This paper presents a built-in input matching technique capable of handling a wide variation of multi-array thermoelectric generator (TEG) impedances ranging two decades, from 10 s to 1000 s of ohms. Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for a boost converter (BC) is introduced. The analytical expressions derived offer insight on the manner in which MPPT interacts with a BC to achieve best performance. The BC operates in a discontinuous conduction mode under pulse frequency modulation to minimize power consumption and maximize efficiency for light loads. Losses are minimized by implementing a pseudo-zero current switching control via the PMOS switch on/off time, and the output voltage is set using a global clocked comparator. A prototype was fabricated in 0.5 μm CMOS where efficiency measurements showed a maximum value of 61.15% for an R _TEG = 33.33 Ω, and quiescent power consumption was 1 μW.

The unprecedented regional urbanization has brought great pressure on the ecological environment. Building an ecological security pattern and guide regional land and space development is an important technique to ensure regional ecological security and stability to achieve sustainable development. In this study, the Pingtan Island of China and the Durban city of South Africa were chosen as case study area for a comparative study of different scales. The importance of ecosystem services and ecological sensitivity were evaluated, respectively. The core area of landscape which is vital for ecological function maintenance was extracted by morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and landscape connectivity analysis. Furthermore, the ecological sources were determined by combining the results of ecological protection redline delimitation and core area landscape extraction. The potential ecological corridors were identified based on the minimum cumulative resistance model, and the ecological security pattern of study areas was constructed. The results showed that the ecological protection redline areas of Pingtan and Durban were 42.78 km² and 389.07 km², respectively, which were mainly distributed in mountainous areas with good habitat quality. Pingtan ecological security pattern is composed of 15 ecological sources, 16 ecological corridors, 10 stepping stone patches and 15 ecological obstacle points. The total length of corridors is 112.23 km, which is radially distributed in the form of “one ring, three belts”. The ecological security pattern of Durban is composed of 15 ecological sources, 17 ecological corridors, 11 stepping stone patches and 18 ecological obstacle points. The total length of corridors is 274.25 km, which is radially distributed in the form of “two rings and three belts”. The research results can provide an important reference for the land space construction planning and ecological restoration projects in Pingtan and Durban.

Corals in the northern Red Sea exhibit high thermal tolerance despite the increasing heat stress. It is assumed that corals throughout the Red Sea have similar bleaching thresholds (32°C or higher), and hence greater bleaching tolerance of corals in the northern Red Sea region is likely due to lower ambient water temperatures (25–28°C) that remain well below the corals’ physiological maxima. Whether bleaching patterns across the Red Sea are independent of the local maximum monthly mean of seawater temperature and aligned with an assumed 32°C threshold has yet to be determined. Here, we used remotely sensed surface sea temperature data spanning 1982–2020 to model spatial distributions of Degree Heat Weeks across the Red Sea in relation to assumed coral thermal threshold values of 30, 31, and 32°C. We also used the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 model outputs to predict warming trends in the Red Sea under different greenhouse gas representative concentration pathways (RCPs). We show that applying 32°C thresholds dramatically reduces effective Degree Heat Weeks in the north, but not in central or southern Red Sea regions, a finding that is consistent with historical bleaching observations (1998–2020) throughout the Red Sea. Further, model predictions under the most extreme RCP8.5 scenario exhibited ~3°C warming by the end of the 21^st century throughout the Red Sea with less pronounced warming for the northern Red Sea (2–2.5°C) compared to the central and southern regions (2.7–3.1°C).This warming rate will remain below the assumed thermal threshold for the northern Red Sea which should help this region to serve as refugia (i.e., maintaining favorable temperatures) for corals to persist for decades ahead. Together, our results support the notion that corals have similar thresholds throughout the Red Sea; hence, coral bleaching thresholds are independent of the local maximum monthly mean. Consequently, where regional warming projections suggest the northern Red Sea will not reach assumed bleaching thresholds (32°C) before the end of the 21^st century, coral reefs in the northern region may be among the last standing against climate change.