Global asymptotic behavior and boundedness of positive solutions to an odd-order rational difference equation

AbstractIn this note we consider the following high-order rational difference equation xn=1+∏i=1k(1−xn−i)∑i=1kxn−i,n=0,1,…, where k≥3 is odd number, x−k,x−k+1,x−k+2,…,x−1 is positive numbers. We obtain the boundedness of positive solutions for the above equation, and with the perturbation of initial values, we mainly use the transformation method to prove that the positive equilibrium point of this equation is globally asymptotically stable

The clinical overlap between functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome based on Rome III criteria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epidemiological studies suggest considerable overlap between functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). To date, no surveys have been performed to investigate the clinical overlap between these two disorders using Rome III criteria. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for the overlap of FD and IBS based on Rome III criteria in a large clinical sample.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Consecutive patients at the general gastroenterology outpatient clinic were requested to complete a self-report questionnaire. FD and IBS were defined by Rome III criteria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Questionnaires were returned by 3014 patients (52.8% female, 89% response rate). FD-IBS overlap was observed in 5.0% of the patients, while 15.2% and 10.9% of the patients were classified as FD alone and IBS alone, respectively. Compared with non-IBS patients, the odds ratio of having FD among IBS patients was 2.09 (95% CI: 1.68–2.59). Patients with FD-IBS overlap had higher severity scores for the postprandial fullness symptom (2.35 ± 1.49 vs. 1.72 ± 1.59, P < 0.001) and overall FD symptom (6.65 ± 2.88 vs. 5.82 ± 2.76, P = 0.002) than those with FD alone. The only independent risk factor for FD-IBS overlap vs. FD alone was the presence of postprandial fullness symptom (OR 2.67, 95% CI: 1.34–5.31).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Clinical overlap of FD and IBS according to Rome III criteria is very common. One risk factor for FD-IBS overlap is the presence of postprandial fullness symptom. This study provides clues for future pathophysiological studies of FD and IBS.</p

The clinical overlap between functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome based on Rome III criteria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epidemiological studies suggest considerable overlap between functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). To date, no surveys have been performed to investigate the clinical overlap between these two disorders using Rome III criteria. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for the overlap of FD and IBS based on Rome III criteria in a large clinical sample.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Consecutive patients at the general gastroenterology outpatient clinic were requested to complete a self-report questionnaire. FD and IBS were defined by Rome III criteria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Questionnaires were returned by 3014 patients (52.8% female, 89% response rate). FD-IBS overlap was observed in 5.0% of the patients, while 15.2% and 10.9% of the patients were classified as FD alone and IBS alone, respectively. Compared with non-IBS patients, the odds ratio of having FD among IBS patients was 2.09 (95% CI: 1.68–2.59). Patients with FD-IBS overlap had higher severity scores for the postprandial fullness symptom (2.35 ± 1.49 vs. 1.72 ± 1.59, P < 0.001) and overall FD symptom (6.65 ± 2.88 vs. 5.82 ± 2.76, P = 0.002) than those with FD alone. The only independent risk factor for FD-IBS overlap vs. FD alone was the presence of postprandial fullness symptom (OR 2.67, 95% CI: 1.34–5.31).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Clinical overlap of FD and IBS according to Rome III criteria is very common. One risk factor for FD-IBS overlap is the presence of postprandial fullness symptom. This study provides clues for future pathophysiological studies of FD and IBS.</p

Gene Expression Divergence is Coupled to Evolution of DNA Structure in Coding Regions

Sequence changes in coding region and regulatory region of the gene itself (cis) determine most of gene expression divergence between closely related species. But gene expression divergence between yeast species is not correlated with evolution of primary nucleotide sequence. This indicates that other factors in cis direct gene expression divergence. Here, we studied the contribution of DNA three-dimensional structural evolution as cis to gene expression divergence. We found that the evolution of DNA structure in coding regions and gene expression divergence are correlated in yeast. Similar result was also observed between Drosophila species. DNA structure is associated with the binding of chromatin remodelers and histone modifiers to DNA sequences in coding regions, which influence RNA polymerase II occupancy that controls gene expression level. We also found that genes with similar DNA structures are involved in the same biological process and function. These results reveal the previously unappreciated roles of DNA structure as cis-effects in gene expression

On a Conjecture for a Higher-Order Rational Difference Equation

This paper studies the global asymptotic stability for positive solutions to the higher order rational difference equation , where is odd and . Our main result generalizes several others in the recent literature and confirms a conjecture by Berenhaut et al., 2007.</p

Research Article On a Conjecture for a Higher-Order Rational Difference Equation

This paper studies the global asymptotic stability for positive solutions to the higher order rational difference equation xn � � ∏m j�1�xn−kj � 1�� ∏ m j�1�xn−kj − 1��/� ∏ m j�1�xn−kj � 1 � − ∏m �xn−kj j�1 − 1��, n� 0, 1, 2,...,wheremis odd and x−km,x−km�1,...,x−1 ∈ �0, ∞�. Our main result generalizes several others in the recent literature and confirms a conjecture by Berenhaut et al., 2007. Copyright q 2009 Maoxin Liao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1

Role of uric acid in the development and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Abnormal uric acid metabolism is closely associated with the development and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This article describes the relationship between uric acid and the prevalence and severity of NAFLD, and point out that uric acid metabolic disorders directly affect the development and progression of NAFLD through complicated pathways such as insulin resistance, oxidative stress, direct influence on the expression of lipid synthetase, and inflammatory response. Control of uric acid is expected to become one of the multimodality therapies for NAFLD

Three-Dimensional Human Pose Estimation from Sparse IMUs through Temporal Encoder and Regression Decoder

Three-dimensional (3D) pose estimation has been widely used in many three-dimensional human motion analysis applications, where inertia-based path estimation is gradually being adopted. Systems based on commercial inertial measurement units (IMUs) usually rely on dense and complex wearable sensors and time-consuming calibration, causing intrusions to the subject and hindering free body movement. The sparse IMUs-based method has drawn research attention recently. Existing sparse IMUs-based three-dimensional pose estimation methods use neural networks to obtain human poses from temporal feature information. However, these methods still suffer from issues, such as body shaking, body tilt, and movement ambiguity. This paper presents an approach to improve three-dimensional human pose estimation by fusing temporal and spatial features. Based on a multistage encoder–decoder network, a temporal convolutional encoder and human kinematics regression decoder were designed. The final three-dimensional pose was predicted from the temporal feature information and human kinematic feature information. Extensive experiments were conducted on two benchmark datasets for three-dimensional human pose estimation. Compared to state-of-the-art methods, the mean per joint position error was decreased by 13.6% and 19.4% on the total capture and DIP-IMU datasets, respectively. The quantitative comparison demonstrates that the proposed temporal information and human kinematic topology can improve pose accuracy

Tendon stem cells seeded on dynamic chondroitin sulfate and chitosan hydrogel scaffold with BMP2 enhance tendon-to-bone healing

Failure to adequately reconstruct the tendon-to-bone interface constitutes the primary etiology underlying rotator cuff retear after surgery. The purpose of this study is to construct a dynamic chondroitin sulfate and chitosan hydrogel scaffold (CHS) with bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), then seed tendon stem cells (TSCs) on BMP2-CHS for the rotator cuff reconstruction of tendon-to-bone interface. In this dynamic hydrogel system, the scaffold could not only have good biocompatibility and degradability but also significantly promote the proliferation and differentiation of TSCs. The ability of BMP2-CHS combined with TSCs to promote regeneration of tendon-to-bone interface was further verified in the rabbit rotator cuff tear model. The results showed that BMP2-CHS combined with TSCs could induce considerable collagen, fibrocartilage, and bone arrangement and growth at the tendon-to-bone interface and promote the biomechanical properties. Overall, TSCs seeded on CHS with BMP2 can enhance tendon-to-bone healing and provide a new possibility for improving the poor prognosis of rotator cuff surgery

Super-quadratic conditions for periodic elliptic system on R^N

This article concerns the elliptic system \displaylines{ -\Delta u+V(x)u=W_{v}(x, u, v), \quad x\in \mathbb{R}^{N},\cr -\Delta v+V(x)v=W_{u}(x, u, v), \quad x\in \mathbb{R}^{N},\cr u, v\in H^{1}(\mathbb{R}^{N}), } where V and W are periodic in x, and W(x,z) is super-linear in z=(u,v). We use a new technique to show that the above system has a nontrivial solution under concise super-quadratic conditions. These conditions show that the existence of a nontrivial solution depends mainly on the behavior of W(x,u,v) as $|u+v| \to 0$ and $|au+bv| \to \infty$ for some positive constants a,b