Novel Mechanism of Nonalcoholic Lipid Accumulation Promoting Malignant Transformation of Hepatocytes

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is steadily increasing in worldwide, which has been a public concern significantly associated with diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an emerging risk factor with increasing prevalence nowadays, with gradually instead of HBV and HCV, aflatoxin, or alcohol liver disease as major etiological factors. The deeply worrisome aspects of these high risk factors are their large spread in population. Systemic and genetic mechanisms involved in malignant transformation of liver cells as well as useful biomarkers at early stage of HCC are being investigated. However, the exact mechanisms from NAFLD to HCC still remain to be explored. In this paper, some advances of liver lipid accumulation were summarized on the relationship between NAFLD and hepatocytes malignant transformation

Experimental Study on Permeability Coefficient in Layered Fine Tailings under Seepage Condition

Nearly half of the tailings dams in China are in a state of high-security risks and overservice, and the safety of these tailings dams has always been a concern for relevant scholars. The seepage characteristics of tailings are one of the essential factors affecting the safety of tailings dam. Now, due to the improvement of mineral processing technology, there are many fine tailings dam; the study of the seepage characteristics of the tailings dam is no longer applicable. Fine-grained tailings form uneven deposition in these tailings dams, resulting in the permeability of tailings not conforming to the previous law. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the permeability of fine-grained tailings with uneven deposition. In this paper, the physical model of the simulated tailings dam is established to study the influence of the dry beach slope on the distribution and deposition law of fine tailings during discharge. The test results show that the average particle size of tailings decreases along the length of dry beach, showing the phenomenon of coarsening upstream and thinning downstream. Then, based on the data of fine tailings deposition, the variation characteristics of the permeability coefficient of layered tailings under stable and unstable seepage conditions are studied. The test results show that the variation process of tailings permeability coefficient can be divided into four stages: rapid compaction stage, slow compaction stage, failure stage, and stable stage. Under stable and unstable seepage conditions, the permeability coefficients of unstratified tailing sand are about 10% and 15% higher, respectively, than those in the initial state. The permeability coefficient of layered tailings formed by uneven settlement changes more obviously, which is about 12% and 20% higher than the initial state

Design and Multiobjective Optimization of Magnetorheological Damper considering the Consistency of Magnetic Flux Density

The consistency of magnetic flux density of damping gap (CMDG) represents the balancing magnetic flux density in each damping gap of magnetorheological (MR) dampers. It can make influences on the performances of MR dampers and the accuracy of relevant objective functions. In order to improve the mechanical performances of the MR damper with a two-stage coil, the function for calculating CMDG needs to be found. By establishing an equivalent magnetic circuit model of the MR damper, the CMDG function is derived. Then, the multiobjective optimization function and the working flow of optimal design are presented by combining the parallel-plate model of the MR damper with the function posed before. Taking the damping force, the dynamic range, the response time, and the CMDG as the optimization objective, and the external geometric dimensions of the SG-MRD60 damper as the bound variable, this paper optimizes the internal geometric dimensions of MR damper by using a NSGA-III algorithm on the PlatEMO platform. The results show that the obtained scheme in Pareto-optimal solutions has existed with better performance than that of SG-MRD60 scheme. According to the results of the finite element analysis, the multiobjective optimization design including the CMDG function can improve the uniformity of magnetic flux density of the MR damper in damping gap, which meets the requirements of manufacture and application

Application of Digital Twins and Building Information Modeling in the Digitization of Transportation: A Bibliometric Review

The industrial transformation led by digitization-related technologies has attracted research attention in recent decades, enhancing its application in different sectors. The transport industry is a crucial driving force for economic growth and social development. It is still necessary to make transportation infrastructure and services safer, cleaner, and more affordable to cope with increasing urbanization and mobility. This paper systematically examines the science mapping of building information modeling and digital twins technologies in the digitalization of transportation. Through the bibliometric and content analysis approaches, 493 related documents were screened and analyzed from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The software programs VOSviewer and Bibliometrix were used to determine research trends and current gaps, which will be beneficial to future research in this vital field. The results showed that over 80% of the relevant documents have been published since 2018. China is the most productive country, followed by the United States and Italy, and Germany is the most cited and influential country. Moreover, research also revealed the leading authors, top journals, and highly cited papers. The findings may be used as a guide for: (1) improving the efficiency of intelligent transportation system element management; (2) the development and application of digital technologies; (3) the flow and goals of entire-life-cycle management; and (4) the optimization of related algorithms and models

EV‐COMM: A database of interspecies and intercellular interactions mediated by extracellular vesicles

Abstract Intra‐ and inter‐organismal interactions play a crucial role in the maintenance and function of individuals, as well as communities. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been identified as effective mediators for the communication both within and between species. They can carry and transport molecular cargoes to transmit biological messages. Several databases (ExoBCD, ExoCarta, EVpedia, EV‐TRACK, Vesiclepedia) complied the cargoes information including DNA, RNA, protein, lipid and metabolite associated with EVs. Databases that refer to the complete records on both donor and recipient information are warranted to facilitate the understanding of the interaction across cells and species. In this study, we developed a database that compiled the records equipped with a structured process of EV‐mediated interaction. The sources of donor and recipient were classified by cell type, tissues/organs and species, thus providing an extended knowledge of cell‐cell, species‐species interaction. The isolation and identification methods were presented for assessing the quality of EVs. Information on functional cargoes was included, where microRNA was linked to a prediction server to broaden its potential effects. Physiological and pathological context was marked to show the environment where EVs functioned. At present, a total of 1481 data records in our database, including 971 cell‐cell interactions belonging to more than 40 different tissues/organs, and 510 cross‐species records. The database provides a web interface to browse, search, visualize and download the interaction records. Users can search for interactions by selecting the context of interest or specific cells/species types, as well as functional cargoes. To the best of our knowledge, the database is the first comprehensive database focusing on interactions between donor and recipient cells or species mediated by EVs, serving as a convenient tool to explore and validate interactions. The Database, shorten as EV‐COMM (EV mediated communication) is freely available at http://sdc.iue.ac.cn/evs/list/ and will be continuously updated

Different region analysis for genotyping Yersinia pestis isolates from China.

BACKGROUND: DFR (different region) analysis has been developed for typing Yesinia pestis in our previous study, and in this study, we extended this method by using 23 DFRs to investigate 909 Chinese Y. pestis strains for validating DFR-based genotyping method and better understanding adaptive microevolution of Y. pestis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: On the basis of PCR and Bionumerics data analysis, 909 Y. pestis strains were genotyped into 32 genomovars according to their DFR profiles. New terms, Major genomovar and Minor genomovar, were coined for illustrating evolutionary relationship between Y. pestis strains from different plague foci and different hosts. In silico DFR profiling of the completed or draft genomes shed lights on the evolutionary scenario of Y. pestis from Y. pseudotuberculosis. Notably, several sequenced Y. pestis strains share the same DFR profiles with Chinese strains, providing data for revealing the global plague foci expansion. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Distribution of Y. pestis genomovars is plague focus-specific. Microevolution of biovar Orientalis was deduced according to DFR profiles. DFR analysis turns to be an efficient and inexpensive method to portrait the genome plasticity of Y. pestis based on horizontal gene transfer (HGT). DFR analysis can also be used as a tool in comparative and evolutionary genomic research for other bacteria with similar genome plasticity