IMPACT: Investigation of Mobile-user Patterns Across University Campuses using WLAN Trace Analysis

We conduct the most comprehensive study of WLAN traces to date. Measurements collected from four major university campuses are analyzed with the aim of developing fundamental understanding of realistic user behavior in wireless networks. Both individual user and inter-node (group) behaviors are investigated and two classes of metrics are devised to capture the underlying structure of such behaviors. For individual user behavior we observe distinct patterns in which most users are 'on' for a small fraction of the time, the number of access points visited is very small and the overall on-line user mobility is quite low. We clearly identify categories of heavy and light users. In general, users exhibit high degree of similarity over days and weeks. For group behavior, we define metrics for encounter patterns and friendship. Surprisingly, we find that a user, on average, encounters less than 6% of the network user population within a month, and that encounter and friendship relations are highly asymmetric. We establish that number of encounters follows a biPareto distribution, while friendship indexes follow an exponential distribution. We capture the encounter graph using a small world model, the characteristics of which reach steady state after only one day. We hope for our study to have a great impact on realistic modeling of network usage and mobility patterns in wireless networks.Comment: 16 pages, 31 figure

A Review of Western and Traditional Chinese Medical Approaches to Managing Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a disease of attention because of increase in prevalence from 20% to 41%. The clinical and pathological conditions in patients with NAFLD range from steatosis alone to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with or without fibrosis to hepatic cancer. In the United States, NAFLD was the second-leading indication for liver transplant between 2004 and 2013. Although imaging studies such as magnetic resonance elastography and the use of diagnostic panels and scoring systems can provide a fairly accurate diagnosis of NAFLD, there are few treatment options for patients with mild to moderate disease other than lifestyle modification. Many of the currently used medical treatments have been shown to cause severe side effects and some have been shown to be associated with increased risk for certain types of cancer. In recent years, a number of traditional Chinese herbal treatments have been examined for their potential uses as treatment for NAFLD. In this review, we provide a general overview of NAFLD and a survey of Western pharmacologic drugs currently used to treat the disease as well as the results of recent studies on the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal remedies for managing nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

The Interplay of Reovirus with Autophagy

Autophagy participates in multiple fundamental physiological processes, including survival, differentiation, development, and cellular homeostasis. It eliminates cytoplasmic protein aggregates and damaged organelles by triggering a series of events: sequestering the protein substrates into double-membrane vesicles, fusing the vesicles with lysosomes, and then degrading the autophagic contents. This degradation pathway is also involved in various disorders, for instance, cancers and infectious diseases. This paper provides an overview of modulation of autophagy in the course of reovirus infection and also the interplay of autophagy and reovirus

Critical quality attributes (CQAs) of a therapeutic antibody produced from integrated continuous bioprocessing

The integrated continuous bioprocess provides an innovative way to produce protein drugs with flexibility and efficiency. However, during the long-term cultivation and complicated production, how to ensure the process stability and product quality is critically important. In this study, the monoclonal antibody (mAb) was produced in a bioreactor operated in a perfusion mode utilizing the ATF cell retention system for up to 32 days. The 2L harvest per day starting at day 10 was continuously purified using the 3-column periodic counter-current (PCC) chromatography system. The first protein A capture purification was performed with the dynamic binding capacity of 50% breakthrough around 60 mg mAb/mL of resin (vs 20 mg/mL resin for batch purification) for 120 cycles or 360 column operations followed by a polishing step of mixed mode chromatography for 20 cycles. The process and quality attributes were monitored daily. The results demonstrate consistency in both the purification process and the mAb qualities (in the aspects of product integrity, aggregates, and glycan profile) between PCC and batch purifications. Culture-related charge heterogeneity was observed accompanied by an increase of bioreactor harvest time using both batch and PCC purification processes. In addition, the impurities such as endotoxin and HCP were also monitored while under this high capacity utilization of chromatography resins. By sharing the insights of process and quality attributes, we hope to provide better understanding on the process-related heterogeneity between batch and continuous production and/or purification

Bioprocess intelligent for the improvements and prediction on fed-batch cell culture in bioreactor

With advances in biotechnology, the antibody productivity is not the only issue in biopharmaceutical manufacturing; moreover, how to control the quality and quantity of antibody production in bioprocess has become prominent. In typical fed-batch cell culture, it is not easy to control the dynamic cultivation and feeding conditions. The study is to present an intelligent bioprocess make use of design of experiments (DOE) and multivariate data analysis (MVDA). In the culture medium optimization, we performed the medium screening with the DOE method in shake spin tubes and shake flasks. DOE provides a cost-effective methodology for medium development and optimization, and furthermore we utilized multivariate data analysis methodology to build up the fed-batch intelligence bioprocess in 5 L bioreactor. We analyzed mass data transferred from 5 L bioreactor process and established the fed-batch culture model with SIMCA software. Combination of the batch process and big data sets, we can be easy to do batch-to-batch comparison, cell culture profile prediction, and key parameter finding to improve the process performance with more steady product quality and less error. In this fed-batch culture model, we achieved more than 5 g/L cell productivity consistently and predictably in 5 L bioreactor cultivation with CRISPR-mediated targeted gene site-specific integration CHO cell line

Plasma-cell type Castleman’s disease of the neck and lymphocyte-depletion Hodgkin lymphoma associated with intestinal intussusception in an AIDS patient

A 36-year-old man was diagnosed with plasma-cell type Castleman’s disease with the presentation of recurrent lymphadenpathy of the neck. HIV infection was not suspected or confirmed until esophageal candidiasis developed one year later. Meanwhile, surgery was performed for intestinal intussusception and obstruction caused by lymphocyte-depletion Hodgkin lymphoma. However, he died of rapidly progressive pneumonia and disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with intracerebral hemorrhage, which occurred 6 months later during the course of chemotherapy. This case suggests that HIV infection should be considered in patients who present with plasma-cell type Castleman’s disease or lymphocyte-depletion Hodgkin lymphoma with extra-nodal involvement in order to conduct appropriate diagnosis and initiate treatment for HIV infection

A novel regulatory event-based gene set analysis method for exploring global functional changes in heterogeneous genomic data sets

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Analyzing gene expression data by assessing the significance of pre-defined gene sets, rather than individual genes, has become a main approach in microarray data analysis and this has promisingly derive new biological interpretations of microarray data. However, the detection power of conventional gene list or gene set-based approaches is limited on highly heterogeneous samples, such as tumors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We developed a novel method, the regulatory <b>e</b>vent-based <b>G</b>ene <b>S</b>et <b>A</b>nalysis (eGSA), which considers not only the consistently changed genes but also every gene regulation (event) of each sample to overcome the detection limit. In comparison with conventional methods, eGSA can detect functional changes in heterogeneous samples more precisely and robustly. Furthermore, by utilizing eGSA, we successfully revealed novel functional characteristics and potential mechanisms of very early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study creates a novel scheme to directly target the major cellular functional changes in heterogeneous samples. All potential regulatory routines of a functional change can be further analyzed by the regulatory event frequency. We also provide a case study on early HCCs and reveal a novel insight at the initial stage of hepatocarcinogenesis. eGSA therefore accelerates and refines the interpretation of heterogeneous genomic data sets in the absence of gene-phenotype correlations.</p