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This article investigates the capacity problem of an integrated remote wireless sensor and satellite network (IWSSN) in emergency scenarios. We formulate a general model to evaluate the remote sensor and satellite network capacity. Compared to most existing works for ground networks, the proposed model is time varying and space oriented. To capture the characteristics of a practical network, we sift through major capacity-impacting constraints and analyze the influence of these constraints. Specifically, we combine the geometric satellite orbit model and satellite tool kit (STK) engineering software to quantify the trends of the capacity constraints. Our objective in analyzing these trends is to provide insights and design guidelines for optimizing the integrated remote wireless sensor and satellite network schedules. Simulation results validate the theoretical analysis of capacity trends and show the optimization opportunities of the IWSSN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the topology control problem in the space information network (SIN) using a hierarchical autonomous system (AS) approach. We propose an AS network topology control (AS-TC) algorithm to minimize the time delay in the SIN. Compared with most existing approaches for SIN where either the purely centralized or the purely distributed control method is adopted, the proposed algorithm is a hybrid control method. In order to reduce the cost of control, the control message exchange is constrained among neighboring sub-AS networks. We prove that the proposed algorithm achieve logical k-connectivity on the condition that the original physical topology is k-connectivity. Simulation results validate the theoretic analysis and effectiveness of the AS-TC algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Arctic, climate warming enhances vegetation activity by extending the length of the growing season and intensifying maximum rates of productivity. In turn, increased vegetation productivity reduces albedo, which causes a positive feedback on temperature. Over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), regional vegetation greening has also been observed in response to recent warming. Here, we show that in contrast to arctic regions, increased growing season vegetation activity over the TP may have attenuated surface warming. This negative feedback on growing season vegetation temperature is attributed to enhanced evapotranspiration (ET). The extra energy available at the surface, which results from lower albedo, is efficiently dissipated by evaporative cooling. The net effect is a decrease in daily maximum temperature and the diurnal temperature range, which is supported by statistical analyses of in situ observations and by decomposition of the surface energy budget. A daytime cooling effect from increased vegetation activity is also modeled from a set of regional weather research and forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model simulations, but with a magnitude smaller than observed, likely because theWRF model simulates a weaker ET enhancement. Our results suggest that actions to restore native grasslands in degraded areas, roughly one-third of the plateau, will both facilitate a sustainable ecological development in this region and have local climate cobenefits. More accurate simulations of the biophysical coupling between the land surface and the atmosphere are needed to help understand regional climate change over the TP, and possible larger scale feedbacks between climate in the TP and the Asian monsoon system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper derives the channel estimation of a discrete cosine transform- (DCT-) based orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) system over a frequency-selective multipath fading channel. Channel estimation has been proved to improve system throughput and performance by allowing for coherent demodulation. Pilot-aided methods are traditionally used to learn the channel response. Least square (LS) and mean square error estimators(MMSE) are investigated.We also study a compressed sensing (CS) based channel estimation, which takes the sparse property of wireless channel into account. Simulation results have shown that the CS based channel estimation is expected to have better performance than LS.HoweverMMSE can achieve optimal performance because of prior knowledge of the channel statistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ephemerally wet playas are conspicuous features of arid landscapes worldwide; however, they have not been well studied as habitats for microorganisms. We tracked the geochemistry and microbial community in Silver Lake playa, California, over one flooding/desiccation cycle following the unusually wet winter of 2004–2005. Over the course of the study, total dissolved solids increased by ∽10-fold and pH increased by nearly one unit. As the lake contracted and temperatures increased over the summer, a moderately dense planktonic population of ∽1 × 106 cells ml−1 of culturable heterotrophs was replaced by a dense population of more than 1 × 109 cells ml−1, which appears to be the highest concentration of culturable planktonic heterotrophs reported in any natural aquatic ecosystem. This correlated with a dramatic depletion of nitrate as well as changes in the microbial community, as assessed by small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequencing of bacterial isolates and uncultivated clones. Isolates from the early-phase flooded playa were primarily Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes, yet clone libraries were dominated by Betaproteobacteria and yet uncultivated Actinobacteria. Isolates from the late-flooded phase ecosystem were predominantly Proteobacteria, particularly alkalitolerant isolates of Rhodobaca, Porphyrobacter, Hydrogenophaga, Alishwenella, and relatives of Thauera; however, clone libraries were composed almost entirely of Synechococcus (Cyanobacteria). A sample taken after the playa surface was completely desiccated contained diverse culturable Actinobacteria typically isolated from soils. In total, 205 isolates and 166 clones represented 82 and 44 species-level groups, respectively, including a wide diversity of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria, and Cyanobacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saline lakes at high altitudes represent an important and extreme microbial ecosystem, yet little is known about microbial diversity in such environments. The objective of this study was to examine the change of microbial diversity from the bottom of the lake to sediments of 40 cm in depth in a core from Qinghai Lake. The lake is saline (12.5 g/L salinity) and alkaline (pH 9.4) and is located on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau at an altitude of 3196 m above sea level. Pore water chemistry of the core revealed low concentrations of sulfate and iron (<1 mM), but high concentrations of acetate (40–70 mM) and dissolved organic carbon (1596–5443 mg/L). Total organic carbon and total nitrogen contents in the sediments were ∼2 and <0.5%, respectively. Acridine orange direct count data indicated that cell numbers decreased from 4 × 109 cells/g at the water–sediment interface to 6× 107 cells/g wet sediment at the 40-cm depth. This change in biomass was positively correlated with acetate concentration in pore water. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) community structure analyses determined decrease in the proportion of the Proteobacteria and increase in the Firmicutes with increased depth. Characterization of small subunit (SSU) rRNA genes amplified from the sediments indicated a shift in the bacterial community with depth. Whereas the α-, β-, and γ- Proteobacteria and the Cytophaga/ Flavobacterium/ Bacteroides (CFB) were dominant at the water–sediment interface, low G + C gram-positive bacteria (a subgroup of Firmicutes) became the predominant group in the anoxic sediments. Both PLFA and the sequence data showed similar trend. The Proteobacteria, CFB, and gram-positive bacteria are present in other saline lakes, but thepresence of Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria/ Holophaga in significant proportions in the Qinghai Lake sediments appears to be unique. The archaeal diversity was much lower, and clone sequences could be grouped inthe Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota domains. The archaeal clones were not related to any known cultures but to sequences previously found in methane-rich sediments. Acetate-utilizing methanogens were isolated from sediment incubations, and α- and γ-proteobacterial isolates were obtained from a water sample from the lakebottom (23 m). Our data collectively showed that the observed diversity and shift in the community structure with depth was correlated with geochemical parameters (the redox state and availability of electron acceptor and donor). Heterotrophic methanogenesis is possibly adominant metabolic process in the Qinghai Lake sediments. These results reinforce the importance of geochemical controls on microbial ecology in saline and alkaline lake environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of IoT technology and 5G massive machine-type communication, the 3GPP standardization body considered as viable the integration of Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) in low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based architectures. However, the presence of the LEO satellite channel comes up with new challenges for the NB-IoT random access procedures and coverage enhancement mechanism. In this paper, an Adaptive Coverage Enhancement (ACE) method is proposed to meet the requirement of random access parameter configurations for diverse applications. Based on stochastic geometry theory, an expression of random access channel (RACH) success probability is derived for LEO satellite-based NB-IoT networks. On the basis of a power consumption model of the NB-IoT terminal, a multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to trade-off RACH success probability and power consumption. To solve this multi-objective optimization problem, we employ the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithms-II (NSGA-II) method to obtain the Pareto-front solution set. According to different application requirements, we also design a random access parameter configuration method to minimize the power consumption under the constraints of RACH success probability requirements. Simulation results show that the maximum number of repetitions and back-off window size have a great influence on the system performance and their value ranges should be set within [4, 18] and [0, 2048]. The power consumption of coverage enhancement with ACE is about 58% lower than that of the 3GPP proposed model. All this research together provides good reference for the scale deployment of NB-IoT in LEO satellite networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clays and clay minerals are common components in soils, sediments, and sedimentary rocks, and they play an important role in many environmental processes. Iron is ubiquitous in clays and clay minerals and its oxidation state, in part, controls the physical and chemical properties of these fine-grained minerals. The structural ferric iron in clay minerals can be reduced either chemically or biologically. Biological reductants include mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms from diverse environments such as soils, sediments, sedimentary rocks, and hydrothermal hot springs. Multiple clay minerals have been used for microbial reduction studies, including dioctahedral smectite-illite series, palygorskite, chlorite, and their various mixtures in natural soils and sediments. All of these clay minerals are reducible by microorganisms under various conditions with smectite (nontronite) being the most reducible and illite the least. The rate and extent of bioreduction depends on many experimental factors, such as the type of microorganisms and clay minerals, solution chemistry, and temperature. Despite significant efforts, current understanding of the mechanisms of microbial reduction of ferric iron in clay minerals is still limited. Whereas some studies have presented evidence for a solid-state reduction mechanism, others argue that the clay mineral structure partially dissolves when the extent of reduction is high. This inconsistency may be related to several experimental conditions, and their specific effects are discussed in this paper. Whereas past experiments have been largely conducted in well-controlled laboratory systems, recent efforts have attempted to transfer knowledge to the field to improve our understanding of more complex soil systems for better agricultural practices. Biologically reduced clay minerals are also important agents in remediating inorganic and organic contaminants in soil and groundwater systems. This paper reviews the most recent developments and suggests some directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We employed culture-dependent and -independent techniques to study microbial diversity in Lake Chaka, a unique hypersaline lake (32.5% salinity) in northwest China. It is situated at 3,214 m above sea level in a dry climate. The average water depth is 2 to 3 cm. Halophilic isolates were obtained from the lake water, and halotolerant isolates were obtained from the shallow sediment. The isolates exhibited resistance to UV and gamma radiation. Microbial abundance in the sediments ranged from 108 cells/g at the water-sediment interface to 107 cells/g at a sediment depth of 42 cm. A major change in the bacterial community composition was observed across the interface. In the lake water, clone sequences affiliated with the Bacteroidetes were the most abundant, whereas in the sediments, sequences related to low G+C gram-positive bacteria were predominant. A similar change was also present in the archaeal community. While all archaeal clone sequences in the lake water belonged to the Halobacteriales, the majority of the sequences in the sediments were related to those previously obtained from methanogenic soils and sediments. The observed changes in the microbial community structure across the water-sediment interface were correlated with a decrease in salinity from the lake water (32.5%) to the sediments (approximately 4%). Across the interface, the redox state also changed from oxic to anoxic and may also have contributed to the observed shift in the microbial community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern methods to develop microbe-based biomass conversion processes require a system-level understanding of the microbes involved. Clostridium species have long been recognized as ideal candidates for processes involving biomass conversion and production of various biofuels and other industrial products. To expand the knowledge base for clostridial species relevant to current biofuel production efforts, we have sequenced the genomes of 20 species spanning multiple genera. The majority of species sequenced fall within the class III cellulosome-encoding Clostridium and the class V saccharolytic Thermoanaerobacteraceae. Species were chosen based on representation in the experimental literature as model organisms, ability to degrade cellulosic biomass either by free enzymes or by cellulosomes, ability to rapidly ferment hexose and pentose sugars to ethanol, and ability to ferment synthesis gas to ethanol. The sequenced strains significantly increase the number of noncommensal/nonpathogenic clostridial species and provide a key foundation for future studies of biomass conversion, cellulosome composition, and clostridial systems biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]