A better parameter in predicting insulin resistance:Obesity plus elevated alanine aminotransferase

AIM:To investigate the association of obesity and elevated alanine aminotransferase with insulin resistance and compare these factors with metabolic syndrome. METHODS:We enrolled a total of 1308 male workers aged from 22 to 63 years.Data was extracted from the workers'periodic health check-ups in hospitals.All cases were from the community of northern Taiwan. This was a cross-sectional observational study from July to September in 2004.We grouped all cases into four groups,based on the quartile of homeostasis model assessment.The top fourth quartile group was defined as the group with insulin resistance.We performed multivariate logistic regression analysis for the odds ratio of the risk factors for insulin resistance. RESULTS:Compared with metabolic syndrome,the coexistence of both factors had a 4.3-fold(95%CI: 2.7-6.8)increased risk,which was more than metabolic syndrome with a 3.6-fold(95%CI:2.6-5.0)increased risk.The two factors had a synergistic effect.The synergistic index of obesity and elevated alanine aminotransferase(ALT)was 2.1(95%CI:1.01-4.3).CONCLUSION:Obesity and elevated ALT are associatedwith insulin resistance.The effects are synergistic. Coexistence of them is better than metabolic syndrome in predicting insulin resistance.

Regression of East Tethys resulted in a center of biodiversity: A study of Mysmenidae spiders from the Gaoligong Mountains, China

DEAR EDITOR,This research involved the study of 31 species from the spider family Mysmenidae Petrunkevitch,1928,found in the Gaoligong Mountains of China,including one new genus and 13 new species.Our results suggested that regression of East Tethys contributed to the appearance of a center of biodiversity.The Tethys,a classical and hot topic in geology.It has undergone a succession of significant geodynamic transformations,transitioning from an ancient ocean to the current Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt.Notably,the East Tethys,serving as an invaluable lens through which to study continental geology and geodynamics,has played a pivotal role in triggering the major geological reconstructions of the entire Tethys(Pan et al.,1997).

Sonographic fatty liver and hepatitis B virus carrier status: Synergistic effect on liver damage in Taiwan Residents adults

AIM: To examine the epidemiology of hepatitis B virus carrier status (HBVC) and sonographic fatty liver (SFL) in Taiwan Residents adults, and to evaluate their possible interaction in inducing liver damage (LD). From an epidemiological viewpoint, we analyzed previous studies which indicated that fatty liver sensitizes host immune response to HBV infection and enhances liver damage.METHODS: A cross-sectional retrospective analysis of health records including medical history, physical examination, abdominal sonogram, blood biochemistry and hepatic virological tests. We utilized the Student's t-test, chi-square, multivariate logistic regression and synergy index to assess risks for LD.RESULTS: Among a total of 5406 Taiwan Residents adults (mean age 46.2 years, 51.5% males), the prevalence of LD, HBVC and SFL were 12.3%, 15.1% and 33.4%, respectively; 5.1% of participants had SFL plus HBVC. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that male gender (odds ratio (OR) = 2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.3-3.5), overweight state (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.3-2.0), HBVC (OR = 2.5, 95% CI: 2.0-3.1) and SFL (OR = 4.2, 95% CI: 2.2-5.3) were independently associated with LD. Synergism analysis showed that the adjusted OR for LD in adults with HBVC-alone was 3.3 (95% CI: 2.4-4.6), SFL-alone, 4.7 (95% CI: 3.7-6.1) and combined HBVC and SFL, 9.5 (95% CI: 6.8-13.3); the synergy index was 1.4 (95% CI: 1.001-2.0).CONCLUSION: In Taiwan Residents adults, SFL plus HBVC have a significant synergistic association with LD.

Sonographic fatty liver, overweight and ischemic heart disease

AIM: To demonstrate the prevalence of sonographic fatty liver, overweight and ischemic heart disease (IHD) among the male workers in Taiwan, and to investigate the possible association of these three factors.METHODS: From July to September 2003, a total of 2 088 male aircraft-maintenance workers aged from 22to 65 years (mean 40.5) underwent an annual health examination, including anthropometrical evaluation, blood pressure measurement, personal medical history assessment,biochemical blood analysis, abdominal ultrasonographic examination and digital electrocardiography (ECG). The Student's t-test, x2 test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were utilized to evaluate the relationship between IHD and salient risk factors.RESULTS: The all-over prevalence of overweight was 41.4%, and that of fatty liver was 29.5% (mild, moderate and severe fatty liver being 14.5%, 11.3%, and 3.7%,respectively); while the prevalence of ischemic changes on ECG was 17.1% in this study. The abnormal rates for conventional IHD risk factors including hypertension,dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and overweight increased in accordance with the severity of fatty liver. Overweight and severity of fatty liver were independently associated with increased risks for developing IHD. Overweight subjects had a 1.32-fold (95%CI: 1.01-1.73) increased IHD risk. Participants with mild, moderate, and severe fatty liver had a 1.88-fold (95%CI: 1.37-2.6), 2.37-fold (95%CI: 1.66-3.37) and 2.76-fold (95%CI: 1.62-4.72)increased risk for developing IHD. The prevalence of ischemic ECG for the fatty liver-affected subjects with or without overweight was 30.1% and 19.1%, while that of overweight subjects free from fatty liver was 14.4%.Compared to the subjects without fatty liver nor overweight,IHD risk for the three subgroups above was as follows:OR: 2.95 (95%CI:2.31-4.09), OR: 1.60 (95%CI: 1.07-2.39)and OR: 1.11 (95%CI: 0.78-1.56), respectively.CONCLUSION: The presence of fatty liver and its severity should be carefully considered as independent risk factors for IHD. Results of the study suggest the synergistic effect between fatty liver and overweight for developing IHD.Abdominal sonographic examination may provide valuable information for IHD risk assessment in addition to limited report about liver status, especially for overweight males.

Shift work aggravates metabolic syndrome development among early-middle-aged males with elevated ALT

AIM: To examine whether shift work accelerates metabolic syndrome (MetS) development among early middle-aged males with elevated alanine aminotransferase (e-ALT).METHODS: A retrospective, observational followup study on MetS development at a 5-year interval was conducted using health examination data. Nine hundred and ninety six male employees not fulfi lling MetS criteria at screening were enrolled. Age, MetScomponents, liver enzymes, serological markers for viral hepatitis, abdominal ultrasound, insulin resistance status, lifestyles, and workplace factors were analyzed.RESULTS: The prevalence of elevated serum ALT (> 40 U/L, e-ALT) at baseline was 19.1%. There were 381 (38.3%) workers with long-term exposures to day-night rotating shift work (RSW). 14.2% of subjects developed MetS during follow-up. After 5 years, the workers with e-ALT had significantly unfavorable changes in MetS-components, and higher rates of MetS development, vs subjects with normal baseline ALT levels. Workers with both baseline e-ALT and 5-year persistent RSW (pRSW) exposure had the highest rate of MetS development. Also, e-ALT-plus-pRSW workers had a significant increase in MetS-components atfollow-up, compared with the other subgroups. After controlling for potential confounders, e-ALT-plus-pRSW workers posed a signifi cant risk for MetS development (odds ratio, 2.7; 95% confi dence interval, 1.4-5.3, vs workers without baseline e-ALT nor pRSW). CONCLUSION: We suggest that all early middle-aged male employees with e-ALT should be evaluated and managed for MetS. Particularly in terms of job arrangements, impacts of long-term RSW on MetS development should be assessed for all male employees having baseline e-ALT.

Solving Dynamic Spectrum Management Problem Based on Cloud Computing Using Genetic Algorithm

With the rapid development of wireless sensor network （WSN）, the demands of limited radio frequency spectrum rise sharply, thereby dealing with the frequency assignment of WSN scientifically and efficiently becomes a popular topic. To improve the frequency utilization rate in WSN, a spectrum management system for WSN combined with cloud computing technology should be considered. From the optimization point of view, the study of dynamic spectrum management can be divided into three kinds of methods, including Nash equilibrium, social utility maximization, and competitive economy equilibrium. In this paper, we propose a genetic algorithm based approach to allocate the power spectrum dynamically. The objective is to maximize the sum of individual Shannon utilities with the background interference and crosstalk consideration. Compared to the approach in [1], the experimental result shows better balance between efficiency and effectiveness of our approach.

Abnormal liver function and central obesity associate with work-related fatigue among the Taiwan Residents workers

AIM: To examine the associations between objective health indicators and high need for recovery (NFR) after work, one of the subjective presentations of work related-fatigue, among apparently healthy workers in modern workplaces. METHODS: From October to December, 2007, an annual health examination was performed for the workers from an electronics manufacturing factory in Taiwan. Health records of 1216 workers with a relatively homogeneous socioeconomic status were used for analysis. The health checkups included personal and NFR scale questionnaires, physical examinations, blood tests for biochemistry and hematology. The workers within the top tertile NFR score were defi ned as high-NFR workers. RESULTS: After adjusted for potential confounders, the workers with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and central obesity had a significantly higher NFR after work, with increased risks of 1.4-fold [95% confi dence interval (CI) = 1.01-2.0] and 1.8-fold (95% CI = 1.2-2.7), respectively. Shiftworkers had a 2.0-fold (95% CI = 1.5-2.6) increased risk for high-NFR. The associations between high-NFR and lipid profi les, blood sugar, hematology indexes or blood pressure were insignifi cant after controlling for confounders.CONCLUSION: For apparently healthy workers, high NFR after work is not simply a subjective experience. Objective health measures, such as elevated ALT and increased waist circumference, should be carefully evaluated for the apparently healthy workers having a higher NFR after work.

A Genetic Algorithm Based Approach for Campus Equipment Management System in Cloud Server

In this paper, we proposed a campus equipment ubiquitous-management system which is based on a genetic algorithm approach in cloud server. The system uses radio frequency identification （RFID） to monitor the status of equipment in real time, and uses wire or wireless network to send real-time situation to display on manager＇s PC or PDA. In addition, the system will also synchronize with database to record and reserve message. Furthermore, the status will display not only to a single manager but also a number of managers. In order to increase efficiency between graphical user interface （GUI） and database, the system adopts SqlDependency object of ADO.NET so that any changed situation of the database could be known immediately and synchronized with manager＇s PC or PDA. Because the problem of the equipment utilization is an NP-complete （non-deterministic polynomial） problem, we apply genetic algorithm to enhance the efficiency of finding optimum solution for equipment utilization. We assign constraints into the system, and the system will post back the optimum solution simultaneously on the screen. As a consequence, we compare our genetic algorithm based approach （GA） with the simulated annealing based approach （SA） for maximizing the equipment utilization. Experimental result shows that our GA approach achieves an average 79.66% improvement in equipment utilization in an acceptable run time.

Effect of Electrode Surface Modification by Sulfide on QCM Based Protein Biosensor

The rapid development of surface sensitive biosensor technologies requires optimum control of surface modification to provide reliable and reproducible results. With the aim to assemble a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)-based protein biosensor, we focus our attention on sulfide receptor and its integration with the surface of the electrode. Here, we present different surface modification processing time to allow sulfide molecules to be immobilized to gold coated sensor for QCM sensing. The optimum surface modification processing time is also obtained by bovine serum albumin (BSA) binding measurement.