An Efficient Metaheuristic-Based Clustering with Routing Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

In recent years, the underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN) has received a significant interest among research communities for several applications, such as disaster management, water quality prediction, environmental observance, underwater navigation, etc. The UWSN comprises a massive number of sensors placed in rivers and oceans for observing the underwater environment. However, the underwater sensors are restricted to energy and it is tedious to recharge/replace batteries, resulting in energy efficiency being a major challenge. Clustering and multi-hop routing protocols are considered energy-efficient solutions for UWSN. However, the cluster-based routing protocols for traditional wireless networks could not be feasible for UWSN owing to the underwater current, low bandwidth, high water pressure, propagation delay, and error probability. To resolve these issues and achieve energy efficiency in UWSN, this study focuses on designing the metaheuristics-based clustering with a routing protocol for UWSN, named MCR-UWSN. The goal of the MCR-UWSN technique is to elect an efficient set of cluster heads (CHs) and route to destination. The MCR-UWSN technique involves the designing of cultural emperor penguin optimizer-based clustering (CEPOC) techniques to construct clusters. Besides, the multi-hop routing technique, alongside the grasshopper optimization (MHR-GOA) technique, is derived using multiple input parameters. The performance of the MCR-UWSN technique was validated, and the results are inspected in terms of different measures. The experimental results highlighted an enhanced performance of the MCR-UWSN technique over the recent state-of-art techniques.

Characterization of Bioactivities and Biosynthesis of Angucycline/Angucyclinone Derivatives Derived from Gephyromycinifex aptenodytis gen. nov., sp. nov.

Strain NJES-13T is the type strain and currently the only species of the newly established actinobacteria genera Aptenodytes in the family Dermatophilaceae isolated from the gut microbiota of the Antarctic emperor penguin. This strain demonstrated excellent bioflocculation activity with bacteria-derived exopolysaccharides (EPSs). Moreover, it produced bioactive angucycline/angucyclinone derivatives (ADs) and contained one type III polyketide synthase (T3PKS), thus demonstrating great potential to produce novel bioactive compounds. However, the low productivity of the potential new AD metabolite was the main obstacle for its chemical structure elucidation. In this study, to increase the concentration of targeted metabolites, the influence of cellular morphology on AD metabolism in strain NJES-13T was determined using glass bead-enhanced fermentation. Based on the cellular ultra-structural observation driven by bacterial EPSs, and quantitative analysis of the targeted metabolites, the successful increasing of the productivity of three AD metabolites was achieved. Afterward, a new frigocyclinone analogue was isolated and then identified as 2-hydroxy-frigocyclinone, as well as two other known ADs named 2-hydroxy-tetrangomycin (2-HT) and gephyromycin (GPM). Three AD metabolites were found to demonstrate different bioactivities. Both C-2 hydroxyl substitutes, 2-hydroxy-tetrangomycin and 2-hydroxy-frigocyclinone, exhibited variable inhibitory activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans. Moreover, the newly identified 2-hydroxy-frigocyclinone also showed significant cytotoxicity against three tested human-derived cancerous cell lines (HL-60, Bel-7402 and A549), with all obtained IC50 values less than 10 µM. Based on the genetic analysis after genomic mining, the plausible biogenetic pathway of the three bioactive ADs in strain NJES-13T was also proposed.

Selection-driven adaptation to the extreme Antarctic environment in the Emperor penguin

The eco-evolutionary history of penguins is profoundly influenced by their shift from temperate to cold environments. Breeding only in Antarctica during the winter, the Emperor penguin appears as an extreme outcome of this process, with unique features related to insulation, heat production and energy management. However, whether this species actually diverged from a less cold-adapted ancestor, thus more similar in ecology to its sister species, the King penguin, is still an open question. As the Antarctic niche shift likely resulted in vast changes in selective pressure experienced by the Emperor penguin, the identification and relative quantification of the genomic signatures of selection, unique to each of these sister species, could answer this question. Applying a suite of phylogeny-based methods on 7,651 orthologous gene alignments of seven penguins and 13 other birds, we identified a set of candidate genes showing significantly different selection regimes either in the Emperor or in the King penguin lineage. Our comparative approach unveils a more pervasive selection shift in the Emperor penguin, supporting the hypothesis that its extreme cold adaptation is a derived state from a more King penguin-like ecology. Among the candidate genes under selection in the Emperor penguin, four genes (TRPM8, LEPR, CRB1, and SFI1) were identified before in other cold adapted vertebrates, while, on the other hand, 161 genes can be assigned to functional pathways relevant to cold adaptation (e.g., cardiovascular system, lipid, fatty acid and glucose metabolism, insulation, etc.). Our results show that extreme cold adaptation in the Emperor penguin largely involved unique genetic options which, however, affect metabolic and physiological traits common to other cold-adapted homeotherms.

Algoritma Emperor Penguin pada Efisiensi Pengiriman Produk UMKM dengan Konsep Pembagian Ongkos Kirim

Di Era Pandemi saat ini, perkembangan ekonomi atau bisnis Usaha Mikro, Kecil, dan Menengah (UMKM) semakin menjamur di masyarakat. Perkembangan UMKM ini tidak hanya berhenti pada jumlah saja akan tetapi juga pada sistem pemesanan UMKM tersebut. Saat ini banyak UMKM yang menerapkan konsep Pre-Order (PO) di dalam pemesanannya dimana mayoritas UMKM tersebut merupakan UMKM yang memasarkan produknya melalui media sosial atau chating. Munculnya sistem baru ini memunculkan juga beberapa permasalahan bagi UMKM, salah satu diantaranya adalah besarnya biaya pengiriman apabila sebuah produk dikirim secara khusus ke seorang pembeli. Hal ini mungkin tidak terlihat memberatkan bagi UMKM akan tetapi permasalahan ini memberatkan pelanggan dan semakin mahal biaya yang harus dikeluarkan pelanggan maka akan semakin kecil kemungkinan pelanggan membeli produk di UMKM tersebut. Penelitian ini berfokus pada dua hal, yang pertama adalah menyediakan marketplace bagi UMKM Pre-Order yang dapat mengatasi permasalahan biaya pengiriman dan kedua adalah dampak Algoritma Emperor Penguin pada pencarian rute pengiriman. Marketplace UMKM Pre-Order yang dikembangkan akan menerapkan teknologi fluter dan berbasiskan mobile apps. Hal ini dikarenakan semakin besarnya pengaruh mobile apps di kalangan masyarakat dibandingkan web apps atau desktop apps. Mobile Apps akan secara otomatis melakukan pencarian rute pengiriman untuk seluruh pre-order yang terjadi pada hari tertentu dan melakukan assign kepada driver yang bertugas dimana rute yang dicari bukan hanya berdasarkan jarak melainkan juga berdasarkan biaya pengiriman yang dikeluarkan oleh keseluruhan pembeli pada 1x pengiriman. Algoritma Emperor Penguin akan berusaha mencari rute pengiriman yang terdekat dan biaya yang dikeluarkan pembeli yang terkecil. Setelah melalui berbagai ujicoba, dapat disimpulkan bahwa 94.7% UMKM yang didukung oleh penelitian ini puas dan merasa terbantu, 97.4% pelanggan merasa terbantu dengan sistem pembagian ongkos kirim, dan Algoritma Emperor Penguin bekerja dengan baik dan dapat menghasilkan rute optimal dengan ongkos terkecil.

Regional Differences in the Diets of Adélie and Emperor Penguins in the Ross Sea, Antarctica

To identify the dietary composition and characteristics of both Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and Emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri) penguins at four breeding sites, we performed stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis of down samples taken from penguin chicks. Adélie Penguin chicks at Cape Hallett mostly fed on Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba; 65.5 ± 3.5%), a reflection of the prevalence of that species near Cape Hallett, and no significant differences were noted between 2017 and 2018. However, Adélie Penguin chicks at Inexpressible Island, located near Terra Nova Bay, fed on both Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica; 42.5%) and ice krill (Euphausia crystallorophias; 47%), reflecting the high biomass observed in Terra Nova Bay. Meanwhile, no significant difference was noted between the two breeding sites of the Emperor Penguin. Emperor Penguin chicks predominantly fed on Antarctic silverfish (74.5 ± 2.1%) at both breeding sites (Cape Washington and Coulman Island), suggesting that diet preference represents the main factor influencing Emperor Penguin foraging. In contrast, the diet of the Adélie Penguin reflects presumed regional differences in prey prevalence, as inferred from available survey data.