Collaborative Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks via Pattern Recognition in Radio Irregularity Using Omnidirectional Antennas

In recent years, various received signal strength (RSS)-based localization estimation approaches for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been proposed. RSS-based localization is regarded as a low-cost solution for many location-aware applications in WSNs. In previous studies, the radiation patterns of all sensor nodes are assumed to be spherical, which is an oversimplification of the radio propagation model in practical applications. In this study, we present an RSS-based cooperative localization method that estimates unknown coordinates of sensor nodes in a network. Arrangement of two external low-cost omnidirectional dipole antennas is developed by using the distance-power gradient model. A modified robust regression is also proposed to determine the relative azimuth and distance between a sensor node and a fixed reference node. In addition, a cooperative localization scheme that incorporates estimations from multiple fixed reference nodes is presented to improve the accuracy of the localization. The proposed method is tested via computer-based analysis and field test. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed low-cost method is a useful solution for localizing sensor nodes in unknown or changing environments

Effects of Growth Hormone Treatment on Height, Weight, and Obesity in Taiwanese Patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome

BackgroundInformation regarding the efficacy of growth hormone (GH) therapy in Asian Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) patients is lacking. We report our experience with GH treatment in children with PWS in Taiwan.MethodsForty-six PWS patients (27 males, 19 females; age range, 1 year 4 months to 13 years 7 months) who received and/or who are currently receiving GH treatment (0.1 IU/kg/day subcutaneously) for a period from 1 year to 3 years were retro-spectively analyzed. We evaluated height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and Rohrer index, before and after GH treatment.ResultsAfter patients had received GH for 1, 2 and 3 years, a significant improvement in mean height standard deviation score (SDS) was noted from −1.24 to −0.31 (p <0.01), 0.00 (p <0.001) and −0.26 (p <0.001), respectively. Mean BMI SDS decreased significantly from 1.93 to 1.13 (p <0.05) after 1 year of treatment; however, no significant changes were observed afterward. Mean Rohrer index decreased significantly, from 224.2 to 186.6 (p <0.001), 178.9 (p <0.001) and 169.3 (p <0.001). No significant gender or genotype pattern differences were noted among the 4 parameters examined.ConclusionThis 3-year, retrospective study indicates that PWS patients benefit from GH therapy in height increase and improved body composition

Verifying expressed transcript variants by detecting and assembling stretches of consecutive exons

We herein describe an integrated system for the high-throughput analysis of splicing events and the identification of transcript variants. The system resolves individual splicing events and elucidates transcript variants via a pipeline that combines aspects such as bioinformatic analysis, high-throughput transcript variant amplification, and high-resolution capillary electrophoresis. For the 14 369 human genes known to have transcript variants, minimal primer sets were designed to amplify all transcript variants and examine all splicing events; these have been archived in the ASprimerDB database, which is newly described herein. A high-throughput thermocycler, dubbed GenTank, was developed to simultaneously perform thousands of PCR amplifications. Following the resolution of the various amplicons by capillary gel electrophoresis, two new computer programs, AmpliconViewer and VariantAssembler, may be used to analyze the splicing events, assemble the consecutive exons embodied by the PCR amplicons, and distinguish expressed versus putative transcript variants. This novel system not only facilitates the validation of putative transcript variants and the detection of novel transcript variants, it also semi-quantitatively measures the transcript variant expression levels of each gene. To demonstrate the system’s capability, we used it to resolve transcript variants yielded by single and multiple splicing events, and to decipher the exon connectivity of long transcripts

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Review on the Modeling of Electrostatic MEMS

Electrostatic-driven microelectromechanical systems devices, in most cases, consist of couplings of such energy domains as electromechanics, optical electricity, thermoelectricity, and electromagnetism. Their nonlinear working state makes their analysis complex and complicated. This article introduces the physical model of pull-in voltage, dynamic characteristic analysis, air damping effect, reliability, numerical modeling method, and application of electrostatic-driven MEMS devices

Identification of Prognostic Genes for Recurrent Risk Prediction in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patients in Taiwan

Discrepancies in the prognosis of triple negative breast cancer exist between Caucasian and Asian populations. Yet, the gene signature of triple negative breast cancer specifically for Asians has not become available. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to construct a prediction model for recurrence of triple negative breast cancer in Taiwanese patients. Whole genome expression profiling of breast cancers from 185 patients in Taiwan from 1995 to 2008 was performed, and the results were compared to the previously published literature to detect differences between Asian and Western patients. Pathway analysis and Cox proportional hazard models were applied to construct a prediction model for the recurrence of triple negative breast cancer. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed that triple negative breast cancers from different races were in separate sub-clusters but grouped in a bigger cluster. Two pathways, cAMP-mediated signaling and ephrin receptor signaling, were significantly associated with the recurrence of triple negative breast cancer. After using stepwise model selection from the combination of the initial filtered genes, we developed a prediction model based on the genes SLC22A23, PRKAG3, DPEP3, MORC2, GRB7, and FAM43A. The model had 91.7% accuracy, 81.8% sensitivity, and 94.6% specificity under leave-one-out support vector regression. In this study, we identified pathways related to triple negative breast cancer and developed a model to predict its recurrence. These results could be used for assisting with clinical prognosis and warrant further investigation into the possibility of targeted therapy of triple negative breast cancer in Taiwanese patients

Six-membered ring systems: with O and/or S atoms

A large variety of publications have emerged in 2012 involving O- and S-6- membered ring systems. The increasing number of reviews and other communica- tions dedicated to natural and synthetic derivatives and their biological significance highlights the importance of these heterocycles. Reviews on natural products involve biosynthesis and isolation of enantiomeric derivatives h12AGE4802i, biosynthesis, isolation, synthesis, and biological studies on the pederin family h12NPR980i and xanthones obtained from fungi, lichens, and bacteria h12CR3717i and on the potential chemotherapeutic value of phyto- chemical products and plant extracts as antidiabetic h12NPR580i, antimicrobial, and resistance-modifying agents h12NPR1007i. A more specific review covers a structure–activity relationship of endoperoxides from marine origin and their antitry- panosomal activity h12OBC7197i. New synthetic routes to naturally occurring, biologically active pyran derivatives have been the object of several papers. Different approaches have been discussed for the total synthesis of tetrahydropyran-containing natural products (")-zampanolide h12CEJ16868, 12EJO4130, 12OL3408i, (")-aspergillides A and B h12H(85)587, 12H(85)1255, 12TA252i, (þ)-neopeltolide h12JOC2225, 12JOC9840, 12H(85) 1255i, or their macrolactone core h12OBC3689, 12OL2346i. The total synthesis of bistramide A h12CEJ7452i and (þ)-kalihinol A h12CC901i and the stereoselec- tive synthesis of a fragment of bryostatin h12S3077, 12TL6163i have also been sur- veyed. Other papers relate the total synthesis of naturally occurring carbocyclic and heterocyclic-fused pyran compounds, such as (")-dysiherbaine h12CC6295i, penos- tatin B h12OL244i, Greek tobacco lactonic products, and analogues h12TL4293i and on the structurally intriguing limonoids andhraxylocarpins A–E h12CEJ14342i. The stereocontrolled synthesis of fused tetrahydropyrans was used in the preparation of blepharocalyxin D h12AGE3901i. Polyphenolic heterocyclic compounds have also received great attention in 2012. The biological activities and the chemistry of prenylated caged xanthones h12PCB78i, the occurrence of sesquiterpene coumarins h12PR77i, and the medicinal properties of the xanthone mangiferin h12MRME412i have been reviewed. An overview on the asymmetric syntheses of flavanones and chromanones h12EJO449i, on the synthesis and reactivity of flavones h12T8523i and xanthones h12COC2818i, on the synthesis and biosynthesis of biocoumarins h12T2553i, and on the synthesis and applications of flavylium compounds h12CSR869i has been discussed. The most recent developments in the synthesis and applications of sultones, a very important class of sulfur compounds, were reported h12CR5339i. A review on xanthene-based fluorescent probes for sensing cations, anions, bio- logical species, and enzyme activity has described the spiro-ring-opening approach with a focus on the major mechanisms controlling their luminescence behavior h12CR1910i. The design and synthesis of other derivatives to be used as sensors of gold species h12CC11229i and other specific metal cations h12PC823i have also been described. Recent advances related to coumarin-derived fluorescent chemosen- sors for metal ions h12COC2690i and to monitoring in vitro analysis and cellular imaging of monoamine oxidase activity h12CC6833i have been discussed. The study of various organic chromophores allowed the synthesis of novel dica- tionic phloroglucinol-type bisflavylium pigments h12SL2053i, and the optical and spectroscopic properties of several synthetic 6-aryldibenzo[b,d]pyrylium salts were explored h12TL6433i. Discussion of specific reactions leading to O- and S-membered heterocyclic compounds covers intramolecular radical cyclization h12S2475i and asymmetric enamine and dienamine catalysis h12EJO865i, oxa-Michael h12CSR988i and dom- ino Knoevenagel–hetero-Diels–Alder (hDA) reactions h12T5693i, and the versatility in cycloadditions as well as nucleophilic reactions using o-quinones h12CSR1050i. The use of specific reagents relevant to this chapter includes molecular iodine h12CEJ5460, 12COS561i, samarium diiodide–water for selective reductive transfor- mations h12CC330i, o-quinone methides as versatile intermediates h12CEJ9160i, InCl3 as catalyst h12T8683i, and gold and platinum p-acid mediated insertion of alkynes into carbon–heteroatom s-bonds h12S3401i. The remainder of this chapter discusses the most studied transformations on O- and S-6-membered heterocycles

Association analyses of East Asian individuals and trans-ancestry analyses with European individuals reveal new loci associated with cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Large-scale meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >175 loci associated with fasting cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). With differences in linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure and allele frequencies between ancestry groups, studies in additional large samples may detect new associations. We conducted staged GWAS meta-analyses in up to 69,414 East Asian individuals from 24 studies with participants from Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. These meta-analyses identified (P < 5 × 10-8) three novel loci associated with HDL-C near CD163-APOBEC1 (P = 7.4 × 10-9), NCOA2 (P = 1.6 × 10-8), and NID2-PTGDR (P = 4.2 × 10-8), and one novel locus associated with TG near WDR11-FGFR2 (P = 2.7 × 10-10). Conditional analyses identified a second signal near CD163-APOBEC1. We then combined results from the East Asian meta-analysis with association results from up to 187,365 European individuals from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium in a trans-ancestry meta-analysis. This analysis identified (log10Bayes Factor ≥6.1) eight additional novel lipid loci. Among the twelve total loci identified, the index variants at eight loci have demonstrated at least nominal significance with other metabolic traits in prior studies, and two loci exhibited coincident eQTLs (P < 1 × 10-5) in subcutaneous adipose tissue for BPTF and PDGFC. Taken together, these analyses identified multiple novel lipid loci, providing new potential therapeutic targets

Genetic Drivers of Heterogeneity in Type 2 Diabetes Pathophysiology

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a heterogeneous disease that develops through diverse pathophysiological processes1,2 and molecular mechanisms that are often specific to cell type3,4. Here, to characterize the genetic contribution to these processes across ancestry groups, we aggregate genome-wide association study data from 2,535,601 individuals (39.7% not of European ancestry), including 428,452 cases of T2D. We identify 1,289 independent association signals at genome-wide significance (P \u3c 5 × 10-8) that map to 611 loci, of which 145 loci are, to our knowledge, previously unreported. We define eight non-overlapping clusters of T2D signals that are characterized by distinct profiles of cardiometabolic trait associations. These clusters are differentially enriched for cell-type-specific regions of open chromatin, including pancreatic islets, adipocytes, endothelial cells and enteroendocrine cells. We build cluster-specific partitioned polygenic scores5 in a further 279,552 individuals of diverse ancestry, including 30,288 cases of T2D, and test their association with T2D-related vascular outcomes. Cluster-specific partitioned polygenic scores are associated with coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease and end-stage diabetic nephropathy across ancestry groups, highlighting the importance of obesity-related processes in the development of vascular outcomes. Our findings show the value of integrating multi-ancestry genome-wide association study data with single-cell epigenomics to disentangle the aetiological heterogeneity that drives the development and progression of T2D. This might offer a route to optimize global access to genetically informed diabetes care