Optimization of a Decellularization/Recellularization Strategy for Transplantable Bioengineered Liver

The liver is a complex organ that requires constant perfusion for the delivery of nutrients and oxygen and the removal of waste in order to survive. Efforts to recreate or mimic the liver microstructure via a ground-up approach are essential for liver tissue engineering. A decellularization/recellularization strategy is one of the approaches aiming at the possibility of producing a fully functional organ with in vitro-developed construction for clinical applications to replace failed livers, such as end-stage liver disease (ESLD). However, the complexity of the liver microarchitecture along with the limited suitable hepatic component, such as the optimization of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the biomaterials, the selection of the seed cells, and development of the liver-specific three-dimensional (3D) niche settings, pose numerous challenges. In this chapter, we have provided a comprehensive outlook on how the physiological, pathological, and spatiotemporal aspects of these drawbacks can be turned into the current challenges in the field, and put forward a few techniques with the potential to address these challenges, mainly focusing on a decellularization-based liver regeneration strategy. We hypothesize the primary concepts necessary for constructing tissue-engineered liver organs based on either an intact (from a naïve liver) or a partial (from a pretreated liver) structure via simulating the natural development and regenerative processes

Hydrothermal synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 composites as 5V cathode materials for Li-ion batteries

Composite materials consisting of reduced graphene oxide and LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 were in situ prepared by a simple one-step hydrothermal treating method. The physical property and electrochemical performance of the composite materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, charge/discharge testing, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that the graphene oxide is partially reduced and uniformly in situ anchored on the surface of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4. As a result, the specific surface area of the composite material dramatically increases from 0.2488 to 8.71 m2 g−1, and the initial specific discharge capacity improves from 125.8 to 140.2 mAh g−1, respectively. Furthermore, the capacity retention maintains 95.8% after 100 cycles, and the electrode polarization has significantly been lessened. At rates of 1, 2, and 5 C, the composite material with 5% reduced graphene oxide can deliver much higher capacities than the pristine LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4. Moreover, AC impedance test results show that the interfacial charge transfer impedance obviously reduced. It is confirmed that the introduction of reduced graphene oxide through hydrothermal treating is effective to enhance the electrochemical performance of the composite material

Assessing Impulsivity in Chinese: Elaborating Validity of BIS Among Male Prisoners

This study was carried out to test the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale–Version 11 (BIS-11), and its short versions (the eight-item and 15-item BIS) in a sample of 424 Chinese male prisoners (M = 31.26, SD = 7.43, age = 18-52 years). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFAs) indicated that the single-factor model of BIS with eight items (BIS-8) and the three-factor model of BIS with 15 items (BIS-15) fit the data well. In addition, the item response theory (IRT) approach confirmed the construct and items for the BIS-8 with good discrimination, threshold parameters, and test information curve. Correlations with psychopathic traits, antisocial personality disorder, and aggression suggested that the performance of the eight-item BIS was comparable with that of the original 30-item BIS in measuring general impulsivity.This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 31400904) and Guangzhou University’s 2017 training program for top-notch young people (Grant BJ201715)

Plasma Levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: a Prospective Analysis in the Nurses’ Health Study and Meta-analysis

Background: Prospective data regarding persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) are limited, and the results for individual POPs are not entirely consistent across studies. Objectives: We prospectively examined plasma POP concentrations in relation to incident T2D and summarized existing evidence in a meta-analysis. Methods: Plasma polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) concentrations were measured in 1,095 women who were free of diabetes at blood draw in 1989–1990 and participated in two case–control studies in the Nurses’ Health Study. We identified 48 incident T2D cases through 30 June 2008. We conducted a literature search in PubMed and EMBASE through December 2011 to identify prospective studies on POPs in relation to diabetes. We used a fixed-effects model to summarize results. Results: After multivariable adjustment, plasma HCB concentration was positively associated with incident T2D [pooled odds ratio (OR) 3.59 (95% CI: 1.49, 8.64, p$_{trend}$= 0.003) comparing extreme tertiles]. Other POPs were not significantly associated with diabetes. After pooling our results with those of six published prospective studies that included 842 diabetes cases in total, we found that HCB and total PCBs both were associated with diabetes: the pooled ORs were 2.00 (95% CI: 1.13, 3.53; I$^2$= 21.4%, p$_{heterogeneity}$= 0.28) and 1.70 (95% CI: 1.28, 2.27; I$^2$= 16.3%, p$_{heterogeneity}$= 0.30) for HCB and total PCBs, respectively. Conclusions: These findings support an association between POP exposure and the risk of T2D

Non-destructive monitoring method for leaf area of Brassica napus based on image processing and deep learning

IntroductionLeaves are important organs for photosynthesis in plants, and the restriction of leaf growth is among the earliest visible effects under abiotic stress such as nutrient deficiency. Rapidly and accurately monitoring plant leaf area is of great importance in understanding plant growth status in modern agricultural production.MethodIn this paper, an image processing-based non-destructive monitoring device that includes an image acquisition device and image process deep learning net for acquiring Brassica napus (rapeseed) leaf area is proposed. A total of 1,080 rapeseed leaf image areas from five nutrient amendment treatments were continuously collected using the automatic leaf acquisition device and the commonly used area measurement methods (manual and stretching methods).ResultsThe average error rate of the manual method is 12.12%, the average error rate of the stretching method is 5.63%, and the average error rate of the splint method is 0.65%. The accuracy of the automatic leaf acquisition device was improved by 11.47% and 4.98% compared with the manual and stretching methods, respectively, and had the advantages of speed and automation. Experiments on the effects of the manual method, stretching method, and splinting method on the growth of rapeseed are conducted, and the growth rate of rapeseed leaves under the stretching method treatment is considerably greater than that of the normal treatment rapeseed.DiscussionThe growth rate of leaves under the splinting method treatment was less than that of the normal rapeseed treatment. The mean intersection over union (mIoU) of the UNet-Attention model reached 90%, and the splint method had higher prediction accuracy with little influence on rapeseed

Further Validation of the Inventory of CallousUnemotional Traits in Chinese Children: Cross-Informants Invariance and Longitudinal Invariance

The present study examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the shortened versions of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits (ICU) with data from multiple informants. Five short versions of the ICU proposed in previous studies were tested and compared through confirmatory factor analysis. The measurement invariance across different informants (i.e., self-report, parent-report, and teacher-report) and longitudinal measurement invariance for the resulting best-fitting model were tested thoroughly. Results indicated that a shortened form that consists of 11 items (ICU-11) to assess callousness and uncaring factors had excellent overall fit. Moreover, the ICU-11 was invariant across informant and occasions. However, the ICU-11 was not without limitations; the internal consistency α for the uncaring factor with self-report scores was marginal. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the ICU-11 was an excellent fit for our data and displayed measurement invariance across informants and over time. The ICU-11 may be a promising assessment tool that could be used in research to assess callous–uncaring traits in Chinese children.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 31400904) and Guangzhou University’s 2017 training program for top-notch young people (Grant BJ201715)

Survival Fate of Hepatic Stem/Progenitor and Immune Cells in a Liver Fibrosis/Cirrhosis Animal Model and Clinical Implications

This chapter provides novel information about the survival features of hepatic resident stem/progenitor cells (NG2+ HSPs) during liver fibrosis/cirrhotic development. A well-defined diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver fibrosis/cirrhotic/cancer mouse model was developed to evaluate the fate of the HSPs and its clinical implications. This model possess three time-zones during the disease development: fibrosis (3–5 weeks post-DEN), cirrhosis (6–10 weeks post-DEN), and cancers (up to 10 weeks post-DEN). During this process, the model represents histological patterns similar to those described in humans and shows better survival of the HSPs in the fibrotic zone, which was correlated with inflammatory signals, as compared to the cirrhotic zone. It has also been discovered that immune CD8+ T cells in the fibrotic zone are beneficial in liver fibrosis resolution, suggesting that the fibrotic time zone is important for mobilizing endogenous HSPs and cell-based therapy. As such, we hypothesize that clinical strategies in fibrotic/cirrhotic liver treatment are necessary either in time at the fibrotic phase or to adopt an approach of regulating HSP viability when the disease develops into the cirrhotic phase

Ectopic Fat Deposition on Insulin Sensitivity: Correlation of Hepatocellular Lipid Content and M Value

. Purpose. This study aimed to explore the relationship among insulin sensitivity and ectopic fat depots in participants with different glucose status. Methods. Fifty-nine men and women were enrolled in this study: 29 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 17 with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and 13 with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). All participants underwent a hyperinsulinemiceuglycemic clamp to assess the insulin sensitivity index ( value) and magnetic resonance imaging to measure the hepatocellular lipid content (HCL), skeletal muscle fat content including intramyocellular lipid (IMCL) and extramyocellular lipid (EMCL) of tibialis anterior (ta), and soleus muscle (sol). Results. The value of NGT group was higher than those of IGT and T2DM groups ( = 0.001). Participants with T2DM had the highest HCL and IMCL (ta) compared with those in NGT and IGT groups ( = 0.001). The value had an inverse relationship with HCL ( = −0.789, = 0.001), IMCL (sol) ( = −0.427, = 0.002), and IMCL (ta) ( = −0.419, = 0.002). Stepwise linear regression analysis showed that HCL (standardized = −0.416; = 0.001) had an independent relationship with value. Conclusions. Hepatocellular lipid content deposition happens earlier than skeletal muscle fat deposition. HCL is an independent risk factor for insulin resistance and may be used to evaluate the risk of developing T2DM as a noninvasive marker of insulin sensitivity index