An artificial hummingbird algorithm based localization with reduced number of reference nodes for wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are widely used in recent years due to the advancements in wireless and sensor technologies. Many of these applications require to know the location information of nodes. This information is useful to understand the collected data and to act on them. Existing localization algorithms make use of a few reference nodes for estimating the locations of sensor nodes. But, the positioning and utilization of reference nodes increase the cost and complexity of the network. To reduce the dependency on reference nodes, in this paper, we have developed a novel optimization based localization method using only two reference nodes for the localization of the entire network. This is achieved by reference nodes identifying a few more nodes as reference nodes by the analysis of the connectivity information. The sensor nodes then use the reference nodes to identify their locations in a distributive manner using Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm (AHA). We have observed that the localization performance of the reported algorithm at a lower reference node ratio is comparable with other algorithms at higher reference node ratios.     

新型BT-BMT-xBNT无铅高储能密度陶瓷研究

本文采用传统固相反应法,成功制备了新型无铅弛豫铁电陶瓷(1-x)[0.9BaTiO₃-0.1Bi(Mg_0.25Ta_0.5)O₃]-xBi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃。结果表明,较高居里温度的Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃的引入,使得材料体系中建立了更多的以Bi—O耦合为主的极性纳米区域,弥补了因Bi(Mg_0.25Ta_0.5)O₃的加入导致的宏观极化强度的减少,提高了材料的饱和极化强度,实现了较高储能密度的同时具有更好的温度稳定性。在245 kV/cm电场强度下,x=0.2样品的储能密度约为4.01 J/cm³,储能效率约为84.86%,同时该组分在20~170 ℃储能密度的变化率小于5%,储能效率的变化率小于6%,表现出优异的温度稳定性。     

Computational design of rasagiline derivatives: Searching for enhanced antioxidant capability

A set of new rasagiline derivatives is presented. They were designed to be antioxidant compounds with the potential to be used for treating neurodegenerative disorders. They are expected to be multifunctional molecules that can help reduce oxidative stress, which is thought to contribute to neurodegenerative disorders. The CADMA-Chem computational protocol was used to produce rasagiline derivatives and to evaluate their likeliness as oral drugs and antioxidants. Three of them were identified as the most promising ones. They are proposed to be better free radical scavengers than rasagiline. In addition, they are expected to keep the parent's molecule neuroprotective capability. Hopefully, the results presented here would promote further experimental and theoretical investigations on these compounds.     

Local inverse inelastic mean free path at interface

We calculated a local inverse inelastic mean free path (local-IIMFP) for electrons crossing a medium–medium interface, considering various incident electron energies, crossing angles and combinations of materials. We used an extension of a classical dielectric model developed by Li and co-workers for an electron crossing a surface (interface vacuum-medium). Moreover, the integration over the distance of the local-IIMFP allows to obtain the interface excitation parameter (or IEP) characterizing the change in excitation probability for an electron crossing an interface once caused by the presence of the interface in comparison with an electron for which only volume excitations are considered. We perform these calculations for angles between 0° and 80°, for electron energies between 500 and 2500 eV and for various pairs of materials, as Al/In for its academic interest or Au/Si and SiO₂/Si for their technological importance. Small but not negligible variations of the local-IIMFP and the IEP were observed for metal–metal or metal–semiconductor interfaces, while quite significant variations are obtained when one of the materials is a insulator.     

Instantaneous Free Radical Scavenging by CeO2 Nanoparticles Adjacent to the Fe−N4 Active Sites for Durable Fuel Cells

To achieve the Fe−N−C materials with both high activity and durability in proton exchange membrane fuel cells, the attack of free radicals on Fe−N₄ sites must be overcome. Herein, we report a strategy to effectively eliminate radicals at the source to mitigate the degradation by anchoring CeO₂ nanoparticles as radicals scavengers adjacent (Sca^ad-CeO2) to the Fe−N₄ sites. Radicals such as ⋅OH and HO₂⋅ that form at Fe−N₄ sites can be instantaneously eliminated by adjacent CeO₂, which shortens the survival time of radicals and the regional space of their damage. As a result, the CeO₂ scavengers in Fe−NC/Sca^ad-CeO2 achieved ∼80 % elimination of the radicals generated at the Fe−N₄ sites. A fuel cell prepared with the Fe−NC/Sca^ad-CeO2 showed a smaller peak power density decay after 30,000 cycles determined with US DOE PGM-relevant AST, increasing the decay of Fe−NC_Phen from 69 % to 28 % decay.     

Transition Metal Free Chemoselective Reduction of α,β‐Unsaturated Ketones to Saturated Ketones Using Tosyl Hydrazide as a Hydrogen Donor

An efficient, inexpensive and simple method for the reduction of various α,β‐unsaturated ketones to corresponding saturated ketones using tosyl hydrazide as a hydrogen donor in DMF using calcium oxide powder has been reported. A variety of enones underwent reduction without forming undesirable side products. High chemoselectivity, broad functional group tolerance and good yields are the noteworthy features of this protocol.     

Solvent free synthesis of trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols by cross Aldol reaction

Exceedingly fast preparation of trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols has been accomplished from methyl ketones and trifluoromethyl ketones under solvent free conditions by cross Aldol reaction. The reaction was achieved in the presence of common inorganic base by grinding method at ambient temperature to give β-trifluoromethyl-β-hydroxyl ketones in high yields (up to 95%).     

Lewis Acid Catalyzed Condensation–Cyclization Cascade: Direct Synthesis of Di/Trifluoromethyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinazolines

Condensed heterocycles such as quinazolines constitute the framework of many promising drugs. The great impact of the dramatic fluorine effect in pharmaceuticals prompted a great surge in the quest for fluorinated drug design resulting in over 20 % fluorine‐containing drugs in the market today. Therefore, finding an efficient and cost‐effective method for the direct synthesis of fluorine‐tagged quinazoline systems is of great significance in the pharmaceutical arena. For the first time, a one‐pot sequential condensation–cyclization reaction to form selectively the difluoro/trifluoromethylated tetrahydroquinazolines from simple components difluoro/trifluoroacetaldehyde hemiacetal and aromatic amines is reported. Our recent studies using difluoro/trifluoroacetaldehyde hemiacetal as simple and elegant difluoro/trifluoromethyl synthons and metal triflates such as gallium triflate as safe and stable Lewis acid catalysts led us to this direct synthesis protocol for the expedient and convenient synthesis of fluorinated quinazolines. DFT calculations at PCM/B3LYP/6‐31++G** were carried out for evaluating a possible reaction mechanism for this cyclization. According to the DFT calculations, product stereochemistry is thermodynamically driven, favoring the cis isomer as the major product, which is also confirmed experimentally.