Analysis and comparison of location strategies for reducing registration cost

Abstract. In mobile environments, a personal communication service (PCS) network must keep track of the location of each mobile user in order to correctly deliver calls. A basic scheme used in the standard IS-41 and GSM protocols is to always update the location of a mobile user whenever the mobile user moves to a new location. The problem with this approach is that the cost of location update operations is very high especially when the mobile user moves frequently. In recent years, various location management strategies for reducing the location update cost have been proposed. However, the performance issue of these proposed algorithms remains to be investigated. In this paper, we develop two Markov chains to analyze and compare the performance of two promising location update strategies, i.e., the two location algorithm (TLA) and the forwarding and resetting algorithm (FRA). By utilizing the Markov chain, we are able to quickly answer what-if questions regarding the performance of PCS networks under various workload conditions and also identify conditions under which one strategy can perform better than the others. Using the cost due to location update and search operations between two successive calls to a mobile user as a performance measure, we show that when the mobile user exhibits a high degree of locality and the mobile user’s call-to-mobility ratio (CMR) is low, TLA can significantly outperform both FRA and IS-41. On the other hand, when CMR is high, FRA is the winner. Furthermore, unlike TLA which may perform worse than IS-41 at hig

Anti-Fatigue Effect of Aqueous Extract of Anisomeles indica (L) Kuntze in Mice

Purpose: To determine the anti-fatigue effect of Anisomeles indica (L.) Kuntze, an herb traditionally used for health improvement in Taiwan.Methods: Three groups (n = 10 per group) of Balb/c female mice were administered A. indica aqueous extract orally for 28 days at 125 (low dose A. indica, LA), 250 (medium dose A. indica, MA), and 500 (high dose A. indica, HA) mg/kg/day, respectively, while a control group received distilled water. After 28 days, a forced swimming test was performed, and biochemical parameters including plasma triglyceride (TG), glucose, lactate and ammonia levels related to fatigue were examined.Results: No mice died during the study period. Physical examinations did not reveal any treatmentrelated adverse effects after dosing, in terms of food and water consumption. Moreover, no obvious peptic ulcers, haemorrhage, or pathological changes in the liver or kidney were observed in A. indica treated mice, and there were no significant differences in body weight between the control and treatment groups (p > 0.05). Mice treated with A. indica extract in the MA and HA groups showed significantly prolonged exhaustive swimming time (p < 0.05), increased hepatic glycogen and muscle glycogen levels (p < 0.05), and decreased triglyceride and plasma ammonia levels (p < 0.05) in a dosedependent manner, compared with the controls. However, plasma glucose and lactic acid levels were not significantly changed (p > 0.05).Conclusion: These results provide the first in vivo evidence supporting the anti-fatigue claims associated with A. indica treatment, indicating that this traditional herb may be of therapeutic use as an ergogenic and anti-fatigue agent.Keywords: Anisomeles indica, Exhaustive swimming test, Fatigue, Glycogen, Plasma ammonia, Lactic aci

Genotoxic Klebsiella pneumoniae in Taiwan

Colibactin is a nonribosomal peptide-polyketide synthesized by multi-enzyme complexes encoded by the pks gene cluster. Colibactin-producing Escherichia coli have been demonstrated to induce host DNA damage and promote colorectal cancer (CRC) development. In Taiwan, the occurrence of pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) has been suggested to correlate with an increasing risk of CRC, and Klebsiella pneumoniae is the predominant PLA pathogen in Taiwan

Genomic diversity of citrate fermentation in Klebsiella pneumoniae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has long been recognized that <it>Klebsiella pneumoniae </it>can grow anaerobically on citrate. Genes responsible for citrate fermentation of <it>K. pneumoniae </it>were known to be located in a 13-kb gene cluster on the chromosome. By whole genome comparison of the available <it>K. pneumoniae </it>sequences (MGH 78578, 342, and NTUH-K2044), however, we discovered that the fermentation gene cluster was present in MGH 78578 and 342, but absent in NTUH-K2044. In the present study, the previously unknown genome diversity of citrate fermentation among <it>K. pneumoniae </it>clinical isolates was investigated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using a genomic microarray containing probe sequences from multiple <it>K. pneumoniae </it>strains, we investigated genetic diversity among <it>K. pneumoniae </it>clinical isolates and found that a genomic region containing the citrate fermentation genes was not universally present in all strains. We confirmed by PCR analysis that the gene cluster was detectable in about half of the strains tested. To demonstrate the metabolic function of the genomic region, anaerobic growth of <it>K. pneumoniae </it>in artificial urine medium (AUM) was examined for ten strains with different clinical histories and genomic backgrounds, and the citrate fermentation potential was found correlated with the genomic region. PCR detection of the genomic region yielded high positive rates among a variety of clinical isolates collected from urine, blood, wound infection, and pneumonia. Conserved genetic organizations in the vicinity of the citrate fermentation gene clusters among <it>K. pneumoniae</it>, <it>Salmonella enterica</it>, and <it>Escherichia coli </it>suggest that the13-kb genomic region were not independently acquired.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Not all, but nearly half of the <it>K. pneumoniae </it>clinical isolates carry the genes responsible for anaerobic growth on citrate. Genomic variation of citrate fermentation genes in <it>K. pneumoniae </it>may contribute to metabolic diversity and adaptation to variable nutrient conditions in different environments.</p

Antioxidative Characteristics of Anisomeles indica Extract and Inhibitory Effect of Ovatodiolide on Melanogenesis

The purpose of the study was to investigate the antioxidant characteristics of Anisomeles indica methanol extract and the inhibitory effect of ovatodiolide on melanogenesis. In the study, the antioxidant capacities of A. indica methanol extract such as DPPH assay, ABTS radical scavenging assay, reducing capacity and metal ion chelating capacity as well as total phenolic content of the extract were investigated. In addition, the inhibitory effects of ovatodiolide on mushroom tyrosinase, B16F10 intracellular tyrosinase and melanin content were determined spectrophotometrically. Our results revealed that the antioxidant capacities of A. indica methanol extract increased in a dose-dependent pattern. The purified ovatodiolide inhibited mushroom tyrosinase activity (IC50 = 0.253 mM), the compound also effectively suppressed intracellular tyrosinase activity (IC50 = 0.469 mM) and decreased the amount of melanin (IC50 = 0.435 mM) in a dose-dependent manner in B16F10 cells. Our results concluded that A. indica methanol extract displays antioxidant capacities and ovatodiolide purified from the extract inhibited melanogenesis in B16F10 cells. Hence, A. indica methanol extract and ovatodiolide could be applied as a type of dermatological whitening agent in skin care products

Replication and Meta-Analysis of GWAS Identified Susceptibility Loci in Kawasaki Disease Confirm the Importance of B Lymphoid Tyrosine Kinase (BLK) in Disease Susceptibility

10.1371/journal.pone.0072037PLoS ONE88-POLN

Identification of Novel Susceptibility Loci for Kawasaki Disease in a Han Chinese Population by a Genome-Wide Association Study

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis syndrome that primarily affects infants and young children. Its etiology is unknown; however, epidemiological findings suggest that genetic predisposition underlies disease susceptibility. Taiwan has the third-highest incidence of KD in the world, after Japan and Korea. To investigate novel mechanisms that might predispose individuals to KD, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 250 KD patients and 446 controls in a Han Chinese population residing in Taiwan, and further validated our findings in an independent Han Chinese cohort of 208 cases and 366 controls. The most strongly associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) detected in the joint analysis corresponded to three novel loci. Among these KD-associated SNPs three were close to the COPB2 (coatomer protein complex beta-2 subunit) gene: rs1873668 (p = 9.52×10−5), rs4243399 (p = 9.93×10−5), and rs16849083 (p = 9.93×10−5). We also identified a SNP in the intronic region of the ERAP1 (endoplasmic reticulum amino peptidase 1) gene (rs149481, pbest = 4.61×10−5). Six SNPs (rs17113284, rs8005468, rs10129255, rs2007467, rs10150241, and rs12590667) clustered in an area containing immunoglobulin heavy chain variable regions genes, with pbest-values between 2.08×10−5 and 8.93×10−6, were also identified. This is the first KD GWAS performed in a Han Chinese population. The novel KD candidates we identified have been implicated in T cell receptor signaling, regulation of proinflammatory cytokines, as well as antibody-mediated immune responses. These findings may lead to a better understanding of the underlying molecular pathogenesis of KD

Genome-wide trans-ancestry meta-analysis provides insight into the genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes susceptibility.

To further understanding of the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptibility, we aggregated published meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including 26,488 cases and 83,964 controls of European, east Asian, south Asian and Mexican and Mexican American ancestry. We observed a significant excess in the directional consistency of T2D risk alleles across ancestry groups, even at SNPs demonstrating only weak evidence of association. By following up the strongest signals of association from the trans-ethnic meta-analysis in an additional 21,491 cases and 55,647 controls of European ancestry, we identified seven new T2D susceptibility loci. Furthermore, we observed considerable improvements in the fine-mapping resolution of common variant association signals at several T2D susceptibility loci. These observations highlight the benefits of trans-ethnic GWAS for the discovery and characterization of complex trait loci and emphasize an exciting opportunity to extend insight into the genetic architecture and pathogenesis of human diseases across populations of diverse ancestry