Role of diet on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: An updated narrative review

© 2015 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. The purpose of this article review is to update what is known about the role of diet on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the developed world and is considered to be a spectrum, ranging from fatty infiltration of the liver alone (steatosis), which may lead to fatty infiltration with inflammation known as non alcoholic steatohepatitis While the majority of individuals with risk factors like obesity and insulin resistance have steatosis, only few people may develop steatohepatitis. Current treatment relies on weight loss and exercise, although various insulin-sensitizing medications appear promising. Weight loss alone by dietary changes has been shown to lead to histological improvement in fatty liver making nutrition therapy to become a cornerstone of treatment for NAFLD. Supplementation of vitamin E, C and omega 3 fatty acids are under consideration with some conflicting data. Moreover, research has been showed that saturated fat, trans-fatty acid, carbohydrate, and simple sugars (fructose and sucrose) may play significant role in the intrahepatic fat accumulation. However, true associations with specific nutrients yet to be clarified

A study on the utility of temporal derivatives and unsupervised clustering in brain-computer interfaces

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) rely on accurate classification of event-related potentials (ERP), a task commonly delegated to a machine-learning algorithm, which investigates features derived from the voltages (V) recorded at different scalp locations with the electro-encephalogram (EEG). The performance of the machine-learning algorithm is an area that has captured the interest of the research community. Although major advancements have been made, BCIs suffer from uncertainties that arise from assumptions such as that participants are “focused”, “still” and that no unpredictable events occurred during the recording, for example abrupt sounds or light changes. From the range of possible uses of BCIs, one of the most challenging is its adaptation to everyday life situations. Addressing both participant and environmental related influences to the EEG could enable the usage of BCIs outside the confines of the laboratory. In addition, in order to create a BCI that can act as an “enhancement” for the able-bodied requires a way to identify recurrent events without prior knowledge, thus providing the user with a way to increment the “understanding” of his BCI. Moreover, information such as location, latency and shape of recurring events could provide solid grounds for future researchers to build upon. In the thesis the above problem is challenged by investigating two main topics: assuming that the neuro-signals are additive (i.e. uncorrelated), (a) the usage of the first time derivative of V (dV) as feature regarding performance in classification of an ERP, and (b) unsupervised clustering of ERPs. Both investigations tackle the problem of mining properties of unknown neuro-signals. Theoretical investigations carried out on in each topic are performed using synthetic signals to assess the expected behaviour. Using real data from a P300 BCI mouse, both topics were evaluated; the classification performance of dV was found to be significantly better than V while evaluating a baseline for comparison. Having such a positive outcome encouraged an attempt to create a single linkage unsupervised clustering method based on statistical significance. Without knowing if an ERP was generated or not, the developed clustering algorithm, based on dV, is shown to be accurate in identifying the shape of the underlying, “unknown” ERP. For years researchers have been constructing experiments to uncover EEG events directly related to stimuli. An outcome of this research is that recurring EEG responses which might have been neglected, simply because they were not expected, are now identifiable

Molecular genetic studies on cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites in psychotic patients and healthy individuals

Dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline are the major monoamines in the human central nervous system (CNS) and following their basic pathways they are degraded to their major metabolites homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), respectively. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of the three monoamine metabolites (MM) are considered to reflect the monoamine turnover rates in the CNS, are under genetic influence and have been associated with schizophrenia. In the first part of the thesis (Studies I, II and III), 132 healthy individuals (78 men and 54 women) were included, whereas in the second part of the thesis (Studies IV and V) 74 psychotic patients (45 men and 29 women) participated. CSF samples were drawn by lumbar puncture and genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood samples for genotyping. In the first part of the thesis, we have searched for association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1), dystrobrevin binding protein 1 (DTNBP1) and D-amino acid oxidase activator (DAOA) genes and the CSF MM concentrations in healthy individuals in order to shed further light to the understanding of the effect of the genes on CSF MM in humans. One TPH1 SNP and one DTNBP1 SNP were found to be significantly associated with both CSF 5-HIAA and HVA, giving evidence for association between the genes and dopamine and serotonin turnover rates in CNS. Two DAOA SNPs were significantly associated with CSF HVA concentrations, proposing that the DAOA gene is implicated in dopaminergic mechanisms. In the second part of the thesis, we searched for association between genes implicated in dopamine, serotonin and noradrenalin metabolism (Study IV) and glutamate-related genes (Study V) and CSF MM concentrations in psychotic patients. Several nominal associations and one significant association between MAOB and MHPG in men (Study IV) were found, suggesting that CSF MM concentrations can be considered as psychosis intermediate phenotypes in previously reported associations between gene variants and the disorder

Aspects of multi-national transportation investment planning

Thesis (Civ.E)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1981MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING.Bibliography: leaves 126-129.by Dimitrios Andreou Tsamboulas.Civ.

Preliminary evaluation for road network improvement alternatives in less developed countries.

Thesis. 1975. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil Engineering.Includes bibliographical references.M.S

Obese Children with Metabolic Syndrome Have 3 Times Higher Risk to Have Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Compared with Those without Metabolic Syndrome

Copyright © 2017 Dimitrios Papandreou et al. Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MS) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese children. One hundred and twenty-five subjects aged 11-12 years old participated in the study. Methods: Anthropometric and biochemical indices were measured, including lipid and liver profile, blood glucose, serum insulin, and liver ultrasound. Results: Forty-four children (58.6%) were found to have MS. Insulin resistance was present in 78 (62.4%) children. Patients with MS were more likely to have NAFLD (P \u3c; 0.001). Children with NAFLD had significantly higher body mass index, waist circumference, triglycerides, fasting insulin, and lower high-density lipoprotein compared to patients with normal livers (P \u3c 0.001). Insulin resistance was significantly higher in children with NAFLD (P \u3c; 0.001). Obese children presenting with MS were 3.01 (2.87-3.57, P \u3c 0.002) times more likely to develop NAFLD compared to those without metabolic syndrome after adjustment of cofounders. Conclusions: Obese children with MS have a higher risk of developing NAFLD. Weight management and early prevention should be the first line of treatment to prevent any possible health issues later on

Chitosan Nanogel with Mixed Food Plants and Its Relation to Blood Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic and Meta-Analysis Review of Observational Studies

This systematic review with metanalysis evaluated and analyzed the beneficial effects of certain plants food in type 2 diabetes (T2D) when consumed alone or in combination with chitosan. The main objective of the paper was to examine the relation of chitosan nanogel and mixed food plant (MFP) to control T2D. The databases included Medline, Scopus, PubMed, as well as Cochrane available between the month of January 1990 to January 2021. The eligibility criteria for selecting studies were case-controlled studies that included unripe plantain, bitter yam, okra, and chitosan either used-alone or in combination with non-specified food plants (NSFP). Two-fold autonomous critics retrieved the information required and evaluated the risk of bias of involved studies. Random-effect meta-analyses on blood glucose controls, were performed. Results of 18 studies included: seven that examined unripe plantains, one bitter yam, two okras, and eight chitosan, found regarding the decrease in blood glucose level. Meta-analysis of the results found a large proportion of I2 values for all studies (98%), meaning heterogeneity. As a consequence, the combined effect sizes were not useful. Instead, prediction interval (PI) was used (mean difference 4.4 mg/dL, 95% PI −6.65 to 15.50 and mean difference 3.4 mg/dL, 95% PI −23.65 to 30.50) rather than the estimate of its confidence interval (CI). These studies were at 50% high risk of bias and 50% low risk of bias and there was judged to be an unclear risk of bias due to the insufficient information from the included study protocol (moderately low). The intervention lasted between three and 84 days, indicating potency and effectiveness of the intervention at both short and long durations. Due to the moderately low quality of the studies, the findings were cautiously interpreted. In conclusion, the current evidence available from the study does support the relation of chitosan with mixed unripe plantain, bitter yam and okra for the management of T2D. Further high-quality case-controlled animal studies are required to substantiate if indeed chitosan nanogel should be cross-linked with the specified food plant (SFP) for the management T2D