A Novel Chain Formation Scheme for Balanced Energy Consumption in WSN-based IoT Network

In the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are one essential part. The IoT network commonly consists of WSNs, where hundreds or even thousands of small sensors are capable of sensing, processing, and sending environmental phenomena in the targeted region. The energy consumption imbalance of sensors becomes the cause of the network performance decrement, as sensor nodes have limited energy available for operation after being randomly deployed. Therefore, more research is necessary for the design of energy-efficient routing algorithms in energy-constrained WSNs. This paper focuses on the chain-based routing algorithm, which is a popular algorithm for achieving energy efficiency in WSN-based IoT network. Chain-based routing algorithms offer numerous advantages for WSNs, such as energy conservation and extended lifetime of WSNs. However, they face challenges due to the issue of internal communication imbalance. The objective of our study is to design a novel chain formation scheme that improves the energy consumption imbalance caused by internal communication in WSN-based IoT network. The proposed scheme is categorized in three phases (initial communication phase, chain formation phase, and data collection phase). In the first phase, the sink acquires their location information from sensors deployed in the sensing region. Then the sensing region is separated into sub-regions and with the number of sensor nodes is balanced employing the concept of the k-dimensional binary tree (K-D-B-tree). The sub-regions are organized into a binary tree structure, which is then formed into a chain. Lastly, data is collected along the chain, and the selected representative sensor transmits the collected data to the sink. We utilized the OMNET++ simulator and demonstrated effective simulation results in terms of network lifetime and average residual energy. In the simulation results, a novel chain formation scheme outperforms the power-efficient gathering in sensor information systems (PEGASIS) and the concentric clustering scheme for efficient energy consumption in the PEGASIS (CCS)

Antibiotic Resistance Patterns and Detection of blaDHA-1 in Salmonella Species Isolates from Chicken Farms in South Korea▿

Fifteen nonrepetitive ampicillin-resistant Salmonella spp. were identified among 91 Salmonella sp. isolates during nationwide surveillance of Salmonella in waste from 131 chicken farms during 2006 and 2007. Additional phenotyping and genetic characterization of these 15 isolates by using indicator cephalosporins demonstrated that resistance to ampicillin and reduced susceptibility to cefoxitin in three isolates was caused by TEM-1 and DHA-1 β-lactamases. Plasmid profiling and Southern blot analysis of these three DHA-1-positive Salmonella serovar Indiana isolates and previously reported unrelated clinical isolates of DHA-1-positive Salmonella serovar Montevideo, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli from humans and swine indicated the involvement of the large-size plasmid. Restriction enzyme digestion of the plasmids from the transconjugants showed variable restriction patterns except for the two Salmonella serovar Indiana isolates identified in this study. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of the DHA-1 gene among Salmonella spp. of animal origin

Immunological dynamics associated with rapid virological response during the early phase of type I interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C

<div><p>Type I interferons (IFNs) play an important role in antiviral immunity as well as immunopathogenesis of diverse chronic viral infections. However, the precise mechanisms regulating the multifaceted effects of type I IFNs on the immune system and pathological inflammation still remain unclear. In order to assess the immunological dynamics associated with rapid viral clearance in chronic hepatitis C patients during the acute phase of type I IFN therapy, we analyzed multiple parameters of virological and immunological responses in a cohort of 59 Korean hepatitis C patients who received pegylated IFN-α and ribavirin (IFN/RBV). Most of the Korean patients had favorable alleles in the IFN-λ loci for responsiveness to IFN/RBV (i.e., C/C in <i>rs12979860</i>, T/T in <i>rs8099917</i>, and TT/TT in <i>rs368234815</i>). Rapid virological response (RVR) was determined mainly by the hepatitis C virus genotype. Among the cytokines analyzed, higher plasma levels of IL-17A and FGF were observed in non-RVR patients infected with viral genotype 1 and IP-10 was consistently elevated in RVR group infected with genotype 2 during the early phase of antiviral therapy. In addition, these three cytokines were correlated each other, suggesting a functional linkage of the cytokines in antiviral responses during IFN/RBV therapy. A low baseline frequencies of regulatory T cells and γδ T cells, but high level of group 2 innate lymphoid cells, in peripheral bloods were also significantly associated with the RVR group, implicating a potential role of the cellular immunity during the early phase of IFN/RBV therapy. Therefore, the immunological programs established by chronic hepatitis C and rapid disruption of the delicate balance by exogenous type I IFN might be associated with the subsequent virological outcomes in chronic hepatitis C patients.</p></div

Impaired BCAA catabolism in adipose tissues promotes age-associated metabolic derangement

Adipose tissues are central in controlling metabolic homeostasis and failure in their preservation is associated with age-related metabolic disorders. The exact role of mature adipocytes in this phenomenon remains elusive. Here we describe the role of adipose branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism in this process. We found that adipocyte-specific Crtc2 knockout protected mice from age-associated metabolic decline. Multiomics analysis revealed that BCAA catabolism was impaired in aged visceral adipose tissues, leading to the activation of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex (mTORC1) signaling and the resultant cellular senescence, which was restored by Crtc2 knockout in adipocytes. Using single-cell RNA sequencing analysis, we found that age-associated decline in adipogenic potential of visceral adipose tissues was reinstated by Crtc2 knockout, via the reduction of BCAA–mTORC1 senescence-associated secretory phenotype axis. Collectively, we propose that perturbation of BCAA catabolism by CRTC2 is critical in instigating age-associated remodeling of adipose tissue and the resultant metabolic decline in vivo. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.FALS

Comparison of PBMC populations between the RVR and non-RVR groups.

<p>Comparison of PBMC populations between the RVR and non-RVR groups.</p

Comparison of leukocyte counts between the RVR and non-RVR groups.

<p>Comparison of leukocyte counts between the RVR and non-RVR groups.</p

Correlation of IL-17A, IP-10, and FGF levels in patients’ plasma.

<p>The plasma levels of IL-17A were correlated with FGF or IP-10 levels in either a positive or negative way (left two panels). The correlations among the three cytokines are also presented in 3D plot (right panel). The data points (<i>n</i> = 66) derived from patients with RVR (blue dots) and non-RVR (red dots) before and one week after type I IFN therapy are indicated.</p

Relative frequencies of innate immune cells in peripheral blood of chronic hepatitis C patients.

<p>The proportions (%) of γδ T cells, IL-17A⁺ γδT cells, and group 2 and group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2 and ILC3) in PBMCs of patients with RVR (R) and non-RVR (NR) before (W0) and one week (W1) after type I IFN therapy are presented. Horizontal bars represent the mean values. *, <i>p</i> < 0.05; **, <i>p</i> < 0.01; ***, <i>p</i> < 0.001.</p

Comparison of cytokine responses between the RVR and non-RVR groups.

<p>Comparison of cytokine responses between the RVR and non-RVR groups.</p