Association between the lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and risk of incident type 2 diabetes in a healthy population of Northwest China: a retrospective cohort study with a 2-year follow-up period

AimsWe aimed to explore the metabolic features of lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (Lean-NAFLD) and its association with the risk of incident type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged people.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of 3001 participants who were enrolled in a health check-up program from January 2018 to December 2020 in the Health Management Center of Karamay People’s Hospital. The age, sex, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, waist circumference (WC), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), lipid profiles, serum uric acid and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of the subjects were collected. The cutoff point of BMI for lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is <25 kg/m2. A COX proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the risk ratio of lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to type 2 diabetes mellitus.ResultsLean NAFLD participants had many metabolic abnormalities, such as overweight and obesity with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Compared with lean participants without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the fully adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for lean participants with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was 3.83 (95% CI 2.02-7.24, p<0.01). In the normal waist circumference group (man<90cm, woman<80 cm), compared with lean participants without NAFLD, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of incident type 2 diabetes for lean participants with NAFLD and overweight or obese participants with NAFLD were 1.93 (95% CI 0.70-5.35, p>0.05) and 4.20 (95% CI 1.44-12.22, p<0.05), respectively. For excess waist circumference (man≥90 cm, woman ≥80 cm) compared with lean participants without NAFLD, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of incident type 2 diabetes for lean participants with NAFLD and overweight or obese participants with NAFLD were 3.88 (95% CI 1.56-9.66, p<0.05) and 3.30 (95% CI 1.52-7.14, p<0.05), respectively.ConclusionAbdominal obesity is the strongest risk factor for type 2 diabetes in lean nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Visualizing and Understanding Shrinking Cities and Towns (SCT) Research: A Network Analysis

The world is undergoing an unprecedented trend of fast urbanization, which causes a range of socio-environmental consequences, one of which is shrinking cities and towns (SCT). SCT refer to the cities or towns that are experiencing population decline and economic downturn. In the existing literature, there have been numerous studies on SCT; however, there is a lack of study which investigates its knowledge domains. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a scientometric analysis to achieve an outline of the SCT research status. Through the procedures of literature search and screening, a total of 716 SCT-related studies were extracted from the Scopus. The VOSviewer software system program was then utilized to visualize the present SCT-related studies. The visualization results revealed that the journal of Sustainability made significant contributions to the SCT research in terms of relevant publications. In addition, Haase, Annegret received the most co-citations, and was also the most productive author in this field. Furthermore, it was identified that current SCT research is mainly conducted in developed countries. Through the analysis of keywords, the emerging research topics were revealed. Discussions were further made from the perspectives of prevailing research methods, evaluation criteria, and solutions for SCT problems

Diversity and aggregation patterns of plant species in a grass community

Abstract Both composition and aggregation patterns of species in a community are the outcome of community self-organizing. In this paper we conducted analysis on species diversity and aggregation patterns of plant species in a grass community, Zhuhai, China. According to the sampling survey, in total of 47 plant species, belonging to 16 families, were found. Compositae had 10 species (21.3%), seconded by Gramineae (9 species, 19.1%), Leguminosae (6 species, 12.8%), Cyperaceae (4 species, 8.5%), and Malvaceae (3 species, 6.4%). The results revealed that the means of aggregation indices I δ , I and m * /m were 21.71, 15.71 and 19.89 respectively and thus individuals of most of plant species strongly followed aggregative distribution. Iwao analysis indicated that both individuals of all species and clumps of all individuals of all species followed aggregative distribution. Taylor's power law indicated that individuals of all species followed aggregative distribution and aggregation intensity strengthened as the increase of mean density. We held that the strong aggregation intensity of a species has been resulted from the strong adaptation ability to the environment, the strong interspecific competition ability and the earlier establishment of the species. Fitting goodness of the mean, I, I δ , m * /m with probability distributions demonstrated that the mean (density), I, I δ , and m * /m over all species followed Weibull distribution rather than normal distribution. Lophatherum gracile, Paederia scandens (Lour.) Merr., Eleusine indica, and Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. were mostly aggregative, and Oxalis sp., Eleocharis plantagineiformis, Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less., and Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb, were mostly uniform in the spatial distribution. Importance values (IV) showed that Cynodon dactylon was the most important species, seconded by Desmodium triflorum (L.) DC., Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.) Benth., Paspalum scrobiculatum L., and Rhynchelytrum repens. Oxalis sp., Eleocharis plantagineiformis, and Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less. were the least important species in the community. Summed dominance ratio (SDR2) revealed that Cynodon dactylon and Desmodium triflorum (L.) DC. were the most dominant species in the community, followed by Rhynchelytrum repens, Paspalum scrobiculatum L., and Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.) Benth

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The revision of an orientalist to a reoriented image : Arab women in The Algerian Quartet by Assia Djebar

Cette thèse porte sur l’œuvre d’Assia Djebar qui est une des plus grandes représentantes de la littérature maghrébine de langue française. Elle met à profit les nombreux travaux occidentaux déjà menés sur cette œuvre en les infléchissant et en les prolongeant par une approche personnelle qui s’attache à montrer comment l’écriture de cette écrivaine postcoloniale a contribué à renouveler la représentation des femmes arabes.La première partie fait d’abord le point sur la constitution de stéréotypes popularisés par les représentations orientalistes qui réduisaient les femmes orientales au statut d’objet esthétique et fantasmatique puis sur les apports des théories (théorie postcoloniale ; courants féministes) qui ont permis la déconstruction de l’approche orientaliste et de son idéologie sous-jacente. La deuxième partie montre comment l’écriture d’Assia Djebar s’inscrit dans cette perspective féministe postcoloniale. Ses récits donnent à de nombreux personnages de femmes algériennes des sensibilités, des modalités expressives, des rôles historiques et sociaux qui en font des sujets pleins et complexes. La troisième partie se concentre sur l’autoportrait de l’écrivaine qui s’affirme en tant que femme d’origine arabo-berbère assumant une hybridité culturelle et identitaire qui se traduit par les innovations génériques, poétiques et linguistiques de ses récits.This thesis focuses on the work of Assis Djebar, one of the greatest representatives of Francophone Maghreb literature. It draws on numerous works on this literature already published by modifying their approach and adding a personal perspective to show how this postcolonial writer renews the representation of Arab women.The first part of this study shows how the popular stereotypes invented by Orientalists reduced women to fantasmatic and aesthetic objects but the contribution of certain theories (postcolonial and feminist) have allowed the deconstruction of this Orientalism and its underlying ideology. The second part shows how Assia Djebar’s writing fits into the postcolonial feminist perspective. The author attributes many Algerian women characters with sensibilities, expressive modes, social and historical roles that make them fully-rounded and complex people. The third part focuses on the self-portrait of the author as a woman of Arab-Berber origin who recognises herself as a cultural and identity hybrid, reflected in the generic, poetic and linguistic innovations of her work

The revision of an orientalist to a reoriented image : Arab women in The Algerian Quartet by Assia Djebar

Cette thèse porte sur l’œuvre d’Assia Djebar qui est une des plus grandes représentantes de la littérature maghrébine de langue française. Elle met à profit les nombreux travaux occidentaux déjà menés sur cette œuvre en les infléchissant et en les prolongeant par une approche personnelle qui s’attache à montrer comment l’écriture de cette écrivaine postcoloniale a contribué à renouveler la représentation des femmes arabes.La première partie fait d’abord le point sur la constitution de stéréotypes popularisés par les représentations orientalistes qui réduisaient les femmes orientales au statut d’objet esthétique et fantasmatique puis sur les apports des théories (théorie postcoloniale ; courants féministes) qui ont permis la déconstruction de l’approche orientaliste et de son idéologie sous-jacente. La deuxième partie montre comment l’écriture d’Assia Djebar s’inscrit dans cette perspective féministe postcoloniale. Ses récits donnent à de nombreux personnages de femmes algériennes des sensibilités, des modalités expressives, des rôles historiques et sociaux qui en font des sujets pleins et complexes. La troisième partie se concentre sur l’autoportrait de l’écrivaine qui s’affirme en tant que femme d’origine arabo-berbère assumant une hybridité culturelle et identitaire qui se traduit par les innovations génériques, poétiques et linguistiques de ses récits.This thesis focuses on the work of Assis Djebar, one of the greatest representatives of Francophone Maghreb literature. It draws on numerous works on this literature already published by modifying their approach and adding a personal perspective to show how this postcolonial writer renews the representation of Arab women.The first part of this study shows how the popular stereotypes invented by Orientalists reduced women to fantasmatic and aesthetic objects but the contribution of certain theories (postcolonial and feminist) have allowed the deconstruction of this Orientalism and its underlying ideology. The second part shows how Assia Djebar’s writing fits into the postcolonial feminist perspective. The author attributes many Algerian women characters with sensibilities, expressive modes, social and historical roles that make them fully-rounded and complex people. The third part focuses on the self-portrait of the author as a woman of Arab-Berber origin who recognises herself as a cultural and identity hybrid, reflected in the generic, poetic and linguistic innovations of her work

Green Credit, Debt Maturity, and Corporate Investment—Evidence from China

Against the backdrop of working hard to build a beautiful country, this paper uses the promulgation of the “Green Credit Guidelines„ policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on a difference-in-differences (DID) model, the results show that, since the promulgation of the Green Credit Guidelines policy, financial institutions have significantly reduced the proportion of long-term debt to heavily polluting enterprises for reasons such as risk aversion and total credit constraints. Due to capital constraints and the restrictive terms of credit approval, the Green Credit Guidelines policy reduces the investment scale and overinvestment of heavily polluting enterprises. The dependency relationship of the debt maturity structure of heavily polluting enterprises with the investment scale and investment efficiency has been reduced. Furthermore, the negative net effect of the Green Credit Guidelines policy on long-term debt is more pronounced in heavily polluting enterprises that lack political connections. However, the promulgation of this policy inhibits the investment scale and the investment efficiency of heavily polluting enterprises (with or without political connections). To a certain extent, these results confirm the “supportive hand„ perspective towards political connections. The results of this research could help relevant government departments to understand the microeconomic consequences of the Green Credit Guidelines policy and could help improve and perfect China’s green credit policy

Analyzing the Impact of Traffic Congestion Mitigation: From an Explainable Neural Network Learning Framework to Marginal Effect Analyses

Computational graphs (CGs) have been widely utilized in numerical analysis and deep learning to represent directed forward networks of data flows between operations. This paper aims to develop an explainable learning framework that can fully integrate three major steps of decision support: Synthesis of diverse traffic data, multilayered traffic demand estimation, and marginal effect analyses for transport policies. Following the big data-driven transportation computational graph (BTCG) framework, which is an emerging framework for explainable neural networks, we map different external traffic measurements collected from household survey data, mobile phone data, floating car data, and sensor networks to multilayered demand variables in a CG. Furthermore, we extend the CG-based framework by mapping different congestion mitigation strategies to CG layers individually or in combination, allowing the marginal effects and potential migration magnitudes of the strategies to be reliably quantified. Using the TensorFlow architecture, we evaluate our framework on the Sioux Falls network and present a large-scale case study based on a subnetwork of Beijing using a data set from the metropolitan planning organization

Comprehensive utilization of edible mushroom Auricularia auricula

In order to promote the comprehensive utilization of the Auricularia auricula waste residue, the extraction process and the physicochemical properties of melanin from A. auricula waste residue were studied. Furthermore, the chemical antioxidant activity of waste residue melanin and its protective effect on cell oxidative injury induced by H2O2 were investigated. The results indicated that the ultrasonic-assisted extraction process could be used to extract the melanin from A. auricula waste residue. Melanin had a good solubility in alkali solution and exhibited a certain stability to thermal. There was no significant difference between A. auricula melanin control group and waste residue melanin on ABTS, DPPH, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Waste residue melanin significantly inhibited the cell death caused by H2O2, and the cell viability was restored to 98.09 ± 5.97% when the melanin concentration was 1.6 mg/ml. Cell morphology observation confirmed that the melanin ameliorated the morphological changes of cells induced by oxidative stress

Comprehensive utilization of edible mushroom Auricularia auricula waste residue—Extraction, physicochemical properties of melanin and its antioxidant activity

In order to promote the comprehensive utilization of the Auricularia auricula waste residue, the extraction process and the physicochemical properties of melanin from A. auricula waste residue were studied. Furthermore, the chemical antioxidant activity of waste residue melanin and its protective effect on cell oxidative injury induced by H2O2 were investigated. The results indicated that the ultrasonic-assisted extraction process could be used to extract the melanin from A. auricula waste residue. Melanin had a good solubility in alkali solution and exhibited a certain stability to thermal. There was no significant difference between A. auricula melanin control group and waste residue melanin on ABTS, DPPH, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Waste residue melanin significantly inhibited the cell death caused by H2O2, and the cell viability was restored to 98.09 ± 5.97% when the melanin concentration was 1.6 mg/ml. Cell morphology observation confirmed that the melanin ameliorated the morphological changes of cells induced by oxidative stress