Connexin43 (Cx43) is involved in bone development, but its role in adult bone homeostasis remains unknown. To overcome the postnatal lethality of Cx43 null mutation, we generated mice with selective osteoblast ablation of Cx43, obtained using a Cx43fl allele and a 2.3-kb fragment of the α1(I) collagen promoter to drive Cre in osteoblasts (ColCre). Conditionally osteoblast-deleted ColCre;Cx43–/fl mice show no malformations at birth, but develop low peak bone mass and remain osteopenic with age, exhibiting reduced bone formation and defective osteoblast function. By both radiodensitometry and histology, bone mineral content increased rapidly and progressively in adult Cx43+/fl mice after subcutaneous injection of parathyroid hormone (PTH), an effect significantly attenuated in ColCre;Cx43–/fl mice, with Cx43–/fl exhibiting an intermediate response. Attenuation of PTH anabolic action was associated with failure to increase mineral apposition rate in response to PTH in ColCre;Cx43–/fl, despite an increased osteoblast number, suggesting a functional defect in Cx43-deficient bone-forming cells. In conclusion, lack of Cx43 in osteoblasts leads to suboptimal acquisition of peak bone mass, and hinders the bone anabolic effect of PTH. Cx43 represents a potential target for modulation of bone anabolism.

No abstract

Objective This study assessed factors associated with the quality of life (QoL) and investigated the influence of age in 401 Korean type 2 diabetic patients. Methods The QoL was assessed using the latest version of the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQoL) instrument in order to evaluate the perceived impact of diabetes on 19 life domains. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to measure depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between the factors and the ADDQoL scores in the lower quartile. The interaction terms of these factors with age strata were included to evaluate the distinctive associations across age, followed by a stratified analysis. Results According to a multivariate analysis, a positive association between depressive symptoms (BDI ! 16) and lower ADDQoL scores was consistently found across all ages. In the younger group (<60 years), insulin use (odds ratio: 4.45, 95% confidence interval: 1.29-15.33, p=0.018) and the presence of a family history of diabetes (OR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.08-0.68, p=0.008) were independently associated with lower ADDQoL scores. However, in the older group (! 60 years), insulin use and a family history of diabetes were not significantly associated with lower ADDQoL scores. Conclusion The findings suggest that insulin use, depressive symptoms and a family history of diabetes can be associated with the QoL in Korean type 2 diabetic patients; however, the associations show different patterns of age dependency.

No abstract

No abstract

In this paper, we propose a new user authentication (UA) scheme based on one-time password (OTP) protocol using smart cards for home networks. The proposed scheme is to authenticate home users who uses home devices. Several techniques using technology based on biometrics, passwords, certificates, and smart cards can be used for user authentication in the similar environments. However, such user authentication techniques must be examined before being employed in an environment where home devices have low efficiency and performance. Here, we present the important security functions of home networks. The proposed authentication protocol is designed to accept the existing home networks based on the one-time password protocol. Also, it is a well suited solution and is quite satisfactory in terms of the security requirements of home networks, because of requiring low computation by performing simple operations using one-way hash functions. Our proposed scheme can protect against illegal access for home services and devices and does not allow unnecessary service access by legitimate users. Therefore, it allows the user to provide real-time privilege control and good implementation in secure home networks.

An energy harvesting (EH) and information processing network based on two-way multiplicative relay is proposed. In the proposed scheme, two nodes communicate with each other via an energy constrained multiplicative relay node. The relay node uses power splitting-based relaying protocol for EH and information processing. The numerical results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the legacy amplify-and-forward EH relaying technique.Introduction: Radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting (EH) is a promising technique to prolong network lifetime where physically recharging the batteries of devices is not possible [1]. A two-way amplify-and-forward (AF)-based EH relay has been analysed by Chen et al. in [2]. The analysis reveals that the two-way AF relaying is a greener and more reliable solution that results in high transmission rates. On the one hand, AF relaying has low complexity so it is easy to implement. However, on the other hand, it amplifies noise along with the intended signal thus reducing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the destination. Xu et al.[3] have studied the properties of a product relay in legacy two-way relay networks. It has been shown that for higher SNR, the product relay provides low bit error ratio compared to AF relaying. The relay used in [3] is not energy constrained and it does not harvest energy. In this Letter, we introduce two-way multiplicative relay that additionally harvests energy.

Background/AimsWe investigated the associations among body mass index (BMI), insulin resistance, and β-cell function in Korean patients newly presenting with type 2 diabetes.MethodsIn total, 132 patients with new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus were investigated. A standard 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was performed, and the indices of insulin secretion and insulin resistance were calculated.ResultsA higher BMI was associated with higher homeostasis model assessment values for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-β), and insulinogenic index as well as lower levels of insulin sensitivity index composite (ISIcomp) and disposition index (DI). In multiple regression models, BMI had independent positive associations with HOMA-IR, ISIcomp, and HOMA-β and inverse associations with the DI.ConclusionsOur results showed that BMI had independent positive associations with indices of insulin resistance and an inverse association with β-cell function adjusted for insulin resistance in Korean patients newly presenting with type 2 diabetes.