructures. Field emission gun scanning electronic microscopy (FEGSEM) images showed the fabricated nanoporous morphologies with embedded nanogaps of about 6-10?nm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images also depicted a clear difference on the degree of porosity between the solvent-controlled SU-8 and the standard resist. Fluorescent dyes, namely Rhodamine-B and Rhodamine-6G, were employed to estimate the diffusivity of the fabricated SU-8 based nanofilter and demonstrated that the Rhodamine based fluorescent molecules can penetrate these nanosized filtration structures. The fabricated nanofilter was capable of providing a molecular weight cut-off range up to 70?kDa, estimated roughly for a molecule with a diameter of 6-10?nm. This simple process provides a novel way to integrate the nanofiltration capability into microstructures while maintaining a sufficient mechanical strength for molecular level filtration in lab-on-chip (LOC) systems.     

Effect of bottom electrode materials on the electrical andreliability characteristics of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 capacitors

The dielectric constant and the leakage current density of (Ba, Sr)TiO₃ (BST) thin films deposited on various bottom electrode materials (Pt, Ir, IrO₂/Ir, Ru, RuO₂/Ru) before and after annealing in O₂ ambient were investigated. The improvement of crystallinity of BST films deposited on various bottom electrodes was observed after the postannealing process. The dielectric constant and leakage current of the films mere also strongly dependent on the postannealing conditions. BST thin film deposited on Ir bottom electrode at 500°C, after 700°C annealing in O₂ for 20 min, has the dielectric constant of 593, a loss tangent of 0.019 at 100 kHz, a leakage current density of 1.9×10 ^-8 A/cm² at an electric field of 200 kV/cm with a delay time of 30 s, and a charge storage density of 53 fC/μm² at an applied field of 100 kV/cm. The BST films deposited on Ir with post-annealing can obtain better dielectric properties than on other bottom electrodes in our experiments. And Ru electrode is unstable because the interdiffusion of Ru and Ti occurs at the interface between the BST and Ru after postannealing. The ten year lifetime of time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) studies indicate that BST on Pt, Ir, IrO₂/Ir, Ru, and RuO₂/Ru have long lifetimes over ten gears on operation at the voltage bias of 2 V