Sensor networks are an example of a wireless network that needs each sensor to execute events in synchronization. This synchronization is necessary to coordinate power cycles to conserve energy and to ensure the proper functioning of sensors that measure time-sensitive events. Clock synchronization is important to the operation of each distributed wireless sensor network (WSN) because it sets a...

Ecosystem analysis has established nutrient cycling as an important area of ecology involving biological, chemical, and geological interactions. Studying the flow of elements through ecosystems provides us with a tool for understanding the functioning of ecosystems. For example, if an ecosystem component has a rapid flux of elements through it, or if it stores large amounts of an element, that ...

Sepiapterin reductase (SPR) catalyzes the reduction of sepiapterin to dihydrobiopterin (BH2), the precursor for tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), a cofactor critical for nitric oxide biosynthesis and alkylglycerol and aromatic amino acid metabolism. SPR also mediates chemical redox cycling, catalyzing one-electron reduction of redox-active chemicals, including quinones and bipyridinium herbicides (e.g...

The kinetics of chlorophyll fluorescence were measured in Portulacaria afra (L.) Jacq. when the plants were functioning in either Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) or C(3)/CAM cycling (called cycling) modes, as determined by fluctuation in titratable acidity and gas exchange properties. Cycling plants showed primarily daytime CO(2) uptake typical of C(3) plants, but with a slight diurnal acid ...

Ni and Co K-edge X-ray absorption spectra of LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 have been collected using in situ coin cells. To investigate the electronic and structural changes accompanied by the capacity fading during electrochemical cycling and keeping batteries at high temperatures, the cells with different cycling states and keeping conditions (temperature, time) were prepared. Upon charging the cell, the Ni...

Transition metal fluoride/carbon nanocomposites have been under extensive investigation in the past ten years due to their theoretical high capacity in the range of 500 to 800 mAh/g [1]. In this study, the structural changes of FeOF/C positive electrode during lithiation/delithiation have been studied as a function of number of cycles (up to 20) under constant cycling current of 50 mA/g and at ...

The further development of all-solid-state batteries is still limited by the understanding/engineering of the interfaces formed upon cycling. Here, we correlate the morphological, chemical, and electrical changes of the surface of thin-film devices with Al negative electrodes. The stable Al-Li-O alloy formed at the stress-free surface of the electrode causes rapid capacity fade, from 48.0 to 41...

A roadblock to the development of stand-alone microscale biomedical and chemical analysis systems is the relatively high heating power requirement of the microscale reactors, which typically exceeds the capability of low cost batteries. In this study, a microchannel thermal cycling reactor design using in-channel heating and passive cooling is proposed and a numerical model has been developed. ...

This article outlines the important biogeochemical roles that fungi play in the degradation, utilization and transformation of organic and inorganic substrates. Fungal populations are intimately involved in element cycling at local and global scales and such processes have major implications for living organisms, notably plant productivity and human health. While most attention has focussed on ...