Military Areas Research Articles

Slovak-Russian Cooperation in Military and Military-Industrial Areas or Where Does Business End and Politics Begin

Slovak-Russian Cooperation in Military and Military-Industrial Areas or Where Does Business End and Politics Begin

Mapping Forest Parameters to Model the Mobility of Terrain Vehicles

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using non-contact data collection methods—specifically, UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)-based and terrestrial laser scanning technologies—to assess forest stand passability, which is crucial for military operations. The research was conducted in a mixed forest stand in the Březina military training area, where the position of trees and their DBHs (Diameter Breast Heights) were recorded. The study compared the effectiveness of different methods, including UAV RGB imaging, UAV-LiDAR, and handheld mobile laser scanning (HMLS), in detecting tree positions and estimating DBH. The results indicate that HMLS data provided the highest number of detected trees and the most accurate positioning relative to the reference measurements. UAV-LiDAR showed better tree detection compared to UAV RGB imaging, though both aerial methods struggled with canopy penetration in densely structured forests. The study also found significant variability in DBH estimation, especially in complex forest stands, highlighting the challenges of accurate tree detection in diverse environments. The findings suggest that while current non-contact methods show promise, further refinement and integration of data sources are necessary to improve their applicability for assessing forest passability in military or rescue contexts.

An analysis of the potential for military zones to be used as green spaces in the Ankara metropolitan area (Türkiye)

Urban periphery belts play a crucial role in preserving the morphological characteristics of cities. These belts often encompass various zones, including designated Military Zones, each of which contributes to structural integrity of urban spaces. Due to the vast expanse of military areas and associated security concerns, the relocation of these zones to the city’s outskirts is a recurring topic of discussion in Türkiye. Presuming the occurrence of such a possibility, how these zones will transform into functional urban spaces in terms of urban morphology is going to be vital. This study focuses on the potential of converting military zones in the urban periphery of Ankara into green spaces, highlighting the importance of such transformations for urban ecology and the preservation of green areas. To identify the existing green spaces within the military zones of the study area, vegetation indices such as Sentinel-2’s NDVI, NDMI, GCI, RVI, NDBI, and NISI were utilized, and comprehensive green space analyses were conducted. The findings indicate that the current green space allocation per capita in the region is 5 m2. However, when military zones are incorporated as regional parks alongside existing urban green spaces, this figure increases significantly to 14.4 m² per person. Additionally, to determine the accessibility of military zones converted into regional parks in terms of walking distance and their serviceable radius, several analyses have also been conducted. The conversion of military zones into regional parks and the development of related projects in Ankara would provide substantial benefits from a public policy perspective.

Academician Vladimir Vasilievich Kovanov (1909–1994) (on the 115th anniversary of his birth)

A prominent Soviet surgeon, a well-known specialist in the field of topographic anatomy, operative and military surgery, a talented scientist and teacher, academician (1963) and vice-president (1966) of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, honored scientist of the RSFSR (1965), laureate of the USSR State Prize, Rector of the 1st MMI named after I. M. Sechenov (1956–1966), Professor Vladimir Vasilievich Kovanov was born on March 13 (February 28, old style) 1909 in St. Petersburg into a working-class family. In 1931, V. V. Kovanov graduated from the 1st Moscow Medical Institute and continued his postgraduate studies at the Department of Pathological Anatomy under the guidance of Professor A. I. Abrikosova. For medical reasons, he changed his specialization and moved to the Department of Surgery, headed by Academician N. N. Burdenko. During the Great Patriotic War, he worked as a surgeon in a triage hospital in Yaroslavl, in an evacuation hospital in Kazan, then served as the head of the surgical department of the field mobile hospital of the 5th shock army, the chief surgeon of the 44th army and the chief surgeon of the 28th army, in whose ranks he reached to Berlin with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the medical service.In 1946, V. V. Kovanov defended his doctoral dissertation and in 1947, took the position of head of the department of operative surgery and topographic anatomy of the 1st Moscow Medical Institute named after I. M. Sechenov (1947–1988), from 1956 to 1966, was the rector of this institute, since 1988 – consulting professor. Vladimir Vasilievich was the author and co-author of more than 130 scientific works, including 7 monographs and manuals. His main works were devoted to the treatment of chest wounds, anaerobic infection, traumatic shock, the organization of surgical work in the military area, the anatomy of fascia and cellular spaces, surgery of the heart and blood vessels, organ and tissue transplantation.V. Kovanov was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Red Banner, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, two Orders of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, six medals, and many badges of honor. Academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences V. V. Kovanov died on February 22, 1994 in Moscow and was buried at the Troekurovskoye cemetery.

Seasonality in Sonoran pronghorn survival and movement within a managed rangeland

AbstractThe endangered Sonoran pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis) has a large portion of its range within a military operations area in southwestern Arizona, USA. Sonoran pronghorn have been actively managed in this region for more than 20 years. Recovery efforts have included release of captive‐born pronghorn into areas both currently and historically occupied by wild pronghorn. These areas provide habitat for federally endangered essential and experimental non‐essential, referred to as 10(j), pronghorn populations. More than 20 years of monitoring efforts have resulted in a large dataset on their spatial occurrence and movement within these areas. To synthesize long‐term trends and seasonality in Sonoran pronghorn movement and mortality, we employed a suite of quantitative analyses that characterized the pronghorns' 1) individual and population‐level home ranges, 2) occurrence near active military targets, 3) trends in seasonal group sizes and composition, 4) sex‐ and group‐specific survivorship, and 5) changes in movement‐based behavior following release from captivity. We found strong seasonal trends throughout, including sex‐specific differences in seasonal movement rates, home ranges, survival, and group composition. Further, captive‐born pronghorn released into the endangered population exhibited markedly higher survival compared to those released in 10(j) areas. Captive‐born pronghorn exhibited significant seasonal use of active military target areas. These analyses, which represent the most comprehensive analysis of Sonoran pronghorn movement and survival to date, have important implications for the future conservation and management of this endangered species. Our results indicate that active management of endangered Sonoran pronghorn has successfully increased survival, and we recommend maintaining or increasing current recovery efforts, such as captive breeding and placement of supplemental resources throughout their range (e.g., freestanding water and supplemental forage), to further boost the survivorship of both wild‐ and captive‐born pronghorn. Moreover, future management efforts could use our seasonality results to create dynamic prediction models of when and where pronghorn are likely to overlap with military activities to best manage interactions. Our methods have added application to other mobile species of conservation interest occurring in disturbed and resource‐limited landscapes.

Ever-shifting border: West Bank case study, Palestine

ABSTRACT In 1949, the West Bank “Green Line” (or the “Armistice Line”) was established and drawn on maps of Palestine, but it is not a firm border: the line is continuously shifting due to its elastic and virtual nature. The border in the region has shifted to accommodate Israeli expansion strategies. Colonies, checkpoints, military areas, security zones, and a physical wall are the driving forces of border elasticity and dynamics. This study aims to shed light on the chronological border shifting by Israel, leading to changes in the current border situation on the ground. The research presented here focuses on a study area of 30 × 30-km sq, in which the border was shifted many times inside the West Bank region. Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies were used as the main analytical tool. The outcomes of the research are maps illustrating the border shifts and its reasons.

Forestal management based on acoustical values

Around and on military training areas there are usually a large number of forest stands. These primarily fulfil the special requirements of military use due to their special structure and tar-geted development. In particular, the dust, visual and noise protection functions of the forests protect the civilian environment from the undesirable effects of military training operations. The aim of forestal management measures in the forest stands is to provide and ensure these functions by selecting suitable tree species and optimising stand structures. A forest attenua-tion model has been developed in recent years, in which the acoustic attenuation of a forest stand can be deduced from forestal parameters. Furthermore, a method has been developed to predict the overall acoustic attenuation of several consecutive stands. For the planning and assessment of silvicultural measures in military functional forests with regard to their effects on noise attenuation, however, further definitions are necessary in order to be able to draw simple, comprehensible conclusions from the wealth of possible variations. The presentation introduces the models as well as the other necessary definitions and shows their application using an example.

Large, but Dispersal-Limited Populations of the Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia Persist on Abandoned Military Training Areas Three Decades After the End of the Cold War.

Military training areas can host important biodiversity, due to the preservation of diverse, nutrient-poor historical cultural landscapes and an insect-friendly disturbance regime. In Europe, many training areas were abandoned after the end of the cold war in 1991 and the withdrawal of the Allied and Soviet forces. Many of these are now protected areas, and current management strategies vary from rewilding to active habitat management such as grazing or mowing. In a capture-release-recapture approach, marking 2418 individuals, we assessed the population size and movement patterns of the dry ecotype of the Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia Rottemburg 1775 on three former military training areas in Germany that varied in size and management (natural succession, mowing, and sheep-/goat grazing). Euphydryas aurinia is a rare and declining butterfly species listed in Annex II of the European Union Habitats Directive. Jolly-Seber models revealed a large population of ca. 19,000 individuals on the largest study site and a smaller population at a second site, whereas recapture rates were too low to predict the population size reliably at a third site. Population densities were 190-194 butterflies ha-1 at the unmanaged, large site and 56-71 butterflies ha-1 at a smaller site grazed with sheep. Thirty-nine percent of the recapture events occurred within the same 1-ha-study plot. The average minimum flight distance between the study plots was 313 m for males and 328 m for females. The maximum lifetime flight distance was 1237 m within 3 days. No dispersal was detected between study sites. Thirty years after cessation of the military use, the large former training site still held what likely is one of the largest populations of the species dry ecotype in Central Europe, including in areas where management ceased already in 1991. This suggests remarkable persistence of the species in areas without regular management, contrary to current opinion. However, regular flight distances seem not to be sufficient to connect the isolated habitat patches. It remains unknown how long the large population at the abandoned military area will persist without active habitat management. Careful, but active habitat management and restoration of habitat connectivity should thus be considered.

동두천 정체성 리브랜딩 전략 방안

60% of the Dongducheon area is a military area, which has been stagnant for over 70 years due to many restrictions on industry and local economy. After the plan to relocate to Pyeongtaek, Korea, the U.S. military, which was in charge of the axis of the Dongducheon local economy, has been withdrawn, further stagnating the local economy and reducing the number of residents in the country. In this study, we propose to rebrand the Dongducheon area by actively utilizing the negative image of Dongducheon as a military area and base village after the relocation of the U.S. troops in Korea. To this end, we propose to re-establish the image of an underdeveloped city by rebranding the local identity of the sacrifice for security, respecting the human rights of women sacrificed in modern history, and revitalizing the birthplace of rock culture.

ANALIZA STATYSTYK SIECI KOMPUTEROWYCH W CELU IDENTYFIKACJI PRZEPŁYWÓW INFORMACJI ZAKŁÓCAJĄCYCH STABILNOŚĆ W WOJSKOWYCH SIECIACH LOKALNYCH

The increasing complexity and scope of military computer networks necessitate robust methods to ensure network stability and security. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of computer network statistics in military local networks to develop a method for detecting information flows that disrupt stability. By leveraging advanced statistical techniques and machine learning algorithms, this research aims to enhance the cybersecurity posture of military local networks globally. Military networks are vital for communication, data exchange, and operational coordination. However, the dynamic nature of network traffic and the persistent threat of cyberattacks pose significant challenges to maintaining network stability. Traditional monitoring techniques often fail to meet the unique requirements of military networks, which demand high levels of security and rapid response capabilities. This study employs a multi-faceted approach to detect anomalies in network traffic, utilizing statistical methods such as Z-score analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models. Machine learning techniques, including Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forests, Neural Networks, K-means clustering, and Reinforcement Learning, are also applied to identify patterns indicative of stability-disrupting information flows. The integration of statistical and machine learning methods forms a hybrid model that enhances anomaly detection, providing a robust framework for network security. The research problem is formulated as follows: does data collection include comprehensive network traffic data from various segments of military local area networks, including packet flows, transmission rates, and error rates over a specified period? Statistical analysis identifies patterns in the network traffic, which are then used to train machine learning models to classify normal and abnormal traffic. The research hypothesis states that machine learning models achieve high accuracy in detecting stability-disrupting information flows, with a precision rate exceeding 90%. The models identified several instances of stability-disrupting events, correlating these with known security incidents to validate the effectiveness of the detection method. This study underscores the importance of continuous monitoring and analysis of network statistics to ensure stability and security. The proposed method can be integrated with existing network monitoring and intrusion detection systems, providing a comprehensive approach to network security. Future research can build on these findings to develop more sophisticated models and explore additional factors influencing network stability, including the incorporation of advanced machine learning techniques, such as deep learning, and the exploration of other network metrics, like latency and packet loss. This comprehensive approach aims to enhance the security and operational reliability of military local networks.

The Historical Sustainable Cities In India: A Survey Of Sustainable Practices Followed In Cities Of India In Ancient And Medieval Times

The role played by India in achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030 is extremely crucial owning to its large but impoverished population. It is necessary for India to achieve these goals so that the world can achieve them. India is currently lagging in many of the goals, targets and sub-targets. But there was a time when India was the centre of sustainable lifestyle. Indian cities were well planned with remarkable sanitation and cleanliness. The excellent drainage system of Harappan cities is well known to everyone. The cities were divided into various layers with the most important structures located on citadel. The great bath of Mohenjodaro, the great granary of Harappa, the water conservation tank of Dholavira and the dockyard of Lothal are living examples of sustainable practices in those sustainable cities. The imperial city of Pataliputra is another example of a sustainable city. The city administration comprised of thirty members which was divided into six committees. There was a separate committee for registration of births and deaths. Similarly, the life of Kanyakubja as described by Hiuen Tsang reflects the sustainable lifestyle of the ruler as well as the people of the city. The early medieval age was categorized as dark age by many historians. But these ages have also produced remarkable cities. Anhilwada (present day Patan, Gujarat) was capital of Solanki dynasty of Gujarat in which we can find Rani-ki-Vaav which is an excellent water conservation tank accessible to the population of the city. Similarly, Bhoj of Parmar dynasty constructed several lakes, tanks and ponds in his capital city Dhar. It was the imperial city of Vijayanagar that can be described as textbook example of a sustainable city. The city was surrounded by seven walls. The agricultural farms in the vicinity which fed the city were fortified. The city was well planned into residential, commercial and military areas. This paper analyses the sustainable structures, practices and lifestyle that existed in the prominent cities of ancient and medieval India.

Natural Language Processing Methods Application in Defense Budget Analysis

Abstract Transferring to economy 5.0 makes a great emphasis on Artificial Intelligence technologies implementation in civil and military areas. The aim of the article is to model relation between the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense budget programs and strategic goals and tasks. The classical budget analysis methodology is extended with NLP technics. The analysis is performed for defense budget program 2101020 - Ensuring the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, training of personnel and troops, medical support of personnel, military service veterans and their family members, and war veterans. Either TF-IDF or more advanced NLP methods are used along with Python libraries and packages. It is found that some goals intersect with each other by semantic similarity. Despite the lack of data, we build proof of concept machine learning model and proved its effectiveness.

Performance Comparison and Analysis of Four- and Six-Switch Inverter Controls of BLDC Motor Employing Deep Learning

Robust and effective control of brushless dc (BLDC) motors is paramount in modern-day motion control. The BLDC motor is known for its high speed, high torque, small size, low noise, and equally low maintenance requirements compared to the brushed DC motor. Nowadays, it can be found in the areas of robotics, aerospace, military, and industrial machines, among others. In this paper, two inverter topologies, the threephase six-switch driver circuit (TPSSDC) and the three-phase four-switch driver circuit (TPFSDC), are used to drive and control the speed of the BLDC motor. For the control technique, however, a fitting neural network from the deep learning (DL) toolbox is employed to train and improve the speed performance of the motor. Both TPSSDC and TPFSDC are simulated and tested in MATLAB Simulink, and the resultant output is analyzed graphically and analytically. Graphical observation shows that the TPSSDC control approach is superior in terms of reference tracking and has less ripple, and better rise and settling times when compared to the TPFSDC control approach, however, the TPFDC is considered for its low cost and simple circuitry. Numerically, the TPSSDC also outperforms at 1000 rpm with a 1.685 ms rise time and a 1.420 ms settling time compared to the TPFSDC, which rises at 6.526 ms and settles at 5.237 ms. At 3000 rpm motor speed, the TPSSDC is better, having a rise time of 5.815 ms and settling time of 4.048 ms, when compared to the TPFSDC, which rises at 11.277 ms and settles at 10.067 ms.

A HPLC method based on deep eutectic solvents to analyze high concentration of TATB

TATB as an insensitive high explosive, has wide applications in both civil and military areas. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a crucial tool to analyze the purity for quality control of TATB. However, current HPLC method for TATB has several drawbacks resulted by its poor solubility. A deep eutectic solvent (CS-1) has high solubility toward TATB, so it has been used as the pretreatment solvent and mobile phase to develop a new HPLC method for TATB in this work. When CS-1 was used as the pretreatment solvent for TATB prior to HPLC analysis, it displayed greater efficiency, less dosage, and shorter time compared to conventional solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethyl formamide (DMF). Compared to the pretreatment time of 240 min by using DMSO, the pretreatment time of TATB by using CS-1 is significantly shortened to 20 min. Meanwhile, the carrying capacity of mobile phase for TATB became stronger after CS-1 was added into the mobile phase. The concentration of TATB with 40 mg·100 mL−1 is successfully analyzed by the HPLC based on the mobile phase containing CS-1, which is 10 times higher than that of DMSO with 4.0 mg·100 mL−1. Therefore, a new HPLC method based on CS-1 as one of the deep eutectic solvents is first established to improve the efficiency and representation of analyzing high concentration of TATB.

Differential metal and metalloid contents in fresh and cooked Charu mussels (Mytella charruana) from a southeastern Brazilian estuary and associated human health risks

Sepetiba Bay, a key estuarine ecosystem in southeastern Brazil, faces significant metal inputs, with a differential pollution gradient from the bay's entrance to inner areas, raising environmental and public health concerns. This study assessed metal levels in fresh and cooked samples of highly consumed Charu mussels (Mytella charruana) from three bay areas, one near the bay entrance (P1), with higher water renewal rates, one in the northern bay area (P2) and one the eastern bay (P3), presenting lower water renewal rates. Variations in metal and metalloid concentrations across sites were observed, with P3 exhibiting higher levels in fresh mussels for most elements, except for As, which was higher at P2 (0.35 ± 0.45 mg kg−1). Cooked samples demonstrated similar trends for Cu (1.30 ± 0.39 mg kg−1), Ni (0.28 ± 0.20 mg kg−1), and V (0.75 ± 0.28 mg/kg−1), indicating that cooking in contaminanted estuary water does not significantly reduce contamination. Significant differences were detected for Ni, Cd (0.014 ± 0.008 mg kg−1), Zn (14.28 ± 2.50 mg kg−1), and V at P1, which were significantly higher than at P3. Significant Fe (246 ± 68 mg kg−1), Al (109 ± 33 mg kg−1), and Mn increases were observed from P1 to P3. Mussels sampled from P3, near an abandoned military area and urban center, exhibited high Fe and Al levels, attributed to both natural processes and industrial activities. Metal concentrations in Charu mussels often exceeded regulatory limits set by Brazilian, North American, and European agencies. Calculated Se molar ratios indicate that while Se can mitigate Hg toxicity, high Hg levels in Sepetiba Bay's Charu mussels still pose significant health risks. Similarly, high levels of Ag, Cd, and Pb suggest ineffective Se protection. However, Se appears effective against As toxicity. The Health Benefit Value of Selenium (HBVSe) indicate Se's overall protective benefits against Hg toxicity. Higher HBVSe values in cooked mussels at P1 and P2 suggest that cooking increases Se bioavailability. However, raw mussels at P3 had higher HBVSe values than cooked ones, highlighting the need for site-specific assessments. Calculated Hazard Indices indicate general high health risks from mussel consumption, and As levels in Charu mussels indicate high carcinogenic risks. These findings emphasize the need for comprehensive Charu mussel monitoring and environmental management efforts at Sepetiba Bay.

Characteristics of Forcible Entries into Objects and an Experimental Assessment of the Potential Impact of Fragments Scattering on Training Safety when Using Fence Charge

The article focuses on the characteristics of forcible entries into objects and the term "breaching", which is often used interchangeably with this activity. The article further addresses the issue of fragments scattering when using a charge to overcome chain-link fences. The introductory chapter describes the execution of training in this field using the exercise facilities that are built for this purpose in military training areas. When conducting explosive forcible entry training, the safe distance for intervening teams and non-participants is determined using given formulas. The purpose of the simulation, mathematical calculations and experiment was to assess the extent to which fragments scattering occurs during explosive overcoming of these fences and whether the procedures used to determine the safe distance for non-participants are sufficient.

Home range and habitat selection of wolves recolonising central European human‐dominated landscapes

Decades of persecution has resulted in the long‐term absence of grey wolves Canis lupus from most European countries. However, recent changes in both legislation and public attitudes toward wolves has eased the pressure, allowing wolves to rapidly re‐establish territories in their previous central European habitats over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, these habitats are now heavily altered by humans. Understanding the spatial ecology of wolves in such highly modified environments is crucial, given the high potential for conflict and the need to reconcile their return with multiple human concerns. We equipped 20 wolves, originating from seven packs in six central European regions, with GPS collars, allowing us to calculate monthly average home range sizes for 14 of the animals of 213.3 km2 using autocorrelated kernel density estimation. We then used ESA WorldCover data to assess the mosaic of available habitats used within each home range. Our data confirmed a general seasonal pattern for breeding individuals, with smaller apparent home ranges during the reproduction phase, and no specific pattern for non‐breeders. Predictably, our wolves showed a general preference for remote areas, and especially forests, though some wolves within military training areas also showed a broader preference for grassland, possibly influenced by local land use and high availability of prey. Our results provide a comprehensive insight into the ecology of wolves during their re‐colonisation of central Europe. Though wolves are spreading relatively quickly across central European landscapes, their permanent reoccupation remains uncertain due to conflicts with the human population. To secure the restoration of European wolf populations, further robust biological data, including data on spatial ecology, will be needed to clearly identify any management implications.

Consensus-Based Formation Control with Time Synchronization for a Decentralized Group of Mobile Robots.

The development and study of an optimal control method for the problem of controlling the formation of a group of mobile robots is still a current and popular theme of work. However, there are few works that take into account the issues of time synchronization of units in a decentralized group. The motivation for taking up this topic was the possibility of improving the accuracy of the movement of a group of robots by including dynamic time synchronization in the control algorithm. The aim of this work was to develop a two-layer synchronous motion control system for a decentralized group of mobile robots. The system consists of a master layer and a sublayer. The sublayer of the control system performs the task of tracking the reference trajectory using a single robot with a kinematic and dynamic controller. In this layer, the input and output signals are linear and angular velocity. The master layer realizes the maintenance of the desired group formation and synchronization of robots during movement. Consensus tracking and virtual structure algorithms were used to implement this level of control. To verify the correctness of operation and evaluate the quality of control for the proposed proprietary approach, simulation studies were conducted in the MATLAB/Simulink environment, followed by laboratory tests using real robots under ROS. The developed system can successfully find application in transportation and logistics tasks in both civilian and military areas.

An intelligent clustering scheme based on whale optimization algorithm in flying ad hoc networks

Due to the progress of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), this new technology is widely applied in military and civilian areas. Multi-UAV networks are often known as flying ad hoc networks (FANETs). Due to these applications, FANET must ensure communication stability and have high scalability. These goals are achieved by presenting clustering techniques in FANETs. However, the characteristics of these networks, like high-mobility nodes, limited energy, and dynamic topology, have created great challenges in two important processes of clustering protocols, namely cluster construction and the selection of cluster heads. In this paper, an intelligent clustering scheme based on the whale optimization algorithm called ICW is suggested in flying ad hoc networks. Firstly, each UAV specifies its hello interval based on the lifespan of adjacent links to guarantee the adaptability of ICW to FANET. Then, a centralized clustering process is done using a whale optimization algorithm (WOA) to find the best cluster centers on the network. To determine the membership of each UAV in a cluster, ICW employs a new criterion, i.e. closeness ratio, so that each UAV joins a cluster with the best closeness ratio. In addition, the evaluation of each whale is carried out based on a fitness function, consisting of three components, namely the number of isolated clusters, the ratio of inter-cluster distance to intra-cluster distance, and cluster size. Then, a cluster head is selected for each cluster based on a score value. This score is dependent on the weighted sum of four metrics, namely remaining energy, the average link lifespan between each UAV and its neighbors, neighbor degree, and the average distance between each UAV and its neighbors. In the last step, two routing processes, namely intra-cluster routing and inter-cluster routing, are introduced in FANET. Then, the evaluation and implementation of ICW is performed through the NS2 simulator. After completing the simulation process, ICW is compared to MWCRSF, DCM, and GWO, and the evaluation results are presented in two scenarios, namely network evaluation in the clustering process and network evaluation in the routing process. Accordingly, in the first scenario, ICW has low clustering time and a high cluster lifetime. In the second scenario, ICW optimizes energy consumption, network longevity, packet delivery rate, routing overhead, and delay compared to other approaches. However, throughput in ICW is about 3.9% lower than that in MWCRSF.

Highly sensitive and selective determination of uranyl ions based on Ag/Ag2O–COF composite SERS substrate

Uranium is an essential nuclear material in civilian and military areas; however, its extensive application raises concerns about the potential safety issues in the fields of environmental protection and nuclear industry. In this study, we developed an Ag/Ag2O–COF (covalent-organic framework) composite SERS substrate to detect uranyl ions (UO22+) in environmental aqueous solutions. Herein, the strong SERS effect of uranyl adsorbed in Ag/Ag2O composite and the high adsorption efficiency of COF TpPa-1 were combined to realize the trace detection of uranyl ions. This method displayed a linear range of 10−8 mol L−1 to 10−6 mol L−1 with the detection limit of 8.9 × 10−10 mol L−1 for uranyl ions. Furthermore, common metal cations and oxo-ions hardly affected the SERS detection of uranyl, which is helpful for the trace analysis of uranyl in natural water samples. Although the proposed strategy is deployed for uranyl detection, the reusable and high-efficiency system may be expanded to trace detection of other substance with Raman activity.