Design and Implementation of a Wireless Sensor Network for Smart Homes

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have become indispensable to the realization of smart homes. The objective of this paper is to develop such a WSN that can be used to construct smart home systems. The focus is on the design and implementation of the wireless sensor node and the coordinator based on ZigBee technology. A monitoring system is built by taking advantage of the GPRS network. To support multi-hop communications, an improved routing algorithm based on the Dijkstra algorithm is presented. Preliminary simulations have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the algorithm.Comment: International Workshop on Mobile Cyber-Physical Systems (MobiCPS 2010), in conjunction with UIC2010, IEEE, Xi'an, China, 26 - 29 October, 201

Gene Ontology annotation of the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Magnaporthe oryzae</it>, the causal agent of blast disease of rice, is the most destructive disease of rice worldwide. The genome of this fungal pathogen has been sequenced and an automated annotation has recently been updated to Version 6 <url>http://www.broad.mit.edu/annotation/genome/magnaporthe_grisea/MultiDownloads.html</url>. However, a comprehensive manual curation remains to be performed. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation is a valuable means of assigning functional information using standardized vocabulary. We report an overview of the GO annotation for Version 5 of <it>M. oryzae </it>genome assembly.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A similarity-based (i.e., computational) GO annotation with manual review was conducted, which was then integrated with a literature-based GO annotation with computational assistance. For similarity-based GO annotation a stringent reciprocal best hits method was used to identify similarity between predicted proteins of <it>M. oryzae </it>and GO proteins from multiple organisms with published associations to GO terms. Significant alignment pairs were manually reviewed. Functional assignments were further cross-validated with manually reviewed data, conserved domains, or data determined by wet lab experiments. Additionally, biological appropriateness of the functional assignments was manually checked.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, 6,286 proteins received GO term assignment via the homology-based annotation, including 2,870 hypothetical proteins. Literature-based experimental evidence, such as microarray, MPSS, T-DNA insertion mutation, or gene knockout mutation, resulted in 2,810 proteins being annotated with GO terms. Of these, 1,673 proteins were annotated with new terms developed for Plant-Associated Microbe Gene Ontology (PAMGO). In addition, 67 experiment-determined secreted proteins were annotated with PAMGO terms. Integration of the two data sets resulted in 7,412 proteins (57%) being annotated with 1,957 distinct and specific GO terms. Unannotated proteins were assigned to the 3 root terms. The Version 5 GO annotation is publically queryable via the GO site <url>http://amigo.geneontology.org/cgi-bin/amigo/go.cgi</url>. Additionally, the genome of <it>M. oryzae </it>is constantly being refined and updated as new information is incorporated. For the latest GO annotation of Version 6 genome, please visit our website <url>http://scotland.fgl.ncsu.edu/smeng/GoAnnotationMagnaporthegrisea.html</url>. The preliminary GO annotation of Version 6 genome is placed at a local MySql database that is publically queryable via a user-friendly interface Adhoc Query System.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our analysis provides comprehensive and robust GO annotations of the <it>M. oryzae </it>genome assemblies that will be solid foundations for further functional interrogation of <it>M. oryzae</it>.</p

Effects of Octenyl-Succinylated Chitosan—Whey Protein Isolated on Emulsion Properties, Astaxanthin Solubility, Stability, and Bioaccessibility

The synthesis of octenyl-succinylated chitosan with different degrees of substitution resulting from chemical modification of chitosan and controlled addition of octenyl succinic acid was investigated. The modified products were characterized using 1H NMR, FTIR, and XRD, and the degree of substitution was also determined. The properties of the modified chitosan oligosaccharide in solution were evaluated by surface tension and dye solubilization, finding that the molecules self-assembled when they are above the critical aggregation concentration. The two methods yielded consistent results, showing that the self-assembly was reduced with higher levels of substitution. The antimicrobial activity of the octanyl-succinylated chitosan oligosaccharide (OSA-COS) derivatives against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp cucumerinum was investigated by the Oxford cup method. While the acetylated COS derivatives were not significantly effective against either E coli or S. aureus, they showed significant antifungal activity toward F. oxysporum that was superior to that of COS. The modified product was found to form a stable emulsion when mixed with whey protein isolate. The emulsion formed by the highly substituted derivatives have a certain stability and loading efficiency, which can be used for the encapsulation and delivery of astaxanthin

Gene Ontology annotation of the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae

Abstract Background Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of blast disease of rice, is the most destructive disease of rice worldwide. The genome of this fungal pathogen has been sequenced and an automated annotation has recently been updated to Version 6 http://www.broad.mit.edu/annotation/genome/magnaporthe_grisea/MultiDownloads.html. However, a comprehensive manual curation remains to be performed. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation is a valuable means of assigning functional information using standardized vocabulary. We report an overview of the GO annotation for Version 5 of M. oryzae genome assembly. Methods A similarity-based (i.e., computational) GO annotation with manual review was conducted, which was then integrated with a literature-based GO annotation with computational assistance. For similarity-based GO annotation a stringent reciprocal best hits method was used to identify similarity between predicted proteins of M. oryzae and GO proteins from multiple organisms with published associations to GO terms. Significant alignment pairs were manually reviewed. Functional assignments were further cross-validated with manually reviewed data, conserved domains, or data determined by wet lab experiments. Additionally, biological appropriateness of the functional assignments was manually checked. Results In total, 6,286 proteins received GO term assignment via the homology-based annotation, including 2,870 hypothetical proteins. Literature-based experimental evidence, such as microarray, MPSS, T-DNA insertion mutation, or gene knockout mutation, resulted in 2,810 proteins being annotated with GO terms. Of these, 1,673 proteins were annotated with new terms developed for Plant-Associated Microbe Gene Ontology (PAMGO). In addition, 67 experiment-determined secreted proteins were annotated with PAMGO terms. Integration of the two data sets resulted in 7,412 proteins (57%) being annotated with 1,957 distinct and specific GO terms. Unannotated proteins were assigned to the 3 root terms. The Version 5 GO annotation is publically queryable via the GO site http://amigo.geneontology.org/cgi-bin/amigo/go.cgi. Additionally, the genome of M. oryzae is constantly being refined and updated as new information is incorporated. For the latest GO annotation of Version 6 genome, please visit our website http://scotland.fgl.ncsu.edu/smeng/GoAnnotationMagnaporthegrisea.html. The preliminary GO annotation of Version 6 genome is placed at a local MySql database that is publically queryable via a user-friendly interface Adhoc Query System. Conclusion Our analysis provides comprehensive and robust GO annotations of the M. oryzae genome assemblies that will be solid foundations for further functional interrogation of M. oryzae

Simvastatin reduces secondary brain injury caused by cortical contusion in rats: Possible involvement of TLR4/NF-κB pathway

Simvastatin, a cholesterol-lowering agent, has demonstrated neuroprotective effects against brain injury, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of simvastatin on the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) related signaling pathway and secondary brain injury in rats after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Adult male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: (1) Sham group (n = 25); (2) Sham + vehicle group (n = 25); (3) TBI + vehicle group (n = 30); and (4) TBI + simvastatin group (n = 30). Right parietal cortical contusion was made by using a weight-dropping method. In TBI + simvastatin group, simvastatin was administered orally at a dose of 37.5 mg/kg at 1 and 6 h after TBI. Brain samples were extracted at 24 h after trauma. As a result, we found that treatment with simvastatin markedly inhibited the mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4, NF-κB and the downstream inflammatory agents, such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Administration of simvastatin following TBI significantly ameliorated the secondary brain damage, such as cortical apoptosis, brain edema, blood-brain barrier (BBB) impairment, and motor deficits. In conclusion, post-TBI simvastatin administration may attenuate TLR4/NF-κB-mediated inflammatory response in the injured rat brain, and this may be one mechanism by which simvastatin improves outcome following TBI. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Treatment of high-salt oil produced water based on constructed wetland technology—A case study of a costal oilfield

Aiming at the treatment of large volume of oil produced wastewater, the combined technology based on constructed wetland was applied for produced water treatment in a costal oil field. During the stable operation period, the treatment system maintained removal efficiency of 50.2% for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 100% for oil and 85.1% for ammonium nitrogen (NH3-N) under the gradient increase of salinity along the process. Meanwhile, this system has a good ability to adapt the influent fluctuation. When the oil in the influent fluctuated greatly between 11 mg/L to 147 mg/L, the effluent water quality remained stable. The treated water met the national discharge standard for water pollutants from the oilfield industry and can be used for the saline alkali beach wetland as supplement water